The Situation of Youth in Adult-Centered Societies

Abstract

This paper analyzes the emergency of the youth situation in Colombia based on the consolidation of the adult-centered society, related to the unfolding of transnational capitalism and neocolonialism. The first section goes through the conformation of this type of society, by analyzing the inequality and exclusion systems, and the circulation of narratives about young people associated with preparation, consumption and dangerousness. In the second section, the term joven- sacer is proposed, based on Agamben’s approaches to bare life and sovereign power, to show the forms of subhumanization. Finally, the need is raised to rethink the relationship between institutions and youths in order to build other options of existence for these individuals in present time.