Lifeworlds and cultures of Australian youth in a globalised world

Young people in Australia are situated within generationally unique conditions of socio-economic change wrought by economic and cultural globalisation. To some extent, these are trends that are evident across the world, albeit with important local distinctions: a differentiation that is increasingly acknowledged in youth studies. Australia is a de-industrial multicultural settler-colonial state located in the Asia-Pacific region. This chapter highlights the significance of this context in shaping young Australians' lifeworlds and cultures. It addresses the limitations and the capacities of the key intellectual traditions informing youth culture studies in Australia in the context of these specificities. It shows how new approaches are needed to capture the ways Australian youth cultural formations are emerging around diasporic, transnational and mobile youth experiences in an interconnected, globalised and digital world.