Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ethnicized Youth Subcultures and “Informal Learning” in Transitions to Work

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
International Handbook of Migration, Minorities and Education

Abstract

Young people who or whose parents have moved to another country are one of the key topics in debates around educational achievement, labour market integration and integration into European societies at large. While one strand of research and public debate focuses on these groups under the angle of the assumed threat to social cohesion and regards primarily young males as potential perpetrators, other strands stress the continuing inequality facing racialized and ethnisized groups especially in the education system and the labour market. While the first perspective in tendency interprets cultural or “ethnic” identities as a factor of self-exclusion, the latter often tends to over-emphasize structural aspects where young people’s ways of coping are seen as simple reflections to imposed disadvantageous situations. This chapter tries to develop an agency perspective on young people’s transitions which avoids these shortcuts by discussing the potentials of young people’s subcultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 349.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter was partially presented and discussed as a paper in the 4th Conference Young People & Societies in Europe and around the Mediterranean, Forlì, 26–28 March 2009.

  2. 2.

    The “street” designation corresponds to a metaphoric place constructed against institutional places such as “home” (ruled by parents) or the “class room” (ruled by professors). When the young people refer to the “street” usually they mean the exo-domiciliary and interstitial contexts where they live in their neighbourhoods or around.

  3. 3.

    For a discussion about the heuristic validity and productivity of the subculture concept in contemporary society, see Redhead 1997; Bennett 1999; Muggleton 2002 (2000); Blackman 2005; Hesmondhalgh 2005.

  4. 4.

    See Hall and Jefferson 1976; Mungham and Pearson 1976; Cohen and Taylor 1978; Hebdige 1986 (1979).

  5. 5.

    See, for instance, the first research produced by the Chicago School, such as the studies of Thrasher (1963 [1926]) or Whyte (2005 [1943]).

  6. 6.

    Crews of music rappers or DJs, break dancers, B-boys or painting writers/graffitists.

  7. 7.

    These specificities derive from the confrontation between triple cultural memberships: parental cultural background, dominant culture of the “host” society and global youth cultures.

  8. 8.

    See Raposo 2007, pp. 93–94. As it happens in the case of the Latin Kings in Barcelona, whose members are mainly Latin American, in particular Ecuadorian, but with an important percentage of natives, or even members coming from non-Latin countries such as Morocco, Russia or Equatorial Guinea (Feixa et al. 2008, p. 66). The various expressions of hip hop are also very present among the Latin Kings, and since the beginning, Latin cultures were immersed in hip hop cultures (Flores 1994). More than a strict ethnic identity (in fact, it is nowadays a trans-ethnic phenomenon), their participants share a strong feeling of socio-economic deprivation and discrimination.

  9. 9.

    As opposed to “commercial rap”, more elitized, whitened and “domesticated”.

  10. 10.

    Such as other micro-cultural youth styles not ethnicized. Cf. Pfaff, 2009.

  11. 11.

    About the social engagement of disadvantaged young people through artistic programmes and activities and its articulation with youth policy, see the research findings of Roeper and Savelsberg 2009.

  12. 12.

    In Portugal , for instance, Escolhas [Choices], a national State programme, had a pioneer role in that task. In its first phase of implementation, which took place until December 2003, it primarily focused on Youth Criminal Prevention and Integration in the most problematic residence areas of the districts of Lisbon, Oporto and Setúbal. At the end of this period, and giving up on a discourse based on the threat of criminality, initially quite stigmatizing for the Programme’s target audience, the new phase of Escolhas aims to promote the social inclusion of children and young people from the most deprived and problematic socio-economic contexts, giving support to youth collaborative projects and associations.

References

  • Bennett, A. (1999). Subcultures or neo-tribes? Rethinking the relationship between youth, style and musical taste. Sociology, 33(3), 599–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, S. (2005). Youth subcultural theory: A critical engagement with the concept, its origins and politics, from the Chicago School to postmodernism. Journal of Youth Studies, 8(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchet, D. (1999). Det knuste spejl, Afveje. Danmark: Odense Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casa-Nova, M. J. (2005). (I)migrantes, diversidades e desigualdades no sistema educativo português: Balanço e perspectivas. Ensaio, 13(47), 181–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheong, P. H., Edwards, R., Goulbourne, H., & Solomos, J. (2007). Immigration, social cohesion and social capital: A critical review. Critical Social Policy, 27(1), 24–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, St. J., & Taylor, L. (1978). Escape attempts: The theory and practise of resistance to everyday life. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Contador, A. (2001). Cultura Juvenil Negra em Portugal. Oeiras: Celta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Contador, A., & Ferreira, E. (1997). Ritmo e Poesia—Os Caminhos Do Rap. Lisbon: Assírio e Alvim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devadason, R. (2006). Class, ethnicity and individualisation: Young adult narratives of transition in two European cities. Journal of Education and Work, 19(2), 153–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downey, D. B. (2008). Black/white differences in school performance: The oppositional culture explanation. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 107–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drilling, M., & Gautschin, D. (2001). Youth cultures and adolescence: Limits to autonomous socialisation and demands on youth welfare. In A. Furlong & I. Guidikova (Eds.), Transitions of youth citizenship in Europe: Culture, subculture and identity (pp. 305–320). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feixa, C. (2008). Generation Uno Punto Cinco. Revista de Estudios de Juventud, 80, 115–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feixa, C., & Canelles, N. (2007). De bandas latinas a asociaciones juveniles: La expericencia de Barcelona. Educação, 61(1), 11–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feixa, C., Costa, C., & Pallarés, J. (2001). From okupas to makineros: Citizenship and youth cultures in Spain. In A. Furlong & I. Guidikova (Eds.), Transitions of youth citizenship in Europe: Culture, subculture and identity (pp. 289–303). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feixa, C., Canelles, N., Porzio, L., Recio, C., & Giliberti, L. (2008). Latin kings in Barcelona. In F. van Gemert, D. Peterson, & I.-L. Lien (Eds.), Street gangs, migration and ethnicity (pp. 63–78). Devon: Willan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, V. S. (2009). Youth scenes, body marks and bio-sociabilities. Young, 17(3), 285–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores, J. (1994). Puerto Rican and proud, boyee!: Rap, roots and amnesia. In A. Ross & T. Rose (Eds.), Microphone fiends: Youth, music and culture (pp. 89–98). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foitzik, A., & Pohl, A. (2009). Das Lob der Haare in der Suppe: Selbstreflexivität interkultureller Öffnung. In W. Scharathow & R. Leiprecht (Eds.), Rassismuskritik. Band 2: Rassismuskritische Bildungsarbeit (pp. 61–76). Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fradique, T. (2003). Fixar o Movimento: Representações da música rap em Portugal. Lisbon: Publicações D. Quixote.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frønes, I. (2001). Revolution without rebels: Gender, generation, and social change. In A. Furlong & I. Guidikova (Eds.), Transitions of youth citizenship in Europe: Culture, subculture and identity (pp. 217–234). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geisen, T. (2007). Der Blick der Forschung auf Jugendliche mit Migrationshintergrund. In C. Riegel & T. Geisen (Eds.), Jugend, Zugehörigkeit und Migration. Subjektpositionierung im Kontext von Jugendkultur, Ethnizitäts- und Geschlechterkonstruktionen (pp. 27–59). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottleib, J., & Wald, G. (1994). Smells like teen spirit: Riot Grrrls, revolution and women in independent rock. In A. Ross & T. Rose (Eds.), Microphone fiends: Youth music and youth culture (pp. 250–273). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guevara, N. (1996). Women writin’, rappin’, breakin’. In W. E. Perkins (Ed.), Droppin’ science: Critical essays on rap music and hip hop culture (pp. 49–62). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S., & Jefferson, T. (Eds.). (1976). Resistance through rituals: Youth cultures in post-war Britain. London: Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath, A. F., Rothon, C., & Kilpi, E. (2008). The second generation in Western Europe: Education, unemployment, and occupational attainment. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 211–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hebdige, D. (1986 [1979]). Subculture. The meaning of style. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesmondhalgh, D. (2005). Subcultures, scenes or tribes?: None of the above. Journal of Youth Studies, 8(1), 21–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, S. Q. (2006). Rethinking subcultural capital. Young, 14(3), 257–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lang, S. (2007). Interaktionen, Fremd- und Selbstrepräsentationen von Jugendlichen im Kontext von Migration. In T. Geisen & C. Riegel (Eds.), Jugend, Partizipation und Migration: Orientierungen im Kontext von Integration und Ausgrenzung (pp. 215–235). Wiesbaden: VS Verl. für Sozialwiss.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, R., & Shildrick, T. (2007). Street corner society: Leisure careers, youth (sub)culture and social exclusion. Leisure Studies, 26(2), 339–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado, F. L., & Matias, A. R. (2006). Jovens descendentes de imigrantes nas sociedades de acolhimento: Linhas de identificação sociológica. CIES e-working paper. CIES.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins, J. L. (2005). Jovens, Migrantes e a Sociedade da Informação e do Conhecimento: A escola perante a diversidade, Observatório da Imigração, nº 16, ACIME.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, F. (1977). Quest for an American sociology: Robert E. Park and the Chicago school. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, K. (1999). Struggles for subjectivity: Identity, action and youth experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McRobbie, A., & Garber, J. (1976). Girls and subcultures: An exploration. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance through rituals: Youth cultures in post-war Britain (pp. 208–222). London: Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melucci, A. (1989). Nomads of the Present: Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moldenhawer, B., Miera, F., Kallstenius, J., Messing, V., & Schiff, C. (2009). Comparative report on education: EDUMIGROM comparative papers. Budapest. http://www.edumigrom.eu/sites/default/files/field_attachment/page/node-1817/edumigromcomparativereporteducation.pdf. Accessed 3 January 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mørch, S., & Andersen, H. (2006). Individualisation and changing youth life. In C. Leccardi & E. Ruspini (Eds.), A new youth? Young people, generations and family life. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mørch, S., Bechmann Jensen, T., Stokholm, M., Hansen, B., & Pohl, A. (Eds.). (2008). Transitions to work of young people with an ethnic minority or migrant background: Thematic report of the UP2YOUTH project. Tübingen: IRIS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mørck, L. L. (2006). Grænsefællesskaber – læring og overskridelse af marginalisering. København: Roskilde Universitets Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mungham, G., & Pearson, G. (Eds.). (1976). Working class youth culture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muggleton, D. (2002 [2000]). Inside Subculture. The Postmodern Meaning of Style. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pais, J. M., & da Silva Blass, L. (Eds.). (2004). Tribos Urbanas: Produção Artística e Identidades. Lisbon: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pais, J. M., & Pohl, A. (2003). Of roofs and knives: The dilemmas of recognising informal learning. In A. López Blasco, W. McNeish, & A. Walther (Eds.), Young people and contradictions of inclusion: Towards integrated transition policies in Europe (pp. 223–241). Bristol: Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfaff, N. (2009). Youth culture as a context of political learning: How young people politicize amongst each other. Young, 17(2), 167–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phoenix, A. (2004). Neoliberalism and masculinity: Racialization and the contradictions of Schooling for 11-to 14-Year-Olds. Youth Society, 36(2), 227–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl, A., Du Bois-Reymond, M., & Burgess, P. (2006). Learning biographies: Case studies into dimensions and prerequisites of competence development. In A. Walther, M. Du Bois-Reymond, & A. Biggart (Eds.), Participation in transition: Motivation of young adults in Europe for learning and working (pp. 177–203). Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raposo, O. R. (2006). Nubai: O rap negro de Lisboa [Nubai. The black rap of Lisbon], documentary directed by the anthropologist Otávio Raposo, edited by João Rosas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raposo, O. R. (2007). Representa Red Eyes Gang: Das redes de amizade ao hip hop. Dissertação de Mestrado em Antropologia Urbana. ISCTE—Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redhead, St. (1997). Subculture to clubcultures. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roeper, J. de, & Savelsberg, H. J. (2009). Challenging the youth policy imperative: Engaging young people through the arts. Journal of Youth Studies, 12(2), 209–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simões, J. A. (2006). Entre o “real” e o “virtual”: Representações e práticas culturais juvenis fora e dentro da internet: O caso do Hip Hop português. Dissertação de Doutoramento em Sociologia. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas. Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simões, J. A., & Nunes, P. (2005). Entre subculturas e neotribos: Propostas de análise dos circuitos culturais juvenis: O caso da música rap e do hip-hop em Portugal, Fórum Sociológico, (13/14), 171–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skrobanek, J. (2007). Wahrgenommene Diskriminierung und (Re) Ethnisierung bei Jugendlichen mit türkischem Migrationshintergrund und jungen Aussiedlern. Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung und Sozialisation (ZSE), 27(3), 267–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spindler, S. (2007). Eine andere Seite männlicher Gewalt: Männlichkeit und Herkunft als Orientierung und Falle. In C. Riegel & T. Geisen (Eds.), Jugend, Zugehörigkeit und Migration: Subjektpositionierung im Kontext von Jugendkultur, Ethnizitäts- und Geschlechterkonstruktionen (pp. 289–306). Wiesbaden: VS Verl. für Sozialwiss.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Terpstra, J. (2006). Youth subculture and social exclusion. Young, 14(2), 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tertilt, H. (1996). Turkish power boys. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, W. I. (Eds.). (1909). Sourcebook for social origins. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, K. (1998). Moral panics. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, S. (1995). Club cultures: Music, media, and subcultural capital. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thrasher, F. M. (1963). The gang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vala, J., Ferreira, V. S., Lima, M. E., & Lopes, D. (Eds.). (2003). Simetrias e Identidades: Jovens Negros em Portugal: Colecção Estudos sobre a Juventude, nº 8. Oeiras: Celta/IPJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walther, A. (2009). It was not my choice, you know?: Young people’s subjective views and decision-making processes in biographical transitions. In I. Schoon & R. Silbereisen (Eds.), Transitions from school to work: Globalization, individualization, and patterns of diversity (pp. 121–144). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, W. F. (2005/1943). Sociedade de Esquina: A estrutura social de uma área urbana pobre e degradada. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Prof. Aníbal Bettencourt, n. 9, 1600-189, Lisboa, Portugal

    Vitor Sérgio Ferreira

  2. Institute for Regional Innovation and Social Research (IRIS e.V.), Fürststr. 3, 72072, Tübingen, Germany

    Axel Pohl

Authors
  1. Vitor Sérgio Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Axel Pohl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vitor Sérgio Ferreira .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Melton Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91905, Israel

    Zvi Bekerman

  2. Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit, Institut Integration und Partizipation, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Riggenbachstrasse 16, Olten, 4600, Switzerland

    Thomas Geisen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Ferreira, V.S., Pohl, A. (2012). Ethnicized Youth Subcultures and “Informal Learning” in Transitions to Work. In: Bekerman, Z., Geisen, T. (eds) International Handbook of Migration, Minorities and Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1466-3_44

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation