How does a Zanzibari “beach boy” use Western erotic scripts to pursue social mobility? How can the defense of traditional sexual morality by young French aristocrats serve to protect their mode of social reproduction? Through cases ranging from “old-young love” in China to “social passing” in Moroccan nightlife, this volume shows how sexuality is shaped by social class - and how it, in turn, reproduces, negotiates, or contests social inequalities.

Drawing on original research from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, the contributors examine the co-construction of youth sexuality and social class across diverse global contexts. Combining ethnographic, sociological, and interdisciplinary perspectives, they reveal how globalization, migration, capitalism, and state regulation shape sexual tastes, identities, trajectories, and politics. The result is a major contribution to the study of youth, sexuality, and social stratification worldwide.