{"id":4661,"date":"2026-09-28T13:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/?page_id=4661"},"modified":"2026-09-28T13:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:48:26","slug":"growing-up-in-the-culture-war","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/research-themes\/generations\/growing-up-in-the-culture-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing up in the Culture Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/files\/2026\/09\/9781509567058.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4652 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/files\/2026\/09\/9781509567058.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"257\" height=\"395\" \/><\/a>In their 2026 book <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politybooks.com\/bookdetail?book_slug=growing-up-in-the-culture-wars-identity-affirmation-and-generational-conflict--9781509567058\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Growing Up in the Culture Wars<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, Jennie Bristow and Ellie Lee explore the ways in which young people\u2019s struggles with questions of identity and the experience of growing up reflect a deeper crisis of socialisation. Here are some reviews, interviews and media coverage\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reviews<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;A refreshing and unflinching analysis of the challenges of growing up in this post-Covid polarised world \u2013 and one that doesn&#8217;t blame either the young people themselves or the scapegoat of technology for the world they face.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Timandra Harkness, author of <\/b><b><i>Technology Is Not the Problem: Why We Surrender Our Data in the Personalised Century<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;This book is a fascinating, original examination of the fraying bonds between generations. It doesn&#8217;t hesitate to lay the blame where it belongs but avoids facile alarmism. A must-read for anyone concerned by the fact that something has gone awry with the institutions responsible for forming the next generation.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Helen Joyce, author of <\/b><b><i>Trans: Gender Identity and the New Battle for Women&#8217;s Rights<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Culture wars surge and recede, but the fundamentals of raising children endure. When ideology colonises not just the parent\u2013child relationship but the very bonds between generations, it is young people who inevitably pay the price. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Growing Up in the Culture Wars<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> cuts through the noise to recover what genuinely matters \u2013 and shows how good parenting can rise above fashionable identitarianism.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Keith Hayward, author of <\/b><b><i>Infantilised: How Our Culture Killed Adulthood<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;A brilliant study of coming of age amid the culture wars. Bristow and Lee show how shifting politics, fractured institutions, and changing paths of socialisation reshape a generation&#8217;s sense of self and future. Rigorously researched and sympathetically argued, the book synthesises numerous social trends and is full of illuminating observations that reframe familiar debates. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand contemporary young people and the world they are growing up in.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Tiffany Jenkins, author of <\/b><b><i>Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><b><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;This is a smart, expansive analysis of growing up, with insights and talking points on every page. Bristow and Lee engage unflinchingly with some of the hardest issues our society faces. Their book draws richly on sociology and other frameworks, highlighting the relevance of atomisation, cultural flashpoints and identity in what it means to be part of a family today. It&#8217;s a clear, thoughtful and thought-provoking read, which I highly recommend.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Matilda Gosling, author of <\/b><b><i>Teenagers: The Evidence Base<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Interviews and media coverage<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectator.com\/article\/the-trouble-with-humanities\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawUjXrhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4Pl0VryR-Inyx5vLV-JleKzHwa2zKgEmzjDLarzor7k1FQimYZxYEuNLx0yQ_aem_MWetna2Ol72mfTDtf6k2QQ\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The trouble with humanities.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Theo Hobson writes in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Spectator, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">31 August 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U_AUtyNrZb0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cYou don\u2019t need a pamphlet to raise a child\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Ellie Lee talks to Hilary Salt and Sebastian Moore on the Take Me Home podcast, 24 September 2026.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In their 2026 book Growing Up in the Culture Wars, Jennie Bristow and Ellie Lee explore the ways in which young people\u2019s struggles with questions of identity and the experience of growing up reflect a deeper crisis of socialisation. Here are some reviews, interviews and media coverage\u00a0 Reviews &#8220;A refreshing and unflinching analysis of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"parent":1939,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4661"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4667,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4661\/revisions\/4667"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/parentingculturestudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}