Ethnicity & Youth Subcultures

Question 1

How have spectacular subcultures been influenced by ethnicity?

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Hebdige

Question 3

What are Rastafarians?

Answer 3

• 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.

Question 4

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

Answer 4

Hebdige

Question 5

What is Rastafarianism overall seen as?

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Johal

Question 7

What is a ‘hyper ethnic style’?

Answer 7

• 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’.

Question 8

What does Johal also mention when discussing Brasians?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Why can Brasian culture be seen as resistance and hybridity?

Answer 9

• 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.

Question 10

Who discussed the styling of hair within black culture?

Answer 10

Mercer

Question 11

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

Answer 11

• 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.

Question 12

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

Answer 12

Cashmore

Question 13

What did Cashmore find when studying rap culture?

Answer 13

• 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.

Question 14

What are white wannabes?

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

What are modern primitives?

Answer 15

• 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.

Question 16

How can modern primitives be seen as a hybrid subculture?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What did Vale and Juno say?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Who discusses the issue with cultural appropriation?

Answer 18

Hutnyk

Question 19

What does Hutnyk say about cultural appropriation?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What did Nightingale study?

Answer 20

Young black males in Philadelphia

Question 21

What did Nightingale argue?

Answer 21

• 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.

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Bourgois

Question 23

What did Bourgois discuss?

Answer 23

• 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’.

Question 24

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

Answer 24

‘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.

Question 25

How can the link between gangs and ethnicity be criticised?

Answer 25

• 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.)

Question 26

How are anti school subcultures related to ethnicity?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

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

Answer 27

• 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.

Question 28

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

Answer 28

• 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.

Question 29

Who talked about the intersection between race and gender?

Answer 29

Mac an Ghaill

Question 30

What subcultures did Mac an Ghaill identify?

Answer 30

• 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.

Question 31

What did Mirza find?

Answer 31

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

Question 32

What did African Caribbean girls develop according to Mirza?

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Who studied Muslim boys?

Answer 33

Archer

Question 34

What did Archer find?

Answer 34

• 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.

Question 35

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

Answer 35

Strand and Wilson

Question 36

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

Answer 36

• 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.