Book Review - Profiles
D. Mesa, Figli e unici. Vite familiari dei giovani italiani nella società delle singolarità, Napoli, Ortothes, 2025.
Diego Mesa investigates the complex world of youth, drawing on youth studies and the transformations of family relationships. The analysis particularly focuses on the changes in the family’s role as a socialization agency: from a unitary, normative institution, it evolves into a laboratory of coexistence where the precarious balance between often opposing cultural instances and identities must be re-established. The author highlights the relevance of concepts like singularity and singularization, through which traditional bonds are transformed and recontextualized, while the individual’s role as an active agent in redefining relationships and identities emerges. The book also considers youth lifestyles, orientations, and practices - with an original perspective on housing experiences - thanks to specific elaborations from interdisciplinary research conducted between 2015 and 2024 by the Youth Observatory of the Toniolo Institute of Milan.
A. Polidori, Sociologia dei giovani. Mobilità, culture, transizioni, Napoli, Ortothes, 2024.
The book presents a comprehensive sociological analysis of the contemporary circumstances facing youth. It delivers a historical synthesis of research concerning young people, coupled with a critical assessment of the principal works shaping ongoing international discourse. Building upon this foundation, the text offers an in-depth exploration of the significance of mobility in shaping modern life trajectories, which, whether by volition or compulsion, traverse a multiplicity of social and cultural environments. Youth and mobility constitute complex phenomena that pose significant analytical challenges for both the social sciences and broader society, as they are intimately linked to pivotal transitional periods imbued with diverse experiences and meanings. Furthermore, these states are not confined to a singular life stage but manifest at various points throughout the lifespan. As such, the topics addressed are universally relevant, fostering rigorous debates that enrich both scholarly inquiry and public discourse.
A.Casavecchia, M.Merico (a cura di), Sociologia dei processi culturali e dell’educazione. Concetti, approcci e sfide, Roma, Armando, 2025
The book provides an introduction to key concepts relevant for interrogating the intersection of culture and education. Within this framework, the sociological examination of cultural and educational phenomena delineates two interconnected domains of theoretical discourse and empirical investigation, characterized by reciprocal influences. Emphasizing the aim of traversing disciplinary boundaries, the text encourages readers to critically engage with the intersections and mutual impacts between these areas of scholarship. The structure of the book encompasses thirteen chapters authored by specialists in distinct fields—including culture and education, communication, consumption and religion, family studies, gender, generational analysis, corporeality, social inequality, migration, and learning/play environments. Each chapter commences with an exploration of the sociological foundations underpinning the topic, surveys pivotal classical and contemporary theoretical perspectives, presents a case study emblematic of sociological inquiry, and identifies both present and emergent challenges confronting social research.