Youth Studies in Colombia: State of the Art

• Published in: Young (Stockholm, Sweden) Sweden), 2012-11, Vol.20 (4), p.399-414
• Main Authors: González, Germán Muñoz, Pinilla, Victoria Eugenia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bibliographies; Cities; Colombia; Females; Knowledge; Males; Public policy; Social conditions; Social construction; Social policy; Youth
• ISSN: 1103-3088; 1741-3222
• DOI: 10.1177/110330881202000406

This study is based on the most recent state of the art report about Youth in Colombia; the article summarizes the process of construction of youth as a specialized field of knowledge in Colombia. It reviews the researches and studies carried out during a period of 20 years (1985–2003) in 18 Colombian cities. This state of the art is a model that aims at transcending the cataloguing and abstract-type synthesis of research studies, in order to consolidate a more profound analysis that will account for the thematic treatment and the underlying notions of young subjects. The project has been produced on the basis of the following questions: What knowledge of male and female Colombian youth has been produced? Who has produced it? How has it been produced and what kind of subject is being constructed? After 2003, there is a sustained production of bibliography concerning the main topics of the youth condition, with progressively qualified contributions. By contrast, the State since 2006 has practically abandoned the institutionality that had been created for designing and managing public policies on youth.