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Muslim and Buddhist Youths in Switzerland: Individualising Religion and Striving for Recognition?
Since the second half of the 20th century, immigrants and refugees from numerous countries have arrived in Switzerland. With their long-term settlement, the immigrant minorities have established cultural and religious associations to maintain their cultural and religious traditions and to teach their children the faith and religious practices from the country of origin. In contrast to the first immigrant generation, the second generation has had concurrent social influences from the Swiss ordinary school system and the cultural-religious traditions of their parents. This article asks to what extent the young generations have continued the religious traditions brought by their parents and what changes have occurred in adapting religious practices, ideas and collective forms to the new socio-cultural environment. In addition, we study whether and how the second generations have striven to move away from the often-marginalised social position of their parents and engage with social recognition in Swiss society. To provide answers to these pertinent questions, the article will draw on the examples of first and second-generation Muslims and Buddhists in Switzerland and refer to the theoretical model designed by the American scholars Fred Kniss and Paul Numrich. The article argues that not only outward changes of religiosity are observable among second-generation youths, but also that despite an intensified degree of individualisation, some of their newly founded youth associations strive for civic participation and social recognition in the public arena of Swiss civil society.
Journal Article
Na Fianna Éireann and the Irish Revolution, 1909–23
This book provides a scholarly yet accessible account of the Irish nationalist youth organisation Na Fianna Éireann and its contribution to the Irish Revolution in the period 1909–23. Countess Constance Markievicz and Bulmer Hobson established Na Fianna Éireann, or the Irish National Boy Scouts, in Dublin in 1909 as an Irish nationalist antidote to Robert Baden-Powell’s Boy Scout movement founded in the previous year. The Fianna soon spread beyond the Irish capital, offering their mainly male membership a combination of military training, outdoor adventure and Irish cultural activities. Between their inception in 1909 and near decimation during the Irish Civil War of 1922–23, Na Fianna Éireann recruited, trained and nurtured a cadre of young nationalist activists who made an essential contribution to the struggle for Irish independence. This book situates the Fianna within the wider international context of uniformed youth groups that arose in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a response to societal anxieties associated with the coming war in Europe. It compares and contrasts the Fianna to other Irish youth groups of the period and demonstrates how the Fianna served as a conduit for future members of adult paramilitary organisations, most notably the Irish Volunteers (later known as the Irish Republican Army).
eBook
Anticipating service withdrawal: young people in spaces of neoliberalisation, austerity and economic crisis
This paper considers some key impacts of public sector neoliberalisation and austerity measures for everyday geographies of childhood and youth in England. The paper develops three claims, with reference to qualitative research conducted at a youth group in 2007, 2009 and 2013. First, I outline a range of ways in which long-run processes of public sector neoliberalisation, and more abrupt cuts to public sector expenditure 'in the current climate' of austerity politics, have substantially transformed geographies of childhood and youth in many minority world contexts. However, I argue that extant research on these transformations has tended to reproduce some rather partial understandings of impacts of service withdrawal, which I critique via a reading of recent geographical work on anticipatory politics. Second, I evidence how political-economic contexts of neoliberalisation and austerity have constituted a particular atmosphere and sense of the future, tangibly affecting everyday relationships, spaces and the efficacy of service provision at the case study youth group. In particular, I emphasise the significance of anticipated futures, noting that the anticipation of funding cuts is having manifold everyday, lived consequences that are arguably more wide-ranging, intractable and troubling than the impacts of funding cuts themselves. Third, in particular, I argue that spaces of anticipated funding cuts and service withdrawal are frequently characterised by an intensification of anxieties about, and hopes for, young people's futures. I note that young people are diversely affected by, and engaged in, the circulation of these anxieties and hopes - but also recognise that young people's geographies go on, and sometimes offer hopeful ways on, 'in the current climate'.
Journal Article
Impact of Visual Elements of Tobacco Packaging on Health Risk Perceptions of Youth Groups
Tobacco products are hazardous to public health and are one of the greater public health threats facing the world to date. Although international research on tobacco packaging has been thorough and comprehensive, the risk perception of visual elements in tobacco packaging varies by country, race, and smoking status. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the risk perceptions of visual elements in tobacco packaging among young and middle-aged people in selected cities in China. This study used a questionnaire to construct an index system for visual elements of tobacco packaging and used it to design a related questionnaire. Our group conducted an online questionnaire survey among 296 young people (18–44 years old) in selected cities in China between 16 June and 26 June 2022. The results of the influence of visual elements of tobacco packaging on the perception of tobacco health risks in the youth group were analyzed by SPSS 26.0. A chi-square test analysis yielded differences in the perception of tobacco package color among youths with different smoking status. A linear regression analysis revealed that age group and visual elements were significant, and five groups of visual element comparisons had an effect on the youth group. First, there were differences in the perceptions of tobacco products among participants with different smoking status. Secondly, the more youthful the respondents were, the greater the probability that they were able to identify that the picture fitness warnings had a greater probability of making them conscious of the fitness dangers of smoking (p < 0.05). The older the participants, the greater the probability that the textual content fitness warnings made them conscious of the fitness risks of smoking (p < 0.05). Third, the percentage of health warnings did not make a good-sized impact for the youth groups (p > 0.05). Fourth, the more youthful the participant, the greater the probability that cigarette products with whole brand images would appeal to buyer(p < 0.01).
Journal Article
Sounding for Cool
Sounding for Cool is about self-transformation, about growing up on one’s own as a product of contemporary America, and about how to become not just a man, but a contributing adult in society. Donald Morrill presents the day-to-day lives of seven young men (white, black, Hispanic, immigrant, middle-class, thick-headed, poor, and smart), who for various reasons have become homeless. Placed in a Transitional Living Program facility (TLP) by the courts, these men must learn to navigate in the world of “normal” values and reasonable rules. Streetwise and callow, trained to seek shortcuts or to make excuses, they struggle with the structures and assumptions inherent in living a law-abiding, bill-paying life. While sorting out their souls, they learn how to connect with others.
In turn, Sounding for Cool scrutinizes the staff of the TLP, one woman and three men, who variously come to terms with their lives by settling accounts from the past. As a TLP volunteer, Donald Morrill often finds himself bridging the gap between staff and client. In the process of telling their stories, he chronicles his own journey to understand the past. Ultimately, Sounding for Cool asks the enduring questions, “Who am I in the world and what can I become?”
eBook
Exploring the ongoing important role of meaning in life on young people’s mental health: a population-based study of the moderated mediation model
Background
This study explores the complex relationships between the search for meaning in life (SML), the presence of meaning in life (PML), and mental health status among diverse groups of adolescents and young adults, including students, employed, and unemployed individuals aged 14–35 years in post-pandemic urban China. Specifically, we assess the mediating role of PML in influencing mental health, and explore how age moderates this effect across these groups. Our approach includes comparing different employment statuses to further understand how these variables interact to affect mental health outcomes, highlighting the unique relations within each group.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2023 involving 3189 participants from Shanghai in China. Data were collected using paper questionnaires, and analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis were conducted using SPSS 26.0. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed using PROCESS macro 4.2.
Results
The results showed that PML acts as a mediator in the relationship between SML and mental health, enhancing mental health across all youth groups. Notably, the SML had a significant direct negative effect on mental health in employed youth (B = -0.123,
p
< 0.001), while direct relationship of lesser significance emerged in students and unemployed youth. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that age significantly moderates these effects in the unemployed youth group (SML × Age, B = -0.058,
p
< 0.01), with younger individuals benefiting more from active meaning searches. Additionally, local household registration status was identified as a critical factor influencing mental health, particularly among students (B = 1.433) and employed youth (B = 2.181).
Conclusions
This study highlights the importance of meaning in life as a protective factor for mental health among urban Chinese youth. The findings suggest that tailored mental health interventions should consider socio-economic status and life stages to address the unique needs of different youth groups. Policies and programs should enhance both the search for and the presence of meaning in life to promote better mental health outcomes.
Journal Article
Evaluation of the Perception and Experience of Rural Natural Landscape among Youth Groups: An Empirical Analysis from Three Villages around Hefei
Research on the perception and evaluation degree that the rural natural landscape plays an important role in improving rural sustainable development and construction. However, the views of young people, who play a key role in social development, on the natural landscape of the countryside have been neglected. Based on the perspective of the rural natural landscape in China, this study combines the field research of Ma Ying, San Shi Gang, and Shen Fu villages around Hefei, Anhui Province, and constructs a perception and experience evaluation index and questionnaire of the rural natural landscape from four dimensions of rural landscape ecology, water environment, climate, and sound. Through the online questionnaire, 316 questionnaires were distributed to young people aged 18 to 35 years old, and 283 valid questionnaires were recovered with an effective recovery rate of 89.56%. The Cronbach coefficient was 0.954, and the KMO value was 0.968. The reliability and validity were good. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) combined with the entropy method was used to calculate the weight of each index and analyze the influencing factors of young people’s perception evaluation of the rural landscape. Firstly, young people have a good perception of rural climate conditions, but the planning and layout of rural landscape ecology need to be improved. Secondly, sound comfort, air cleanliness, and landscape adaptation in a rural environment are the key factors that affect young people’s perception and experience of rural areas. Thirdly, improving the adaptability of the rural natural landscape to the local environment and the richness of vegetation is conducive to improving young people’s favorable understanding of the rural environment.
Journal Article
Rethinking Spatial Equity in Retail Facilities for Young Urbanites in Strip Cities: A Case of Lanzhou
Whether young people can equitably access everyday living and shopping facilities has become a key indicator of fairness in youth-friendly cities. However, existing research has paid limited attention to young people’s daily activity spheres, particularly to how linear urban forms may intensify core–periphery disparities in accessibility. Using Lanzhou, a typical Chinese strip city, as a case study, this paper develops a multidimensional evaluation framework integrating coverage, richness, and sharing. Drawing on 1650 youth questionnaires and detailed geospatial data, it applies a preference-based behavioural accessibility model in conjunction with the Gini coefficient to examine the spatial equity of daily shopping facilities. Results indicate that Lanzhou’s facilities exhibit a pattern of central concentration and peripheral scarcity. Chengguan and Anning districts form highly accessible cores, supported by dense commercial areas and university resources. In contrast, Qilihe and Xigu suffer from pronounced facility deficits, with walking coverage rates of five to fifteen minutes below 70%. Accessibility patterns reveal coexisting contradictions of “high supply but low access” and “low supply with difficult access”. Equity metrics indicate a moderate overall level (Gini = 0.272), yet notable inter-district disparities persist, with peripheral areas imposing higher access costs on young residents. The study confirms a persistent spatial dilemma whereby the quantity of facilities does not guarantee equitable access. It argues that urban governance should shift from equal allocation towards demand-responsive and perceived-equity approaches, thereby extending daily shopping opportunities to peripheral zones. Enhancing neighbourhood-scale connectivity through pedestrian and cycling networks would improve both practical usability and spatial fairness for young urban populations.
Journal Article
Japanese imperialism and the Chinese delegation to the Second General Conference of Pan-Pacific Young Buddhists’ Associations (1934)
In July 1934, the Second General Conference of Pan-Pacific Young Buddhists’ Associations was held in Tokyo and Kyoto. Despite the event’s grand scale, with roughly a thousand participants attending from across Asia and North America, and its aspiration to use Buddhist solidarity to promote international goodwill, only a handful of delegates represented the Republic of China. The general absence of Chinese Buddhist leaders was due to widespread anger over the conference organizers’ treating Manchukuo, Japan’s puppet state in Manchuria, as an independent nation in conference materials. Yet conference attendees (including Japanese, Chinese, and others) were not necessarily collaborationists who supported Japan’s imperial expansion, as some used the platform to criticize Japanese imperialism and the conference’s normalization of Manchukuo. This article uses this 1934 conference as a lens through which to examine the complex relations between Buddhists from Japan and China (and elsewhere) and Japan’s early wartime empire. It argues that many occupied a kind of ‘grey zone’ between collaboration and resistance, hoping that Buddhist institutions could promote genuinely peaceful international relations, but also aware that their involvement in Japanese projects could be used to help justify Japanese imperialism. It first provides an overview of the colonial and anti-colonial politics of international Buddhist conferences in the early twentieth century (with particular attention given to the First Pan-Pacific Young Men’s Buddhist Associations Conference held in Honolulu in 1930) before closely examining the organization of the second conference, especially the controversies that developed around the Chinese delegation that led to a near-boycott by Chinese Buddhists.
Journal Article