Joining Society

Joining Society asks precise questions: To what are the young socialized? Which skills, modes of thinking or action are required from them and what are their developmental value? Socialization tends to be viewed within the confines of a particular geographical or cultural situation. The multi-national list of contributors brings an international perspective to the problem of socialization to work and to adult life, while at the same time emphasizing the common issues that face youth around the world. Some of the topics addressed are the rules and roles involved in socialization, attaining personal agency through collective activity, use of new technologies, and the role of intergenerational relationships. This book sheds new light on the processes through which society may hope to intervene in positive ways with today's youth.

Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont is professor of psychology and education at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. She studied in Geneva with Jean Piaget and prepared a degree in vocational guidance at the University of Lausanne and a Master in child development at the University of London. Her doctoral dissertation in social psychology in Geneva was concerned with a Vygotskian reading of the role of social interactions in cognitive development. She has been involved in professional training for child care, primary and secondary education, and youth work. Her research interests concern a socio-cultural approach of thinking, learning and vocational training as contextualized activities sustained or hindered by institutional settings that offer or fail to offer thinking spaces and opportunities for development in periods of profound social and technological changes. She actively participated in launching DORE, an action of the Swiss National Science Foundation supporting practical research in the areas of social work, health, education, music and theatre, fine arts, applied psychology and applied linguistics.