Facing uncertainty

The ‘second modernity’ is producing significant changes both in the temporal (and spatial) parameters of the social world and in the ways in which one experiences it. The article deals with the repercussions of these changes in the construction of young people’s biographies in a social context characterized by great uncertainty, acceleration and fragmentation. New temporal representations are examined, focusing on the ways in which young people relate to the future and try to establish control over their own life time. The discussion is supported by the results of recently concluded Italian research on the subject of contemporary transformations of temporality among young people.