YOUTH, PERSONHOOD AND PRACTICES OF THE SELF - SOME NEW DIRECTIONS FORYOUTH RESEARCH

In contrast to most previous research in the field, this paper argues that the concept of 'youth' is best understood as an example of the go vernmental formation of a specific type of person. It is constructed a t the intersection of a variety of diverse problematisations, being pr oduced by the processes of individuation, normalisation and the regula tion of relations of time. Within programs such as those pertinent to the management of sex, an array of technologies structure the practice s by which individuals pattern their own conduct - thereby fashioning a kind of habitus. This forms part of a general strategy of enrolling the objects of these programs in their own self-reformation. Consequen tly, 'youth' can be understood as 'the doing of specific types of work on the self'. By utilising this framework, the paper not only seeks t o identify and better understand some of the sexual subjectivities ass ociated with the construction of youth, it also seeks to offer some ne w directions for research in the area.