The Historiography of Sexuality in Modern Germany

In this introductory essay the editors suggest that the fieldof the history of sexuality in general and in modern Germanyin particular has been organized around a complex of questionsposed by the discourse theory of Foucault and other post-structuralists.The model proposed by these theorists and elaborated in thehistorical literature of the past twenty years has given usa coherent and widely influential narrative of the developmentof modern sexualities. This model, however, is now being calledinto question by historians who explore the social constructionof sexualities in greater detail and argue that sexuality isconstructed not by sexual experts (e.g., medical, criminological,psychiatric, and psychological experts) but within diverse andparticular social milieux. The papers in this issue exemplifythis trend, focusing their attention on the complexities ofsexual discourse and revealing some of the ways in which constructionsof sexuality were contested, contradictory, and shaped by themicropolitics of other social fields (such as politics, production,and the market). Taken together, they suggest that the historyof sexuality is entering an exciting new creative phase.     

Youth transitions: mobility and the travel intentions of 12–20 year olds,Reading, UK

ABSTRACT

Whilst Western societies may have reached ‘peak car’, young people are arguably the most significant group whose levels of car ownership, use and driving licence acquisition have declined. Against this backdrop, the paper discusses qualitative research conducted in Reading, UK, considering young people’s (aged 12–20) views about bus travel. Whilst current pricing structures (both in Reading and across the UK) often offer under 18s discounted travel, the paper explores young people’s intentions about future travel as young adults. Drawing upon theorisations around youth transitions, we discuss how young people expect their mobility patterns to change as young adults in complex, shifting, fluid ways, and to involve multi-modal travel. Young people construct complex choice biographies through which they plan pathways to navigate these mobility transitions. Although a small-scale study, this paper also offers some insights into the challenges, complexities and limitations of researching mobility intention.