Living for the weekend

Abstract

A B S T R A C TConsumption and consumerism are now accepted as key contexts for the construction of youth identities in de -industrialized Britain. This article uses empirical evidence from interviews with young people to suggest that claims of 'new community' are overstated, traditional forms of friendship are receding, and increasingly atomized and instrumental youth identities are now being culturally constituted and reproduced by the pressures and anxieties created by enforced adaptation to consumer capitalism. Analysis of the data opens up the possibility of a critical rather than a celebratory exploration of the wider theoretical implications of this process.Whilst much has been written recently about changes in youth transitions (Coles, 1995;Furlong and Cartmel, 1997) and the influence of consumerism upon youth identities (Miles, 1996(Miles, , 1998, the broader economic and social structures in which identity is constituted and reproduced have been somewhat neglected, or at least taken for granted as a rather passive backdrop to the cultural action unfolding before us. This article aims to challenge the rather fashionable notion that identity is potentially free to construct itself in a 'post-structural' or 'postmodern' world, and to do this we will focus on the question of how young people experience and perceive their lives in Britain's rapidly changing economy. As the formerly imposing edifice of industrially based social class begins to cast a far smaller shadow over identity (Marshall, 1997;Pakulski and Waters, 1996), and rigid modes of gender expression begin to loosen (Beynon, 2002;Connell, 1995), for some it seems reasonable to argue that young people are developing the wherewithal and 'discursive' tools to construct multi faceted and highly sociable identities in a fluid, changing world with a good deal of freedom and creativity (see, for example, Ball et al., 2000). However, our data suggest that although many young people have indeed honed their ability to dip in and out of consumer markets in order to construct a sense of self (Miles, 2000), which certainly gives the appearance of freedom and creativity, a sense of homogeneity and conformity is still quite overwhelming. At the same time it is strikingly apparent that huge gulfs of structural inequality remain.The empirical data presented in this article come from a broad-ranging and ongoing ethnographic and qualitative project addressing the changing nature of youth identities in contemporary Britain. To date, 43 young people, aged between 18 and 25, have been interviewed in order to gain some insight into their attitudes towards marriage, relationships and kids, work, leisure, body image, fashion, consumerism, friendship and life course. All of our respondents were white and from the northeast of England. We have changed their names and disguised specific locations in an effort to preserve anonymity. The interviews were unstructured, and in some cases respondents generously agreed to follow-up interviews in order to flesh out details and furt...

No Time for a ‘Time Out’? Managing Time around (Non)Drinking

“…Indeed, young people have reported using alcohol for just that reason – to take a break from these responsibilities as they carve ‘time out’ spaces for drinking (Fry, 2011). This generates temporal windows for consumption such as abstaining from alcohol during the week and drinking on weekends (Andrade, 2019; Winlow and Hall, 2009).…”

Exploring how employment schemes for young offenders aid desistance from crime

“…Moreover, their distance from the labour market was considerable. Having a criminal record and few qualifications present a serious barrier to gaining legitimate employment (House of Commons Justice Committee, 2017; Standing, 2011; Winlow and Hall, 2009).…”

Variaciones en el uso de substancias entre clubbers de acuerdo con factores individuales y de nivel de escena

“…La utilización excesiva de las drogas funciona como parte importante de la resistencia a lo establecido y como abandono individual [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . Por otro lado, estos trabajos señalan también que el clubbing, relacionado con las raves, permite la propia expresión [27][28][29] y la conformidad con las normas juveniles 30 , actuando como una parte importante tanto en la formación identitaria personal como social de los jóvenes, así como dentro de la edad adulta 34 .…”

“…En total, la muestra refleja la composición racial y étnica de Philadelphia (US Census Bureau 2000). La edad media fue de 25,7 años (con un rango de [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Y los participantes se encontraban situados entre los grupos que van desde la clase baja hasta la media-alta, con niveles de empleo que iban desde trabajos en posiciones bajas del sector servicios (por ejemplo, camareros, dependientes, y auxiliares administrativos), a trabajos cualificados (por ejemplo, contables, técnicos en TI, investigadores, ingenieros, publicidad/marketing y niveles medios de gestión).…”

“…Clubbing is a form of deviant subcultural activity without broader substantive meaning .19-20 Excessive drug use functions as an important part of mainstream resistance and individual abandonment. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] On the other hand, such work also notes that rave-related clubbing allows for self-expression [27][28][29] and conformity to youth norms 30 , acting as an important part of both personal and social identity formation in youth [31][32][33] , as well as into adulthood. 34 Given these two subcultural traditions, we would expect to find today's clubbers motivated toward and motivated toward and motivated involved in music scenes because of deviant and druginvolved in music scenes because of deviant and druginvolved related experiences, goals, and activities.…”