Drawing on empirical research and theoretical writings, this book examines how concepts such as risk society and individualization may be used in the field of youth studies. It explores young peoples' identities, youth cultures, and a multiplicity of ways in which risk can be understood and influence youth policy agendas in the future. Chapter 1, "Introduction: Studying Young People in Late Modernity" (Mark Cieslik, Gary Pollock), introduces risk and risk society; the Third Way and social policy; changing face of youth research, policy, and practice; youth transitions; and youth cultures and identity. The remainder of the book is loosely divided into two sections. Chapters 2-5 explore young people's identities and youth cultures in relation to issues such as drug use, education and training, and dance music. In various ways, the authors examine whether there is a need to rethink some existing theories and concepts that have informed the study of youth cultures and identities. Chapters are "Young Offenders, Risk, and Personal Development Programs" (Geoff Nichols); "Young People and Illicit Drug Use in Postmodern Times?" (Tracy Shildrick); "Victims of Risk? Young People and the Construction of Lifestyles" (Steven Miles); and "Global Clubcultures: Cultural Flows and Late Modern Dance Music Culture" (Ben Carrington, Brian Wilson). Chapters 6-9 are concerned with how young people experience "transitions" in relation to such topics as employment, sexuality, and household formation. They raise theoretical questions about the usefulness of the transition concept in late modernity and consider how the reshaping of key institutions in late modernity has had a profound effect on the sorts of transitions young people make today. The chapters are "Research on Youth Transitions: Some Critical Interventions" (Tracey Skelton); "New Deal or Raw Deal? Dilemmas and Paradoxes of State Interventions into the Youth Labor Market" (Barry Percy-Smith, Susan Weil); "Domestic and Housing Transitions and the Negotiation of Intimacy" (Sue Heath); and "Ignoring the Past: Underemployment and Risk in Late Modernity" (Gary Pollock). The chapters have substantial reference lists. (YLB)