In the 1960s and 1970s, Western Europe's "Golden Age" (Eric Hobsbawm), a new youth consciousness emerged, which gave this period its distinctive character. Offering rich and new material, this volume moves beyond the easy conflation of youth culture and "Americanization" and instead sets out to show, for the first time, how international developments fused with national traditions to produce specific youth cultures that became the leading trendsetters of emergent post-industrial Western societies. It presents a multi-faceted portrait of European youth cultures, colored by differences in gender, class, and education, and points out the tension between emerging consumerism and growing politicisation, succinctly expressed by Jean-Luc Godard in his 1967 pairing of "Marx and Coca-Cola."

In the 1960s and 1970s, Western Europe's "Golden Age," a new youth consciousness emerged which gave this period its distinctive character. Offering rich, new material, this volume challenges and moves beyond the easy conflation of European youth culture and "Americanization." It instead sets out to show, for the first time, how international developments fused with national traditions to produce specific youth cultures that then became the leading trendsetters of emergent postindustrial Western societies. This important new study presents a multifaceted portrait of European youth cultures, colored by differences ingender, class, and education, and explores the tension between emerging consumerism and growing politicization, succinctly expressed by Jean-Luc Godard in his 1965 pairing of "Marx and Coca-Cola."

The late nineteenth century witnessed unprecedented levels of urban growth as migration swelled the population of European cities to new heights. The resulting problems of overcrowding and inadequate civic utilities prompted the governing elites to look for new planning solutions to address the needs of an increasingly urbanised society. At the same time young people were also increasingly recognised as being adversely affected, both politically and morally, by the on-going process of urbanization. Church groups, civic authorities, middle-class reformers and political movements all tried to steer youth toward their own concept of respectable behaviour, concepts that often tended to share many similarities in their paternalistic emphasis upon social discipline. This volume directly addresses the confluence of these issues, the point at which the city government, youth and public space meet and the resulting problems and tensions that were often created. Whether it be the corruption of the rural youth flooding into the cities at the beginning of the twentieth century, battles between Hitler Youth and working-class gangs in Nazi Germany, hooliganism in 1950s Hungary or the appropriation of, or withdrawal from, public spaces by youths in more recent times, all the chapters in this book explore ways in which authorities and adult groups have sought to control young people, both directly and indirectly. Drawing on a broad selection of methods and disciplines, a wide variety of case studies from across Europe are used to investigate the interactions between youth and authority, and show how these adapted and changed over time and in different countries. By taking a fresh look at these issues within a comparative framework, this volume furthers our understanding of modern European society during the twentieth century.

The late nineteenth century witnessed unprecedented levels of urban growth as migration swelled the population of European cities to new heights. The resulting problems of overcrowding and inadequate civic utilities prompted the governing elites to look for new planning solutions to address the needs of an increasingly urbanised society. At the same time young people were also increasingly recognised as being adversely affected, both politically and morally, by the on-going process of urbanization. Church groups, civic authorities, middle-class reformers and political movements all tried to steer youth toward their own concept of respectable behaviour, concepts that often tended to share many similarities in their paternalistic emphasis upon social discipline. This volume directly addresses the confluence of these issues, the point at which the city government, youth and public space meet and the resulting problems and tensions that were often created. Whether it be the corruption of the rural youth flooding into the cities at the beginning of the twentieth century, battles between Hitler Youth and working-class gangs in Nazi Germany, hooliganism in 1950s Hungary or the appropriation of, or withdrawal from, public spaces by youths in more recent times, all the chapters in this book explore ways in which authorities and adult groups have sought to control young people, both directly and indirectly. Drawing on a broad selection of methods and disciplines, a wide variety of case studies from across Europe are used to investigate the interactions between youth and authority, and show how these adapted and changed over time and in different countries. By taking a fresh look at these issues within a comparative framework, this volume furthers our understanding of modern European society during the twentieth century.

Die Ideenlandschaft der fruhen Bundesrepublik zeigt ein doppeltes Gesicht. Als begriffliche Pole gegenwartsdiagnostischer und die Vergangenheit oder Zukunft thematisierender Erorterungen fungierten "Abendland" und "Amerika." Die Berufung auf das Abendland erfullte geradezu ideal zentrale Anforderungen jener Zeit. Nationalistische Ressentiments wurden an den Rand gedrangt und unter christlichem Banner gewann die "antibolschewistische" Option fur den Westen auch in konservativen Kreisen breite Unterstutzung. Zeittypische Zuge der vornehmlich bildungsburgerlich gepragten Diskurse der 50er Jahre werden in Fallstudien dargestellt."

Gewinner des von H-Soz-u-Kult ausgelobten Preises "Das Historische Buch 2008," Kategorie Lehrbucher/Uberblicksdarstellungen Von Zusammenbruch und bitterer Not nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg fuhrte der Weg im Westen Deutschlands in den Wiederaufbau, der sehr rasch von blosser Rekonstruktion in eine tiefgreifende Modernisierung der gesamten Gesellschaft uberleitete. Nach der Phase postindustrieller Transformation in den 1960er Jahren markierten neue und wieder entdeckte Probleme - Arbeitslosigkeit, Umweltschaden, Uberalterung - die letzte Wegstrecke der "alten Bundesrepublik." Axel Schildt gibt einen umfassenden Uberblick uber die Sozialgeschichte der Bundesrepublik (1949-1989/90) und ihre Erforschung, die auf breiter Basis in den 1980er Jahren einsetzte. Eine umfangreiche, thematisch gegliederte Bibliographie schliesst den Band ab."

Von Zusammenbruch und bitterer Not nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg fuhrte der Weg im Westen Deutschlands in den Wiederaufbau, der sehr rasch von blosser Rekonstruktion in eine tiefgreifende Modernisierung der gesamten Gesellschaft uberleitete. Nach der Phase postindustrieller Transformation in den 1960er Jahren markierten neue und wieder entdeckte Probleme - Arbeitslosigkeit, Umweltschaden, Uberalterung - die letzte Wegstrecke der "alten Bundesrepublik." Axel Schildt gibt einen umfassenden Uberblick uber die Sozialgeschichte der Bundesrepublik (1949-1989/90) und ihre Erforschung, die auf breiter Basis in den 1980er Jahren einsetzte. Eine umfangreiche, thematisch gegliederte Bibliographie schliesst den Band ab."