This volume focuses on the 'dairy problem', a complex issue that relates directly to the agricultural debate of the past two decades and that concerns the socioeconomic well-being and life-chances of many farm families and rural communities in most western societies. Dairy industry restructuring is being affected by formidable forces of change: the withdrawal of government protections and price support mechanisms; the explosion of new technologies; the globalization of markets; the rising power of food processors; and the associated discontinuities of modern life. From studies in North...

This volume focuses on the theme of Technology and Youth; advancements in communication and leisure technologies over the past decade have radically transformed the role of technology in the lives of youth. Around the globe, children and adolescents are often seen as being the first to embrace new technologies, such as new forms of social media. Having a cell phone, once regarded as an adult technology, has become a necessity within youth culture in many societies. Even video games, once limited to stand-alone computers, have become a venue for social gatherings of youth. The rapid pace of...

Multifactorial perspectives, whether sociological, cultural, anthropological, historical, biological or psychological, serve as the basis for a considerable amount of research, including how youth and adolescents are influenced by the sociocultural aspects that guide the way they are seen and see the society around them. For researchers and scholars who focus on this subject, it is worth asking: what characterizes adolescence as a social construction in different regions of the planet? The Social Construction of Adolescence in Contemporaneity considers the social field of adolescence in...