Although most people think ""Generation X"" is a coined label for the post-Baby Boom generation, since the early 1950s the phrase has signified a seemingly identity-less group of young people trying to define themselves within an uncertain, even hostile world. Resituating the term in its neglected (sub)cultural context, this work offers a critical assessment of the ""Generation X"" phenomenon and its relation to the fashioning of different identities within and against the mainstream. Topics include punk subculture, the Internet, reality television, postmodernism, and alternative music.

Essays on Politics and Society brings together the most significant writings on the topic by the acclaimed Victorian historian, social critic, and essayist Thomas Carlyle. This volume includes some of his most well-known and influential pieces, such as "Characteristics" and "Chartism." In keeping with the Norman and Charlotte Strouse Edition of the Writings of Thomas Carlyle, these essays are accompanied by a thorough historical introduction to the material, extensive notes providing historical and cultural context while expanding on references and allusions, and a textual apparatus that carefully details and explains the editorial decisions made in reconciling the editions of each essay.