Ethnicity & Youth Subcultures Flashcards

1
Q

How have spectacular subcultures been influenced by ethnicity?

A
  • Early rock and rock music listened to by teddy boys and the rockers was influenced by black rhythm and blues music in the USA.
  • Skinheads favoured reggae and formed in resistance to immigration.
  • Mods were seen to be imitating the cool styles of West Indians.
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2
Q

Who said spectacular subcultures were responses to the black immigrant presence?

A

Hebdige

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3
Q

What are Rastafarians?

A
  • Most associated with Jamaican/Caribbean culture.
  • Includes: reggae music, dreadlocks and clothes in colours red, gold, and green, based on the flag of Ethiopia where a lot of their religious beliefs are based on. It is associated with their African roots.
  • Smoking marijuana is strongly associated with Rastafarianism as it’s part of their religion through the belief that it helps them reach a higher level of spirituality.
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4
Q

Who saw Rastafarianism and reggae culture as forms of resistance to white culture and racism, and its roots in relation to slavery?

A

Hebdige

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5
Q

What is Rastafarianism overall seen as?

A

A political and spiritual movement attracted by many Caribbean migrants to Britain, offering a positive identity and a source of opposition to racism they were experiencing.

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6
Q

Who discussed a ‘hyper ethnic style’ related to Brasians?

A

Johal

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7
Q

What is a ‘hyper ethnic style’?

A
  • An exaggerated form of a parents culture.
  • It may include watching Indian or Hindi films, and listening to Asian music.
  • This can provide an ‘empowerment through difference’.
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8
Q

What does Johal also mention when discussing Brasians?

A

Code switching
- Where young Asians move between one cultural form to another depending on the context and which one is appropriate. E.g. marriage, religion and diet

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9
Q

Why can Brasian culture be seen as resistance and hybridity?

A
  • They blend both Asian culture and aspects of British popular culture.
  • They still hang on to some of their traditional culture which is resisting complete assimilation.
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10
Q

Who discussed the styling of hair within black culture?

A

Mercer

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11
Q

*How is the styling of hair within black culture symbolic?

A
  • Afro and dreadlock hairstyles are seen as emphasising identification with the Black identity, so it could be a form of resistance.
  • Straightened black hair style is seen as assimilation to white culture.
    *- Mercer says these interpretations are simplistic and they are attempts to make a statement about the Black individual place within British culture.
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12
Q

Who talks about how gangsta rap is the ultimate hybrid music form?

A

Cashmore

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13
Q

What did Cashmore find when studying rap culture?

A
  • It evolved and changed; local artists in different countries modified the sound and style to adapt it to their own culture.
  • The changeability and hybridity support postmodernist ideas of fluidity of recent subcultures.
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14
Q

What are white wannabes?

A
  • Young white working class males who afloat the style and language of ‘black culture’.
  • May listen to music like hip hop or gangster rap and dress like young black males.
    E.g Eminem, Ali G
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15
Q

What are modern primitives?

A
  • Subculture found in US and parts of Western Europe.
  • They have a wide and loose membership. Focus on individuality and self expression.
  • They are characterised by body modifications, especially tattoos and piercings which are seen as a form of expression.
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16
Q

How can modern primitives be seen as a hybrid subculture?

A
  • Their symbolism is drawn from non western ethnic groups linked to ‘primitive tribes’.
  • They take inspiration from a range of cultures.
17
Q

What did Vale and Juno say?

A

Body modification is a reaction to the sense of powerless created in a fast changing world as it’s a way to gain power and control.

18
Q

Who discusses the issue with cultural appropriation?

A

Hutnyk

19
Q

What does Hutnyk say about cultural appropriation?

A
  • There are power differentials at work.
  • Western cultures may strip the meaning from symbols and use them in a superficial way.
20
Q

What did Nightingale study?

A

Young black males in Philadelphia

21
Q

What did Nightingale argue?

A
  • Young black males consumed mainstream culture through the media, but they were excluded racially and economically from fully participating in the mainstream means of achieving society’s goals.
  • They turned to illegitimate means like violence and crime to achieve them.
22
Q

Who studied Latino and African American drug dealers in New York?

A

Bourgois

23
Q

What did Bourgois discuss?

A
  • The ‘anguish of growing up poor’ in the richest city in the world, arguing this created an inner city culture where deviance became the norm.
  • They were highly ambitious and motivated.
  • Drug dealing was a way of surviving and achieving respect.
  • It was a ‘million dollar industry’.
24
Q

What do Nightingale’s and Bourgois’ studies refer to?

A

‘The paradox of inclusion’
Desire to be included drives the desire for success, yet to achieve this for those suffering from poverty and racism means deviance and criminality, ensuring exclusion.

25
Q

How can the link between gangs and ethnicity be criticised?

A
  • Social class could actually be the key factor.
  • High proportions of black communities live in deprived areas where gangs are most likely to form.
  • Centre for social justice: the ethnicity of gang members tends to reflect the ethnicity of the local population (Scotland gang members are mostly white, in London it is more likely to be black.)
26
Q

How are anti school subcultures related to ethnicity?

A

Forming an anti school subculture is a response from racism from the education system and specific teachers.

27
Q

What is the culture of the streets like for black males according to Sewell?

A
  • Anti education, valuing style, and instant gratification.
  • Saw educational success as feminine.
  • A successful black male was targeted for bulling, whereas educational failure became a badge to wear with pride.
28
Q

What four visible groupings did Sewell identify in reaction to school among African Caribbean boys?

A
  • Conformists: pro education, pro school
  • Innovators: pro education, anti school
  • Retreatists: drop out of the goals of education and schooling
  • Rebels: formed own alternative subculture

Majority of black boys were conformists but the minority 18% rebels got all the attention and negative stereotyping.

29
Q

Who talked about the intersection between race and gender?

A

Mac an Ghaill

30
Q

What subcultures did Mac an Ghaill identify?

A
  • Rasta heads: based on masculine image from perceived teacher labelling and racism. Resistance involved open confrontation.
  • Warriors: Asian males who were anti school and shown resistance but were largely unnoticed due to teachers’ different perceptions.
  • Black sisters: a group of Asian and African Caribbean girls who were pro education and saw school as a means to end to achieve despite perceiving racism. Shown defiance in some lessons but still worked hard.
31
Q

What did Mirza find?

A

African Caribbean girls resented labels from teachers, racism, and the expectation of failure.

32
Q

What did African Caribbean girls develop according to Mirza?

A

Strategic rationalisation
- Adopted strategies to maximise their chances of education success by keeping their heads down, sitting at the back, and getting on with their work.
- They avoided subjects where the teachers were seen as racist.
- This was a rational response to the negative school experience.

33
Q

Who studied Muslim boys?

A

Archer

34
Q

What did Archer find?

A
  • Archer considered how Muslim boys demonstrated their masculine and religious identity in peer groups against Islamophobia and the demonisation of young Muslim males in the media.
  • They saw their identity as Muslim and were conscious of the protection that being a member of their subculture gave from racist groups.
35
Q

Who discussed negative peer groups and the impact of them on ethnic groups?

A

Strand and Wilson

36
Q

What did Strand & Wilson find about peer relationships and underachievement?

A
  • For African Caribbean boys, peer relationships were a significant issue for underachieving.
  • For white boys, underachievement was mainly due to low self esteem or a lack of parental aspirations.
  • Asian and African boys tended to have positive peer support and did well in school.