Thursday 5 October, 2006

Adult Themes

Kate Crawford's Adult Themes looks like a fantastic book. I'm yet to read it, but here's an extract from an article Crikey ran a couple of days ago written by Kate:

'All young Australians are materialistic, apolitical and just a little clueless. Or so Adele Horin writes in the Sydney Morning Herald, apropos of a new report commissioned by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum called Fearless and Flexible: Views of Gen Y.

Horin found the report "fascinating" for claiming that 15-24 year olds are focused on their own welfare, selfishly aiming for the trifecta of having their own car, house and kids. They want reasonable employment but have no desire for a job for life.

More eye-popping is the unquestioning reportage of the research which asserted that Generation Yers uphold Howard-styled conservative values and are ignorant about the issue of globalisation, as some interviewees couldn't define what it means. Readers of Horin's article could be forgiven for assuming the anti-globalisation rallies at the World Economic Forum in Melbourne and the World Trade Organisation in Sydney were attended solely by retirees. . .Yet again, we see generational stereotypes being brought into life on the basis of limited research and reported with a lack of scepticism. Unfortunately the Fearless and Flexible report tells us little about the diversity of 15-24 year olds and much more about the media trade in tired, age-based clichés. '

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