No Destination? Unveiling the Traces of the Future Among Young Asylum Seekers in “Waithood”

‘Moving the Apocalypse a Little Further Away’: Young Italian Activists Between Future Crises and Everyday Utopias

The relationship that contemporary youth have with the future is marked by the intersection of multiple crises that affect their everyday experiences and future aspirations. In the face of this unfavourable socio-economic and existential condition, studies show that young people not only succeed in coming to terms with uncertainty and precariousness but also look to the future in terms of possibilities and hope. Within the framework of a more general reflection on the crisis of the future in contemporary societies, understanding the connection between agency (political agency, in particular) and the future in the experience of youth becomes central. Starting from the analysis of 42 narrative interviews with young people engaged in unconventional political practices in Italy, this article focuses on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on youth political activism, paying particular attention to the temporal dimension. The results show that young activists re-signified the crisis in terms of an unexpected opportunity to reshape their repertoires of action as well as their ways of relating to the future. This re-signification has taken the form of real utopias that, while unfolding in the everyday, also take on an active idea of the future.

The Road, the Cost and the Wait: A Multidimensional Analysis of Irregular Migration From Afghanistan to Türkiye

Irregular migration from Afghanistan to Türkiye has undergone a structural transformation following the Taliban's return to power in 2021—a shift in both scale and character, marked by institutional collapse and the flight of professionals alongside the poor. Drawing on van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology together with the aspirations‐capabilities, migration infrastructure, transit migration and existential immobility literatures, this study examines the lived experiences of 17 migrants and 10 expert informants, supplemented by one focus group, across several cities in Türkiye. Four themes emerge: the layered architecture of migration motivations, within which a structural hopelessness, the participants name ‘seeing no future’, extends beyond economic and security concerns; the route and its instalment‐based economy with smugglers; Türkiye's hybrid role between transit hub and destination; and the search condition produced by plural belonging and suspended time. The study contributes empirically to the institutionalised, post‐arrival debt relations of brokerage infrastructures and to Türkiye's position beyond the transit‐destination dichotomy.

Resistance Through Redemption

War-induced migration has made people leave their homeland, searching for a haven, grappling with their identity and culture. The tribulations and plights of individuals and communities moving across various geographical spaces are vividly portrayed through literature, films, and other artistic media. For centuries, wars have made indelible impacts on Afghanistan, shaping the Afghan livelihoods, culture, and history. The country slipped into its dark age when the Taliban swept to power, and its social, cultural, and economic well-being was at stake. Marc Forster directed the movie The Kite Runner, which delves deep into the social, ethnic, and political background of Afghanistan through the themes of power and resistance. The protagonist, Amir, is consumed by a feeling of moral culpability for not supporting his friend Hassan during a crisis. This study analyzes the character Amir, who is driven by guilt and shame, and experiences personal growth and positive psychological change following a traumatic event. The accumulated trauma allows Amir to resist the power dynamics of his country, thereby attaining redemption for his past inaction. This study delineates how Amir’s moral redemption can be viewed as a form of resistance against the oppressive social forces, which will be further analyzed under the theoretical framework of trauma theory and post-traumatic growth. The depiction of power and resistance in movies aids in a better understanding of the complex realities of different communities amidst the war.

Young NEETs: A Portrait of a ‘Holding Pattern’ Daily Activities and Perceptions of the Current Moment in Life

The “sacred time” of the liminal phase: New perspective on rationalization in guidance

“Us is all saints, but children matter less”: Mattering, belonging, and futures in a small island territory

This article explores how children on St Helena Island navigate what it means to matter. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory and participatory World Café methods with children on the remote British Overseas Territory of St Helena, the study illuminates how young people articulate their sense of belonging, fairness, safety, and aspirations for the future within the constraints of a small island. Four categories were constructed: desiring equality and fairness, making space for children, keeping healthy and feeling safe, and migrating towards possibilities. Analysis suggested that children’s accounts across these domains were shaped by ongoing colonial legacies, conceptualised here as colonial scarring. Together, these categories informed the development of the concept of learning mattering, introduced in this study as the ongoing process through which children come to understand whether they are valued by others and able to contribute within relational, institutional, and structural contexts. Situating St Helena within broader debates on island childhoods and marginalisation, the article advances mattering as a critical construct for understanding children’s lives in remote, postcolonial, and internationally dependent contexts. Findings highlight both the agency and resilience of children, while underscoring the need for policies that meaningfully include children’s voices in shaping futures across island territories.