Unfolding lives: youth, gender and change, by Rachel Thomson (book review)

This is a book that would appeal to a range of readers, as intended by the author, including those interested in qualitative research, narrative methodology and contemporary research on gender and youth, With reference to late modern and feminist theory, the book’s overarching themes are concerned with detraditionalism, identity and agency. In order to explore this, the book takes longitudinal case studies of four young people from very different backgrounds as they make the transition into adulthood. These are drawn from the wider ‘Investing Adulthoods’ study that the author undertook with colleagues in five contrasting areas of the UK, ending in 2007. The case studies utilise the biographical material available from the young people’s narratives from a series of interviews, three to five per person, obtained at different points in time over a maximum of 10 years. The development of a qualitative longitudinal method of research is one of the main strengths of this book.