During the last few decades, the South Wales Valleys (UK) have undergone a considerable economic, social, cultural and political transformation, altering youth transitions from school to work. Drawing on a two and a half year ethnographic study, in the paper I concentrate on a group of academically successful young white working-class men aged…

This article explores the identity development of a group of white working-class adolescent girls as they consider their futures after high school. Attention is paid to themes of gender and social class as well as the impact of a deindustrialised economy. Despite the fact that few of their parents graduated from college, the girls expressed a…

Focusing on young adult working class and poor African American women and white women, who currently live in a largely inhospitable economy, this paper examines where these women lodge social critique (where they place the cause and imagine the remedy for their troubles). Data from indepth interviews indicate that respondents see the world with a…

Describes a well-behaved, hard-working, poor, white, working class British boy trying to achieve academically in an inner-city boys' comprehensive school while simultaneously maintaining his standing within the male peer group culture, discussing possibilities of bringing together white working-class masculinities with educational success in…

This paper examines the "remaking" of white working class masculinities in the latter quarter of the twentieth century. It draws on ethnographic data gathered at two points in time in order to interrogate the relation of macro-economic and social relations on individual and group identities; to excavate the social psychological relations…

This book examines the variations in the constitution of female gender in a group of young working-class women of African American, Latina, Puerto Rican, and White European backgrounds who were enrolled in an alternative high school for students at risk of academic failure. It also analyzes the school processes that shape these young women's…

This collection of papers examines the crisis in public education, focusing on poor and minority children. There are seven chapters in two parts. After "Introduction: Silenced Voices and Extraordinary Conversations" (Michelle Fine and Lois Weis), Part 1, "Scenes of Silencing," includes: (1) "Silencing and Nurturing Voice…