This article wants to contribute to the ongoing debate within youth studies about the frameworks and concepts that inform research on the meanings of and transitions into adulthood. It aims to contribute to debates about the changing nature of life stages and the need for new conceptual categories and definitions of adulthood and of intergenerational relations. Thus, the first question that drives our reflections is: How do the radical transformations implied in the transition to adulthood pathway change the metaphors used to describe it, the ways of defining adulthood itself, and the scope for mutual recognition amongst different generations? Indeed, intergenerational relationships acquire more complexity in a framework in which a) structural factors like the precarisation of the labour market and the aging population heighten reciprocal interdependence and b) changes in the life-course patterns distance the different generations, especially in terms of biographical sense-making. These theoretical reflections arise from empirical work done in Northern Italy, with thirty-something people who are struggling with a prolonged and de-standardised transition process, negotiating “new adult roles”, particularly in the field of parenthood). This complex transition is significant and widespread in Italian context that, as part of the group of Southern welfare states, has low levels of welfare provision and high reliance on the family as a form of support.

This chapter introduces the approach to the analysis of lifelong learning policies adopted in the book. Departing from the debate about the meanings and aims of the lifelong learning policies over time, the topic is presented as a multidimensional object to be explored through a multi-method and multi-level analysis. This idea is supported by the introduction of a spatial metaphor, the imagery of landscapes of lifelong learning policies. The reconstruction of the theoretical framework and the methodology for comparative case study analysis provided in the following chapters are here justified according to their capacity to fit the purposes of the exploration of such landscapes. In addition, the chapter illustrates the empirical foundation of the materials analysed in the second part of the book and introduces the main topics of the different chapters.

Covid-19 has shed light on the Sino-Italian communities, usually perceived as a "minority model", based on their being considered as integrated, hard-working and silent. The media narratives about the relation between the spreading of the virus and the consumption of food framed as "disgusting" have neutralised the color-blindness usually applied to Asian migrants in Italy. The latent racism has been reinforced by a process of distinction focused on the disgust for an "abject" food. The reframing of the Sino-Italians as folk devils through the spread of gastro-panic has yet triggered processes of subjectivation, pushing them to make their voices heard on a public level. By the standpoint of 12 "Asian" restaurant owners in the city of Genoa, we explore the frame in which such dynamics have unfolded.

This chapter draws together insights generated by the comparative case studies and revisits the themes dealt with in view of the theoretical framework adopted to explore landscapes of Lifelong learning across Europe. The structure of the chapter reflects the organisation of the empirical section of the volume, yielding insights on the policies analysed from the different theoretical perspectives and entry points applied for the exploration of the case studies. Finally, questions are raised as to the meaning and relevance of the discussions undertaken throughout the volume for life course research and the opportunity structures for young people in an attempt to move forward from cases to lessons.