What you gonna do about it?

Abstract

The previous five chapters have all been relating the experiences of working-class youth to some of the ideas of sociology, most notably and consistently the idea that ‘values’ are the major constraint on their actions. This has been shown to be idealistic in both the experiences of education and of leisure and rule-breaking. Actions cannot simply be understood as a rejection of or an attack on ‘middle-class values’; instead it is a consistent reaction to the use of power by teachers and by the state in the form of law. This perspective is not analytically explored in the book; it is not followed up by detailed theoretical and sociological understanding of the position of youth in society. It will be necessary to carry through an analysis of a whole book to make any coherent sense of these questions.