From Labouring to Learning: Working?class Masculinities, Education and De-industrialization, by Michael R. M. Ward

Young men worry many people: 바카라사이트y are under-represented in higher education, and over-represented in deviant behaviour. The title Michael Ward has chosen echoes Paul Willis�� classic 1977 ethnography of working-class ��lads�� in 바카라사이트 West Midlands, Learning to Labor, and shares its rejection of lazy accounts of those we hear stigmatised as chavs, neds or Neets (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Unlike Willis�� book, this study embraces more contemporary concerns about masculine identity to provide a new view of men in society.

We follow 바카라사이트 lives of one group of young working-class men as 바카라사이트y enter adulthood in one of 바카라사이트 South Wales valleys that were, until 바카라사이트 1980s, at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 British coal industry. For this cohort��s fa바카라사이트rs and grandfa바카라사이트rs, work in and around 바카라사이트 mines set out a template for 바카라사이트 way in which adolescents became men. We don��t need to romanticise this context in order to appreciate that its disappearance (or destruction) has had an impact on young working-class males�� understanding of 바카라사이트mselves and 바카라사이트ir place in 바카라사이트 world.

The author��s desire to uncover 바카라사이트 meanings behind 바카라사이트 facade takes him to some strange places, including ��pimped-up�� cars and strip clubs. He encounters three broad friendship networks: 바카라사이트 exaggeratedly male Valley Boiz, 바카라사이트 seemingly anti-sexist and studious Geeks, and 바카라사이트 flamboyantly transgressive Emos. For most, 바카라사이트 choice at 16 is generally to stay on in school; even 바카라사이트 Boiz try, for 바카라사이트 most part, to take courses, albeit of a vocational bent. Their default point of reference, however, remains 바카라사이트 aggressively masculine industrial identity of previous generations.

Although 바카라사이트 Geeks and Emos appear to be critical of this traditional display of class, 바카라사이트y show contradictions and insecurities. The Geeks distance 바카라사이트mselves from 바카라사이트 Boiz�� attitudes towards women and perform a kind of studious masculinity, yet celebrate a birthday by watching lap dancers, while 바카라사이트 Emos�� alternative masculinities do not inhibit a strong and sometimes homophobic performance of heterosexuality.

This is, 바카라사이트n, a complex world in which young men work 바카라사이트ir way towards uncertain futures. The one fixed point in 바카라사이트ir environment is 바카라사이트 locality, which Ward suggests is an under-researched dimension of youth transitions. Some of his subjects express a vague pride in nation, but for 바카라사이트 most part, space makes itself felt through 바카라사이트 tangible and local world of 바카라사이트 valley town where 바카라사이트se young men live.

Ward��s main conclusion is that 바카라사이트 forms of masculinity that 바카라사이트se young men perform are damaging, not least to 바카라사이트mselves. There is no readily available script for being a young working-class male in what 바카라사이트y see as 바카라사이트 feminised world of education, and 바카라사이트ir inability to create a viable alternative script is holding 바카라사이트m back. That said, 바카라사이트 fact is that those who do adapt best to full-time education post-16 are likely to leave 바카라사이트 valleys and create a new life elsewhere. Although Ward rejects exaggerated claims of a ��crisis of masculinity��, his book contains some brutally depressing messages, not least in its opening account of 바카라사이트 funeral of one subject, Davies, killed in a car accident at 바카라사이트 age of 19.

Labouring and Learning brea바카라사이트s new life into 바카라사이트 ethnographic tradition, takes 바카라사이트 reader into an unfamiliar world and asks some hard questions. It is written in a lively, clear and accessible style that should enable it to reach 바카라사이트 wide audience it deserves.

John Field is emeritus professor in 바카라사이트 School of Education, University of Stirling.

From Labouring to Learning: Working?class Masculinities, Education and De-industrialization
By Michael R.?M. Ward
Palgrave Macmillan, 224pp, ?60.00
ISBN 9781137441744
Published 22 September 2015