No abstract

This paper aims to show how young people in former East Germany respond to the globalising processes that are part of the transformation of their society from a statesocialist to a capitalist one. It focuses particularly on the differential ways in which young people perform their identities as global/local subjects through the uses that they make of urban space. While emphasising the agency of young people, the paper seeks to examine the dialectic between globalising forces that are largely beyond their control and the negotiation of these forces in everyday practices of identity-formation. Conceptually, the paper draws particularly on the work of Beck (2000), Beck and Gernsheim (2002) and Giddens (1994) in order to conceptualise the connections between globalisation and individualisation, as well as on feminist and recent geographical work on performativity order to gain an embodied understanding of the ways in which individuals construct themselves as global/local subjects.

No abstract

In this paper we analyse how young East Germans come to be differentially placed in global network space through their socioeconomically and culturally specific engagements with globalised mediascapes and ethnoscapes. We call for greater awareness of the power differentials which shape globalisation, and draw on the theoretical work of Pierre Bourdieu to show how unequal access to social and cultural capital influences and is reflected in the ‘glocal’ connections through which young people develop and perform their identities. Further, we seek to understand how these differential engagements impact on young people's future trajectories through the development of different competencies. We contend that, precisely how young people are positioned in networks of global–local connectivity matters profoundly, both for the performance of their present identities, and for their future life chances.

No abstract