A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details LIFE ON ROAD: Symbolic Struggle & The Munpain Yusef Bakkali Thesis submitted for PhD Examination University of Sussex May 2017 2 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signed………………………………………. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis came together when, by necessity, I had to turn to my community for support. So for that reason, before anyone else; I would like to thank those who took part in this thesis. I owe a debt of gratitude to Susie Scott and Rachel Thomson for their supervision during my PhD process. Admittedly I might not have been the easiest student, but both of my supervisors stuck with me and supported me, helping me to believe it was possible. For the same reason I’d like to thank Luke Martell who supervised me as an undergraduate and helped me to apply for my PhD studentship; always a generous friend and mentor. I’d also like to shout out my friends; Monje, Big Dhil, Matty G, Aaron, Neelam, Sav, Rosa and Ladi, for supporting me through the PhD. We often would talk about issues relating to the thesis, thus some of the formative work is definitely owed to you all. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my mum and my siblings who have supported me in all the ways that they could throughout this process. I suppose the contents and message of the work are in a way dedicated to the futures of my niece and nephews; Raff, Hermione, Adam, Taha and little Khalil, as we all hope that the world you inherit will be better than the one depicted in this thesis; even at a time where that seems increasingly unlikely. 4 Thesis Summary: Life On Road: Symbolic Struggle and the Munpain This project began back in 2013. It has sought to understand the life worlds and biographies of young urban people engaged with life on road; oscillating between the minutia of their day to day lives and broader structural happenings connected with the continued onslaught of neo- liberalism. The use of the term road is a UK specific expression which is more broadly understood as ‘street culture’. The findings of this study reveal a group who in many ways strongly embody neo-liberal values of consumerism, meritocratic status attainment and individualism; yet are broadly seen as anti-establishment and often find themselves at the centre of moral panics. The heightened presence of; poverty, non-corporate masculinities, violence and criminality associated with road life (issues which many participants felt acutely) are often used as the metaphoric irons wielded by the powerful to brand the mark of abjection on urban youth. However, by examining the spectacular and everyday stories of those on road this study identifies a situated ‘logic of practice’ in actions which more powerful observers claim symbolise individual deficit and failing. What becomes evident is that young people on road are engaged in a ceaseless symbolic struggle of performative negotiation with abjection and material deprivation. Coining the terminology ‘munpain’ (shorthand for pain of the mundane) I demonstrate how many exceptional young people navigate treacherous trajectories whilst striving all the time for recognition, respect and dignity. On this journey they seek to ameliorate their situations, negotiating stigmas attached to; unemployment, poverty, drug use, familial breakdown, race, gender, single parenthood and many more. This process involves a wide array of strategies and forms of cultural expression including; crime, violence, coolness, music and conspicuous consumption – creating a vibrant but often transient and destructive cultural landscape. This study suggests that monocultural hegemony, expressed through the preservation of an outdated and inaccurate canon in contemporary Britain, unleashes vast waves of symbolic violence on those who personify forms of cultural and stylistic difference. In a globalised world moving through the late modern period we live in a nation bursting with difference, as many struggle to come to terms with it, the powerful seem to have mobilised around this crisis by enforcing an externally imposed narrative. Embodying difference in Britain today can entrench and exacerbate material hardships adding to exclusion and abjection. Those on road however exhibit a ceaseless ambition for equitable inclusion (often described as ‘going legit’) via cultural and economic projects aimed at adjusting the status quo; epitomizing ways in which class struggle, albeit more complex and individualised, lives on in 21st century Britain. 5 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7 Road Culture ................................................................................................................... 8 Personhood and Social Exclusion – Moving Past Post-Subcultural Criticism ..................... 11 The Present Conjuncture ............................................................................................... 15 Inequality and Legitimation ........................................................................................... 17 Bourdieu & Hall ............................................................................................................. 20 Bourdieu .............................................................................................................................. 20 Hall ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Structure of this Thesis .................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 1: Methodology Outline ............................................................................. 26 Aims of This Study ......................................................................................................... 27 Failure – Telling the Story .............................................................................................. 29 ‘Research You Can Do’ – Turning to Narrative Method ................................................... 33 Project Design – Collecting Primary Data ........................................................................ 37 Secondary Data – Providing Cultural Context .................................................................. 40 Data Analysis - Grounded Theory and Inductive Research ............................................... 42 Ethnography or Not To Be? ............................................................................................ 43 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter 2: The Munpain – Starting from the Bottom ............................................... 47 Everyday Grounding ...................................................................................................... 50 The ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ ....................................................................................................... 52 Road Life and The Munpain ........................................................................................... 55 ‘It’s Not That Deep Man’ – Coping with Stigma ............................................................... 62 La Petite Misere - Social Suffering at the Margins and Intersections ................................ 71 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 3: ‘Going legit’ - Road Capitals.................................................................... 75 Understanding Capitals .................................................................................................. 76 ‘Going Legit’ .................................................................................................................. 78 From Street to Road Capitals ......................................................................................... 82 Economic Road Capital .................................................................................................. 84 ‘They're Gonna Choose George Osbourne’ ........................................................................ 85 Road Social Capital ........................................................................................................ 89 Jeremiah’s Story .................................................................................................................. 89 Road Cultural Capital ..................................................................................................... 92 Hyper Masculinity ............................................................................................................... 94 Conspicuous Consumption and Road Cultural Capital.......................................................