The four Visegrad states — Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (until 1993 Czechoslovakia) and Hungary — form a compact area between Germany and Austria in the west and the states of the former USSR in the east. They are bounded by the Baltic in the north and the Danube river in the south. They are cut by the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges, which divide Poland off from the other states. Poland is an extension of the North European plain and like the latter is drained by rivers that flow from south to north west — the Oder, the Vlatava and the Elbe, the Vistula and the Bug. The Danube is the great exception, flowing from its source eastward, turning through two 90-degree turns to end up in the Black Sea, forming the barrier and often the political frontier between central Europe and the Balkans. Hungary to the east of the Danube is also an open plain. The region is historically and culturally part of western Europe, but its eastern Marches now represents a vital strategic zone between Germany and the core of the European Union to the west and the Russian zone to the east.

Economy and Society

Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs

This paper argues for a renewed research agenda on the transnational mobility of young people across both youth studies and migration studies. We review key literature across these fields, before arguing for a new conceptual framework that helps to further extend the emerging interdisciplinary space of ‘youth mobility studies’ (Raffaeta, Baldassar and Harris 2016). Our central proposition is that mobility has become an important marker and maker of transitions for youth in many contexts globally. We argue that a conceptual advance is required to understand the unique circumstances of a generation ‘on the move’ as they navigate diverse and non-sequential social, civic and economic practices of ‘adulthood’, and propose the conceptual framework of mobile transitions as a timely new agenda. ‘Mobile transitions’ describes transition pathways under conditions of mobility but also emphasises two key claims around the further development of transnational youth mobility research. The first is the importanc...

Mobile transitions: a conceptual framework for researching a generation on the move

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
2013

http://ir.jkuat.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/1238/Ngumi,%20patrick%20Mwangi-PHD%20BA%20-3013.pdf?sequence=1

Effect of bank innovations on financial performance of commercial banks in kenya

Critical Youth Studies: A Canadian Focus , by James E. Côté & Anton Allahar, 2006. Toronto, ON: Pearson Education Canada, 137 pp.

This dissertation explores the life experiences of a particular group of young people in the Philippines known as the “istambay”, a Filipino term derived from the English phrase “on standby”. The study examines the concept of istambay and the dynamics of inactivity in the lives of selected Filipino youth. It illustrates the habitus, life contexts, and the web of crises that these youth negotiate within the protective realms of family and religion, and the dismal labour conditions in the country. Methodologically, the study utilizes a mixed methods approach that includes both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Primary qualitative data are derived from case studies, songs, field notes, and ethnographic observations. Secondary quantitative analyses are conducted using the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS) 2002 and a perceptual survey.The study is theoretically oriented around Mills’ sociological imagination and Bourdieu’s theory of practice. It illustrates that the istambay phenomenon is more than a personal trouble (problematic istambay). It is a public issue (istambay problematique). The study also shows the varying levels of vulnerability experienced by different types of istambay. Research findings reveal the istambay phenomenon is a manifestation of the interrelated problems in the educational system and the labour market of the Philippines. The consequence of inactivity among these istambays is found to be mitigated by the culture of care provided by Filipino families combined with solace derived from the church. However, istambays are also found to express disconnection from the state because of the government’s inability to provide employment for them, resulting in their quest for employment “abroad” (overseas) as an alternative. Youth inactivity, although moderated by a familial-faith dynamic, highlights how complex forms of inequalities in the Philippines marginalize the istambays from gaining legitimate active status in Philippine society.

http://clarencebatan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Clarence-Batan-PhD-Thesis-Super-Compressed.pdf

Istambay: a sociological analysis of youth inactivity in the philippines

This paper explores istam bay as a concept gleaned from various sources such as local dictionaries, perceptual survey, and selected songs. Using Mill's notion of the sociological imagination as an analytical frame, an examination of these sources directs attention to two possible ways of understanding the istambay phenomenon in the Philippines. The first is what I call the problematic istambay, which points to individualized and generally negative stereotypes that Filipinos have come to associate with people experiencing this state of inactivity. The second is istambay as problematique, which unravels the social forces that generate and sustain this phenomenon of inactivity, particularly among Filipino youth. This paper concludes by discussing how these intertwining personal and social aspects qualify conceptions of istambay as a social phenomenon.

Clarence M. Batan

Papers

Istambay: a sociological analysis of youth inactivity in the philippines

A Conceptual Exploration of the Istambay Phenomenon in the Philippines

The Oxford handbook of global south youth studies