Youth, Globalization, And the Law

This book addresses the impact of globalization on the lives of youth, focusing on the role of legal institutions and discourses. As practices and ideas travel the globesuch as the promotion and transmission of zero tolerance and retributive justice programs, the near ubiquitous acceptance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the transnational migration of street gangsthe legal arena is being transformed. The essays in this book offer case studies and in-depth analyses, spanning diverse settings including courts and prisons, inner-city streets, international human rights initiatives, newspaper offices, local youth organizations, and the United Nations. Drawing on everyday social practices, each chapter adds clarity to our current understanding of the ways in which ideas and practices in different parts of the world can affect youth in one particular locale.

Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh is Associate Professor of Sociology; Director of Research in the Institute for Research in African-American Studies; and Director of the Center for Urban Research and Policy at Columbia University. He is the author of American Project: The Rise and Fall of a Modern Ghetto (2002). Ronald Kassimir is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Political Science at the New School for Social Research. He is a co-editor of Youth Activism: An International Encyclopedia (2005).