Gender,masculinity and the new economy

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 ‘between’ genders and races, as narrated by white working-class men; and to explore the nuanced variations among these men. Addressing theoretical, empirical and methodological issues associated with these studies, I argue that the remaking of the white working class can only be understood in relation to gendered constructions within itself, the construction of relevant ‘others’, as well as deep shifts in large social formations.     

Extraordinary conversations in public schools

This article reviews two ethnographic studies in which "disruptive pedagogies" are engaged in public schools, designed to enable youth to work across categories of difference toward a grounded sense of social critique and participation. Respectfully challenging/extending the premises of reproduction theory, it is argued that educational researchers not only need to theorize the means of (re)production by which public schools insure class, race, ethnic and gender stratification, but also to theorize how counter-hegemonic moments in school, in which educators undertake disruptive pedagogies, affect social consciousness and community.     

Inequality in Ghanaian secondary schools: Educational expansion,recruitment, and internal stratification

Researchers disagree as to whether expansion of an educational system leads primarily to greater equality of opportunity or the further reproduction of inequality. This article addresses this question through an examination of the social background characteristics of Ghanaian secondary school students in 1961 and 1974. Students in varying quality schools are compared as to their socio-economic status and urban experience. The data suggest that not only are children of relatively high-status parents gaining increased access to school, but that they are doing so increasingly in high-status institutions.     

Producing Whiteness: An exploration of working-class white men in two contexts1

In this essay we enter the terrain of 'whiteness' studies, drawing upon data gathered in two ethnographic investigations conducted in a large northeastern city in the United States. In the first study we focus on the ways in which whiteness among working-class men emerges in relation to a constructed 'other', in this case a black/Latino other who is held to have unpleasant characteristics. In the second, we problematize the idea that the white European self emerges necessarily in relation to that of a constructed 'dark other' by focusing on white working-class Irish adults who frequent an Irish community centre in the same city. We explore the ways in which the presence of particular spaces within which ethnic identities can flourish may blunt the effects of possible intergroup violence based on the production of a white identity and at the same time potentially encourage a multi-racial set of political coalitions.     

“I've Slept in Clothes Long Enough”: Excavating the Sounds of Domestic Violence Among Women in the White Working Class

Here we listen to and analyze the voices of poor and working-class white women in Buffalo and Jersey City as they chronicle histories related to domestic violence. Although it was initially quite easy to distinguish between women living in what others have called hard living and settled living domestic scenes, we found that the amount of violence in these homes did not differ appreciably. Rather almost all of the poor and working-class white women and their families were negotiating lives disrupted by an inhospitable economy, and almost all of the women interviewed were also surviving within scenes of domestic violence that spanned generations. The distinction between the settled lives women and the hard living women may only be determined by whether or not the woman has exited from her violent home. School-related programs designed to promote discussion of these issues are considered.     

Naturalists and the Mass Media: Reaching beyond the Parks

Abstract

Earthscope series. Global View Productions, 2901 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite B4, Washington, D.C. 20008; tel. (202) 667–3609. 1991. 13 programs (12 programs are available) × 52 minutes. Individual program, $50.00. Series (12 programs), $495.00. Reviewed by Robert E. Raze, Jr.

The Forest Through the Trees . The Video Project, 5332 College Avenue, Suite 101, Oakland, Calif. 94618; tel. (800) 4PLANET. 1990. 60 minutes. $85.00/$45.00 purchase/rent for institutions. $39.95/$25.00 purchase/rent for individuals. Reviewed by N. J. Smith-Sebasto.