Written for a 1988 bilateral United Kingdom-West German conference, the chapters in this volume examine childhood and youth as socially constructed life stages within the context of contemporary social and cultural change. Following the editors' introduction are 14 papers: "What Does the Future Hold? Youth and Sociocultural Change in the FRG" (J. Zinneker); "A Sharper Lens or a New Camera? Youth Research, Young People and Social Change in Britain" (L. Chisholm); "Persons in Their Own Right: Children and Sociology in the UK" (D. Leonard); "Growing Up in the Eighties: Changes in the Social Biography of Childhood in the FRG" (P. Buchner); "Schooling and Economic Life in the UK" (Phillip Brown); "Caught Between Homogenization and Disintegration: Changes in the Life-phase 'Youth' in West Germany Since 1945" (H. H. Kruger); "The Shifting Sands of a Social Contract: Young People in Transition Between School and Work" (H. Kruger); "Beyond Individualization: What Sort of Social Change?" (G. Jones and C. Wallace); "Patriarchy for Children: On the Stability of Power Relations in Children's Lives" (J. Hood-Williams); "Illusory Quality: The Discipline-based Anticipatory Socialization of University Students" (S. Engler); "Youth, Race and Language in Contemporary Britain: Deconstructing Ethnicity?" (R. Hewitt); "How 'Black' Are the German Turks? Ethnicity, Marginality and Inter-ethnic Relations for Young People of Turkish Origin in the FRG" (G. Auernheimer); "Changing Leisure and Cultural Patterns Among British Youth" (M. Brake); and "West German Youth Cultures at the Close of the Eighties" (W. Ferchhoff). Included are about 900 references, notes on contributors, and an index. (MLH)