The Labor of Emerging Adults in International Settings: A Call for Critical Praxis in a Time of Widening Economic Injustice

This volume presents six articles about conditions and perceptions of work, vocational aspirations and barriers, from the lived experiences of emerging adults from nine countries. Using a common qualitative interview protocol, the authors—all affiliated with the UniTwin International Network for Life Designing Interventions—explored representations of work and the future among 20–25-year-olds without a secondary school credential. In our analyses, we worked to understand the degree to which employment represented survival needs, social connectedness, sense of purpose, and self-determination, and we aimed to discern the variable salience of these factors for emerging adults in different geographic, socio-political, and economic contexts.