Understanding youth transition as ‘Becoming’: Identity, time and futurity

Abstract

Drawing on recent work in psychology, philosophy, and youth geographies, this article responds to calls for theoretical rigour in children's geographies by developing the concept of becoming for youth transitions research. Becoming has been used by psychologist Gordon Allport (1955) in his work on the proces-sual nature of personal identity, while Elizabeth Grosz (1999) has used the concept of becoming to explore conceptions of time as a lived experience, focusing on the dynamics of time as duration. This article uses the unifying concept of futurity to tie together the works of Allport and Grosz, exploring how the concept of becoming can be used to consider the inherent complexities of contemporary youth transi-tions. To demonstrate the value of working with these reconceptualizations, examples of becoming will be explored through research with visually impaired young people. This research productively uses nar-rative and a life mapping technique to capture the messiness of becoming, seeing transition through the scale of a life and important life events.

Conducting sensitive research in the present and past tense: Recounting the stories of current and former child domestic workers

“…Time is not a 'neutral medium', but plays an active role in the framing of life events (Worth, 2009, p.1055, see also Grosz, 1999. Perks and Thomson (2006, p.212) found that in the immediate aftermath of a trauma, interviewees were likely to offer a 'narrow viewpoint' as they struggled to make sense of their experiences.…”

Spaces, Times, and Critical Moments: A Relational Time–Space Analysis of the Impacts of AIDS on Rural Youth in Malawi and Lesotho

“…More critical studies have advocated a relational approach, exploring the roles of families and peers (Hopkins and Pain 2007;Langevang 2008) and other generations (Tucker 2003), as well as contexts of poverty (van Blerk 2008) and recognising that the endpoint of transition may be 'negotiated interdependence' (Punch 2002) rather than independence. Broader relational concepts of lifecourse also allow for exploration of other events and transitions punctuating individuals' lives, beyond those examined in youth transition studies (Bailey 2009), including unexpected 'fateful moments' (Worth 2009), 'vital conjunctures' (Langevang 2008) and rites of passage (Teather 1999). These may contribute to a 'processual and non-linear transition' rather than neat transfers between distinct life stages (Langevang 2008(Langevang :2040.…”

“…Few studies of lifecourse have engaged with explicit theorisations of temporality; most espouse a linear view of time (Worth 2009) and future orientation. Recent work has, however, engaged with non-linear conceptions of time to understand childhood as 'going on' rather than 'growing up' (Horton and Kraftl 2006), as 'being and becoming' (Uprichard 2008 As elsewhere in the world, children in southern Africa occupy and produce distinct time-spaces.…”

“…We imposed a temporal structure that differs from Rex's own conceptualisation of his experiences (although he undoubtedly retells his experiences in multiple ways). This is problematic (Worth 2009), but allows us more readily to communicate what seem to us the key elements. Since our focus is not on Rex's own conceptions of temporality, but on how he has deployed time-spaces in constructing a dynamic and ongoing life for himself in response to spaced/timed circumstances and relationships, we consider this appropriate.…”

“…Booysen 2006;Ford and Hosegood 2005;van Blerk and Ansell 2006), temporal aspects remain under-researched. Indeed, temporality has been neglected in youth geographies more generally (Worth 2009). Yet AIDS-related sickness and death have distinct temporalities that interweave with their spatialities.…”