Overview

This book brings together critical discussions on the challenges of urban transformation and the limited opportunities available to marginalized youth in contemporary India. Against the backdrop of neo-liberal policies, globalization, and assertive privatization, the book explores how youth from disadvantaged social castes and rural backgrounds navigate the urban landscape in pursuit of education, skills, and secure futures. While cities are seen as spaces of aspiration, they also exacerbate precarity due to the dominance of a globalized middle class and diminishing prospects for stable employment. Through multi-disciplinary perspectives from sociology, anthropology, human geography, political economy, and development studies, the contributors provide a nuanced analysis of these dynamics, grounded in the lived experiences of India’s youth. This volume is an essential read for students, scholars, researchers in sociology, anthropology, urban studies, development studies, and human geography. It will also appeal to policymakers, practitioners, and anyone interested in understanding the intersection of urban change, youth aspirations, and social inequality in contemporary India. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

Full Product Details

Author:   Manisha Priyam ,  Mona G. Mehta ,  Divya Vaid
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
ISBN:  

9781041228981

ISBN 10:   1041228988
Pages:   154
Publication Date:   15 June 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Urban transformations, youth aspirations, and education in India 1. The ‘wall’: reflections on youth aspiration, education and social mobility in India 2. The limits of recovery: coming of age, aspirations and (im)mobility among displaced Pandit youth in Jammu 3. ‘Upgrading’ in precarious times: social mobility, skills and entrepreneurship among pastoralist youth in urbanising Gujarat 4. Shifting ruralities: a case study of higher education, tourism and youth in Banjar sub-district, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh 5. Land dispossession, aspirational asymmetries and dilemmas of the rural youth 6. Bounded aspirations and youth capacity: interrogating public higher education in North India 7. Caste, gig-economy, and youth: the resurgence of a new age caste politics in urban Gujarat 8. Fragmentation, diversity, and inequality: the city and everyday youth culture 9. “If not work, then what?”: work, ambition, and satisfaction among young women in urban India

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Author Information

Manisha Priyam is Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor, Monash University, Australia; Professor at National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India; and has academic writings and research on themes of Education Policy Reforms and Youth Lives. Mona G. Mehta is Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Arts at Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, India, and researches the cultural politics of urban transformations. Divya Vaid is Associate Professor of Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, and studies social mobility and social inequalities from both macro and micro perspectives.

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