Youth Culture and Participation

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Youth Culture and Participation Youth culture and pARTici pation Report of the study session held by Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe AISBL in co-operation with the European Youth Centre Budapest of the Council of Europe European Youth Centre Budapest 28 November – 5 December 2010 This report gives an account of various aspects of the study session. It has been produced by and is the responsibility of the educational team of the study session. It does not represent the official point of view of the Council of Europe. 2 DJS/EYCB/CDN/2011/010 Budapest, 7 April 2011 Youth culture and pARTicipation Report of the study session held by Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe AISBL in co-operation with the European Youth Centre Budapest of the Council of Europe European Youth Centre Budapest 28 November - 5 December 2010. Acknowledgements Antonina Yelistratova, Mihalea Niga, Nicolas Scheafer Vesna Jusup – course director Nik Paddison – external educational adviser Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe AISBL Rue Wiertz 31, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium tel: +3816389434238, fax: +381113246668 [email protected] www.cdnee..org 3 4 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 7 PROGRAMME - INPUTS AND DISCUSSIONS...................................................................................... 11 MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE STUDY SESSION ..................................................................................... 21 FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................... 24 FINAL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................... 25 ANALYSIS OF THE SESSION.................................................................................................................. 25 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................. 28 1. CALL FOR PREP TEAM ................................................................................................................. 29 2. APPLICATION FOR PREP TEAM MEMBERS ............................................................................. 30 3. CALL FOR THE PARTICIPANTS .................................................................................................. 33 4. APPLICATION FOR PARTICIPANTS ........................................................................................... 36 5. PARTICIPANTS LIST:..................................................................................................................... 38 6. PREP TEAM MEETING AGENDA................................................................................................. 39 7. PARTICIPANTS AGENDA ............................................................................................................. 40 8. 10 COMMANDMENTS.................................................................................................................... 41 9. STATEMENT.................................................................................................................................... 42 10. REPORT COMMITTEE DAILY PATTERN................................................................................... 43 11. EVALUATION FORM ..................................................................................................................... 44 12. PUBLICATION................................................................................................................................. 47 13. NIK PADDISON LECTURE 1: Adolescence................................................................................... 56 15. NIK PADDISON LECTURE 2: “Youth Culture and PARTicipation”............................................. 63 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the upcoming pages we will try to summarize and transfer in the best way our experience from Study session “Youth culture and pARTicipation”, that took place from 28th of November to 5th of December 2010. This project was organized by Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe (CDN) in co-operation with European Youth Centre Budapest of the Council of Europe. Event gathered participants from Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Spain. International preparatory team was formed on base of an open call and consisted of Antonina Yelistratova (Green Generation, Belarus), Mihaela Niga (Romanian Young Greens), Nicolas Scheafer (Luxembourg Young Greens/ Federation of Young European Greens) and Vesna Jusup (Cooperation and Development Network Eastern Europe AISBL / Course director). External educational adviser was Nik Paddison (United Kingdom) and internal educational adviser Annette Schneider (CoE-EYCB). This Study Session resulted out of yearly work of CDN Culture working group that has as its main aims to organise cultural and educational activities in order to Promote Green idea and multiculturalism, examine notions of cultures and youth and their return impact and influence on society. The project aimed to gather young people active in their societies to explore deeply these issues and create common ground for future actions, by either supporting it with experience and knowledge gained, either through a pool of ideas for actions or by establishing contacts and co-operations. The study session also provided the culture working group with wider experience and resources ensuring new sparkles and motivation for future work. Results of this project are expected to support CDN member organisations in dealing with similar topics or working in this field, and participants for an extension of their involvement in national and international youth movement, young people Europe (and worldwide) in their work. In this report the aims, objectives and methods will be explained closely and in more detail. It is hoped that it will be sufficient to understand the flow of the programme, connection of objectives, methods used, activities and resulted outputs and outcomes. We hope that the impact we made will be motivating enough for others to use our experience, disseminate the results and help us to better understand cultures, promotion of youth activism and strengthening youth role in society. 6 INTRODUCTION 2a. Background As stated before, the project was initiated by CDN Culture working group. This group was established after CDN Summer Camp 2008 “Youth culture as a sustainable path towards democratic society” held in Zlaca, Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the summer camp it was underlined that culture and art can and should be powerful tools for promotion of active role of youth, reaching and motivating young people. Working groups were formed aiming to organize or provide a platform for cultural/ artistic event that will wide Eastern Europe promote Green principles, youth activism and multiculturalism. Photo exposition on Youth Participation was conducted, following role of youngsters during the history from ancient Greek and Roman times till Modern age, in Zagreb, Bratislava and Belgrade until now. Still, productiveness of group was stagnating because of internal discussions and disagreements what the culture is, what youth culture represents in its independent meaning and how does it reflects in society, what are indications and reasons of its acceptance or rejection...Etc., leaving much more questions than answers. Understanding that there is no correct answer but rather different views and experiences WG wrote a project that has main aim to examine these notions and their connections with youth participation and active role of youth in society. 2b. Aims and Objectives: Stated aims and objectives in project application were kept and sustained during preparation period and event itself. Members of preparatory group found themselves devoted to this aims and stated that motivation for applying and taking role in this organisational team was for big part due to agreement with aims of the project and desire to work on their fulfilment. They were presented to participants also during introduction session, using colourful method and joint agreement was made with all to work on aims and objectives as they are. AIMS: 1. Explore and discuss concepts of Youth (sub)culture, its elements, relations to social categories and survey its cultural impact in society towards social inclusion of youth. 2. Examine notion of Youth activism, as part of youth culture that is directly affecting on positive change on society in which young people are truly able to express political thoughts and ideas. 3. Learn about public art as way of expressing identity and forming youth culture and promote it as tool for improving youth participation in civil society as much as using classical art heritage for same purpose. OBJECTIVES: We want to identify main aspects of youth culture, its connections to social categories such as age, social classes, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and ways how society is perceiving youth, determinating its role and impact. 7 Understanding youth culture as ways how young people differentiate themselves from the mainstreams,
Recommended publications
  • "Street Kids": an Ethnographic Study of a Deviant Adolescent Subcultural Group
    "STREET KIDS": AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY "STREET KIDS": AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF A DEVIANT ADOLESCENT SUBCULTURAL GROUP. By JO-ANN B. CLIMENHAGE, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University (c) copyright by Jo-Ann Climenhage, September 1989. MASTER OF ARTS (1989) MCMASTER UNIVERSITY (Sociology) Hamilton, ontario TITLE: "Street Kids": An Ethnographic Study of a Deviant Adolescent Subcultural Group. AUTHOR: Jo-Ann B. Climenhage B.A. (McMaster University.) SUPERVISOR: Dr. Jane Synge. NUMBER OF PAGES: viii, 196 ii Abstract /' I This thesis examines the social organization of <~;I( "street kids." Participation in street life can be an <jl~~\. II. ._,{ '\' 'ft!' alienating and isolating experience. I suggest adolescents / y~A~..t~1 I:L,d t.:; ':. ~':'. who leave intolerable family situation~ in favour of street :V~;<~;'\'- ' life, counterbalance the debilitating effects of individual isolation on the streets by participating in an alternative, adolescent subculture. This particular subcultural group I have chosen to study, constitutes a type of "(pseudo_family)." I contend that ---_.. -.--.-~-_. '-'-~. ----._.-.-----..~,-~ while this "street kid" group represents a "family" for these (j.", !11\" )1.::; adolescents , it also perpetuates a sense of victimIz'ation and 'I, ,J, is fraught with problems amongst its members, just like the :,:; ~j~ JT:~ ,r-"l:: home lives which they abandoned. Information drawn from Ii': numerous friendship networks within the "street kid" group pr%+vide eVid~~ge to support this contention·l~/' ' :.c! Emphasis is placed on understanding the @ngoing meaning of adolescent street life as viewed by male and female actors within this group.
    [Show full text]
  • African Refugee Youth's Experiences of Navigating Different Cultures in Canada
    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article African Refugee Youth’s Experiences of Navigating Different Cultures in Canada: A “Push and Pull” Experience Roberta L. Woodgate 1,* and David Shiyokha Busolo 2 1 Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, College of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada 2 Faculty of Nursing, University of New Brunswick, Moncton, NB E1C 0L2, Canada; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Refugee youth face challenges in navigating different cultures in destination countries and require better support. However, we know little about the adaptation experiences of African refugee youth in Canada. Accordingly, this paper presents the adaptation experiences of African refugee youth and makes recommendations for ways to support youth. Twenty-eight youth took part in semi-structured interviews. Using a thematic analysis approach, qualitative data revealed four themes of: (1) ‘disruption in the family,’ where youth talked about being separated from their parent(s) and the effect on their adaptation; (2) ‘our cultures are different,’ where youth shared differences between African and mainstream Canadian culture; (3) ‘searching for identity: a cultural struggle,’ where youth narrated their struggles in finding identity; and (4) ‘learning the new culture,’ where youth narrated how they navigate African and Canadian culture. Overall, the youth presented with challenges in adapting to cultures in Canada and highlighted how these struggles were influenced Citation: Woodgate, R.L.; Busolo, D.S. African Refugee Youth’s by their migration journey. To promote better settlement and adaptation, youth could benefit from Experiences of Navigating Different supports and activities that promote cultural awareness with attention to their migration experiences.
    [Show full text]
  • Filipino Americans and Polyculturalism in Seattle, Wa
    FILIPINO AMERICANS AND POLYCULTURALISM IN SEATTLE, WA THROUGH HIP HOP AND SPOKEN WORD By STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN AMERICAN STUDIES WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of American Studies DECEMBER 2008 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of STEPHEN ALAN BISCHOFF find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. _____________________________________ Chair, Dr. John Streamas _____________________________________ Dr. Rory Ong _____________________________________ Dr. T.V. Reed ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Since I joined the American Studies Graduate Program, there has been a host of faculty that has really helped me to learn what it takes to be in this field. The one professor that has really guided my development has been Dr. John Streamas. By connecting me to different resources and his challenging the confines of higher education so that it can improve, he has been an inspiration to finish this work. It is also important that I mention the help that other faculty members have given me. I appreciate the assistance I received anytime that I needed it from Dr. T.V. Reed and Dr. Rory Ong. A person that has kept me on point with deadlines and requirements has been Jean Wiegand with the American Studies Department. She gave many reminders and explained answers to my questions often more than once. Debbie Brudie and Rose Smetana assisted me as well in times of need in the Comparative Ethnic Studies office. My cohort over the years in the American Studies program have developed my thinking and inspired me with their own insight and work.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critique and Agenda for Taking Youth Subcultures Seriously Jeffrey S
    University of New Haven Digital Commons @ New Haven Sociology Faculty Publications Sociology 2013 Are the Kids Alright? A Critique and Agenda for Taking Youth Subcultures Seriously Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl University of New Haven, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/sociology-facpubs Part of the Sociology Commons Publisher Citation Debies-Carl, Jeffrey S. 2013. “Are the Kids Alright? A Critique and Agenda for Taking Youth Subcultures Seriously.” Social Science Information 52(1), 110-33. doi: 10.1177/0539018412466636 Comments This is the author's accepted manuscript of the published article. The final version can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0539018412466636 ARE THE KIDS ALRIGHT? A CRITIQUE AND AGENDA FOR TAKING YOUTH CULTURES SERIOUSLY ABSTRACT Researchers have long been fascinated with youth subcultures. Decades of study have yielded several competing paradigms which attempt to interpret these subcultures in diverse ways, with each succeeding paradigm criticizing, and attempting to improve on, those that came before it. Rather than offering criticism of a specific youth studies paradigm, this paper provides a critique of this body of theory as a whole, by delineating several theoretical assumptions that have persisted across these perspectives. These include: 1) the tendency to group all youth phenomena under a monolithic conceptual umbrella, 2) a preoccupation on the part of researchers with style and the consumption of goods, and 3) the assumed lack of rational behavior found in subcultures and an accompanying inability on the part of subcultures to achieve real goals or effect social change. It is argued that such assumptions trivialize subcultures, have lead to a priori understandings of these without adequate empirical grounding, and must be addressed if subcultures are to be adequately understood and appreciated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sociology of Youth Subcultures
    Peace Review 16:4, December (2004), 409-4J 4 The Sociology of Youth Subcultures Alan O'Connor The main theme in the sociology of youth subcultures is the reladon between social class and everyday experience. There are many ways of thinking about social class. In the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu the main factors involved are parents' occupation and level of education. These have signilicant effects on the life chances of their children. Social class is not a social group: the idea is not that working class kids or middle class kids only hang out together. There may be some of this in any school or town. Social class is a structure. It is shown to exist by sociological research and many people may only be partly aware of these structures or may lack the vocabulary to talk about them. It is often the case that people blame themselves—their bad school grades or dead-end job—for what are, at least in part, the effects of a system of social class that has had significant effects on their lives. The main point of Bourdieu's research is to show that many kids never had a fair chance from the beginning. n spite of talk about "globalizadon" there are significant differences between Idifferent sociedes. Social class works differently in France, Mexico and the U.S. For example, the educadon system is different in each country. In studying issues of youth culture, it is important to take these differences into account. The system of social class in each country is always experienced in complex ways.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Youth Culture
    PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION FALL 2010 | PAGE 19 Why Youth Culture By Ralph Cintron, University of Illinois at Chicago A few weeks ago I read an article by queathed something to Dwight, which and the Lyric performers believe what a philosopher (whose name I cannot he passed on to me without knowing they believe? Why has this become recall) in the New York Times and the it, and I, just maybe, passed it on to their commonsense? And why isn’t it subsequent blog responses. The subject Joe, also without knowing it, and so everyone’s commonsense, for instance, was Lady Gaga. Many of the respond- on down the line, a thematic moving those people on the other side of the ers could not fathom why a philoso- through the hands of those who may culture wars? There is a need for the pher would want to waste her time on be real strangers, but in the actions making of a sympathetic, historical a cheap cultural icon who “clearly” was of reading and writing turn out to be inquiry that maps the evolution of the meaningless—or rather had only one not so strange to each other. Again liberal/progressive social imaginary, meaning, namely, the commodification my best to Joe’s wife and his family. what its foundational claims are and of meaninglessness under hyper-capi- So, some of us have this thing about its particular dependence on a certain talism. They asked: Is this the irrele- youth culture. There is so much of it interpretation of social change. Such a vance to which contemporary philoso- in the anthropological literature and map, I suspect, would have a number of phy had sunk?? Several of the bloggers in cultural studies, wassup? (To ask scattered nodes linking up a very deep thought that “old” philosophers seemed “what” of anything seems a bit por- network of ideas at historical junctures.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Culture
    Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Culture Aleksandra Ålund The self-archived postprint version of this journal article is available at Linköping University Institutional Repository (DiVA): http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-45213 N.B.: When citing this work, cite the original publication. This is an electronic version of an article published in: Ålund, A., (1999), Ethnicity, Multiculturalism and the Problem of Culture, European Societies, 1(1), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.1999.10749927 Original publication available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.1999.10749927 Copyright: Taylor & Francis (Routledge) (SSH Titles - no Open Select) http://www.routledge.com/ ETHNICITY, MULTICULTURALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF CULTURE Aleksandra Alund Universityof UmeA, Sweden Abstract: This articlediscusses the complex meaning of ethnicity and identity in the multicultural society of today with reference to Swedish society. Sweden, a pronouncedly multiethnic society, is today undergoing division along ethnic lines. Social inequalities tend to be understood in terms of cultural difference. This development seems to be characteristic of most European countries. Culture is usually connected with ethnicity and race and understood as pure, as an 'essence', as related to some original and eternal ethnic core. In this way importantaspects of cultural dynamic in multicultural societya re leftunobserved. What is usually not recognized are cultural crossings and the emergence of composite identities. Within the framework of multicultural society new cultures, identities and ethnicities are created. Departing from some general features of the dominant discourse on ethnicity, its historical roots and its relations to culture and multiculturalism, I discuss problems of cultural essentialism.
    [Show full text]
  • Analyzing the Practices of a Youth Subculture During the 1980S
    Did Punk Matter?: Analyzing the Practices of a Youth Subculture During the 1980s Kevin Mattson In 1991, an odd thing happened in the world of popular culture. A new single by the group Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," with its abrasive tones and acidic lyrics about mainstream youth culture ("Here we are now, entertain us. ... I feel stupid and contagious"), chased Michael Jackson off the charts. From September to December, 1991, 3.5 million Americans rushed out to buy Nirvana's follow-up album, Nevermind. Soon, Nirvana's lead singer, Kurt Cobain, graced the cover of Rolling Stone, decked out in a cheap t-shirt with "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" scrawled on it, sneering at his newly found mass audience. Something certainly seemed to be happening here.1 Though the mass media treated Cobain like any other rock star, and though he played out his role to a tee (even committing the requisite suicide), he never denied that his music and ideas came from something bigger than himself. Cobain talked quite a bit about the youth subculture in which his music was nurtured. When asked what he hoped for from his fame, he explained, "Hopefully, [our fans] like our music and listen to something else that's in the same vein, that's a bit different from Van Halen. Hopefully they'll be exposed to the underground by reading interviews with us. Knowing that we do come from a punk-rock world, maybe they'll look into that and change their ways a bit." In essence, Cobain hoped that the youth counterculture and underground that he was a part of would come above ground, if only for a fleeting moment.2 0026-3079/2001/4201-069$2.50/0 American Studies, 42:1 (Spring 2001): 69-97 69 70 Kevin Mattson Cobain was referring to a widespread punk rock music scene and youth subculture that sprang up during the conservative era of the 1980s.
    [Show full text]
  • Delinquency and the Youth Culture: Upper and Middle-Class Boys Edmund W
    Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 60 | Issue 1 Article 5 1969 Delinquency and the Youth Culture: Upper and Middle-Class Boys Edmund W. Vaz Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Edmund W. Vaz, Delinquency and the Youth Culture: Upper and Middle-Class Boys, 60 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 33 (1969) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. THE JOTUNAL OF CRnnA LAW, CRnMNOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE. Vol. 60, No. 1 Copyright @ 1669 by Northwestern University School of Law Prinkd in U.S.A. DELINQUENCY AND THE YOUTH CULTURE: UPPER AND MIDDLE-CLASS BOYS* EDMUND W. VAZ The author is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Un- versity of Waterloo, Ontario. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees at McGill University and the Ph.D. degree from Indiana University in 1965. The present paper explores the youth culture and its influence on private and public school middle and upper-class boys. Limited self-reported data reveal that these boys are peer oriented and are in- terested in "social" non-academic affairs. Proportionately more private school boys report de- linquent acts. A configuration of relatively consistent attitudes towards delinquent situations is evi- dent and suggests, perhaps, new meanings of what is proper and improper among adolescents.
    [Show full text]
  • Youth Culture? & Improve Schools a Brief Introduction
    Information Resource (http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/youth/youthintro.pdf) A Series of Information Resources on Youth Subcultures: Understanding Subgroups to Better Address Barriers to Learning What is Youth Culture? & Improve Schools A Brief Introduction As calls for addressing barriers to student learning and improving schools increase, This introduction to the Center’s work on youth better understanding of youth subculture is subculture and youth subgroups highlights essential. This series is intended to stimulate thinking about the implications • how youth culture is defined for policy and practice of the complex, multifaceted subgroups with which youth come to be identified and/or assigned by • provides some background about the concept. peers. • why adults need to understand youth Public health and education policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and educators subgroups – including both positive and need to know as much as they can about negative facets the factors that lead youth to manifest behaviors stemming from group defined values, beliefs, attitudes, and interests. • what schools should do Such understanding is basic to promoting healthy development, preventing It concludes by highlighting the process the problems, intervening as soon as problems Center is using to enhance understanding of arise, and enhancing intervention impact on severe and chronic problems. youth culture and youth subgroups. To these ends, the Center is producing a We invite additions and improvements. series of resources, such as this one, as aids for policy and practice analyses, research, education, and school and community improvement planning. The Center for Mental Health in Schools is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor and operates under the auspices of the School Mental Health Project, Dept.
    [Show full text]
  • Youth Subcultures and Subversive Identities Udc 316.723
    FACTA UNIVERSITATIS Series: Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History Vol. 9, No1, 2010, pp. 45 - 58 YOUTH SUBCULTURES AND SUBVERSIVE IDENTITIES UDC 316.723 Nikola Božilović University of Niš, Faculty of Philosophy, Serbia E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. The author explores the identities that are formed within youth subcultural groups (rockers, mods, punkers, skinheads, rappers). It links identities with subcultural styles – it interprets the meanings stemming from the value attitudes of the young. The common feature of all the subcultural identities is their subversiveness while it is symbolically represented through image, music and jargon of subcultural actors. The subcultural self of adolescents comprises a certain degree of symbolic aggression which serves to challenge authorities, to oppose regulations and to refute social conventions. That is why it is well-grounded to consider subcultural identities of the young as identities for resistance. The author identifies them most easily in the domain of rock music which is, on the whole, characterized by the rejection of the mainstream cultures and the values it supports. For this purpose, it supports the theoretical assumptions with some results of the identity research carried out in the region of the three Balkan states, namely, Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Key words: youth subculture, style, identity, subversion, symbolic aggression, resistance, music preferences. Contemporary urban societies are mainly multicultural comprising a great number of subcultures. Youth subcultural enclaves are genuine places where a variety of identities are formed. In general, according to the best known classification scale, identities are di- vided into personal referring to individuality ("the self", "ego" or "persona") and collec- tive ones referring to similarities (Golubović 1999: 21).
    [Show full text]
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Racial Formation in the Post-September 11
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Racial Formation in the Post-September 11 Era: The Paradoxical Positioning of Working Class South Asian American Youth A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Veena Hampapur 2016 © Copyright by Veena Hampapur 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Racial Formation in the Post-September 11 Era: The Paradoxical Positioning of Working Class South Asian American Youth by Veena Hampapur Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Jessica R. Cattelino, Chair In this dissertation I aim to show that there has been a shift in racial formation in the United States since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. I chart this new racial formation through theorizing from the everyday realities of working class, predominantly Muslim, South Asian and Indo-Caribbean youth in New York City, some of whom were undocumented. By utilizing ethnographic methods, I dissect their seemingly contradictory lived experiences of 1) national belonging stemming from multicultural comfort in a city famous for its diversity and 2) exclusion from cultural citizenship dictated by struggles with modes of racialization, surveillance, and criminalization more commonly associated with Arabs, Blacks, and Latinos. I map out the current racial formation, which explains South Asians’ paradoxical positioning, through examining the intersection of state policies with intersubjective and emotional experiences of race and racism. I find that South Asians' seemingly contradictory ii positioning is produced through three mechanisms of the current racial formation: the emphasis on diversity and pervasiveness of color blind ideology; shifting notions of race that criminalize widening domains of difference, especially religion and immigration status; and national security panics centered on youth, terrorism, and crime.
    [Show full text]