Explores the topic of youth from a rural perspective by using the countryside as a lens for understanding youth training

Compares the similarities and differences of four different youth movements

Analyses change and continuity through the interwar period, the Second World War and the post-war period

Autorentext
Sian Edwards is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Winchester, UK.

Klappentext
This book explores the significance and meaning of the countryside within mid-twentieth century youth movements. It examines the ways in which the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, Woodcraft Folk and Young Farmers' Club organisations employed the countryside as a space within which 'good citizenship' in leisure, work, the home and the community  could be developed.  Mid-century youth movements identified the 'problem' of modern youth as a predominantly urban and working class issue. They held that the countryside offered an effective antidote to these problems: being a 'good citizen' within this context necessitated a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with the rural sphere. Avenues to good citizenship could be found through an enthusiasm for outdoor recreation, the stewardship of the countryside and work on the land. However, models of good citizenship were intrinsically gendered. 

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Good Citizen and the English Countryside.- Chapter 3: Leisure and the Good Citizen.- Chapter 4: The Good Citizen at Work.- Chapter 5: The Good Citizen at Home.- Chapter 6: The Good Citizen in the Community.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.