Between market logics and resistance logics: the tech boom and high-performing Latino boys in the Bay Area

ABSTRACT

A paradox exists between capital accumulation and corporate philanthropy: a record number of ‘generous’ donations and historic levels of social inequality. In education, tech companies are directing significant investments to shape public schools. Many efforts to support Latino boys are aligned with these goals, as interventions aim to prepare students for the ‘new economy.’ Few studies consider the experiences of high-performing Latino boys in relation to tech companies. This paper examines how the Bay Area tech industry, gentrification, and displacement impact the lives of high-performing Latino boys. We draw from an ethnographic study conducted by the first author in the Bay Area of Northern California. This paper shows the way students develop an understanding and actively protest their racialized predicament (i.e. resistance logics), while learning skills to acquire jobs in the tech economy that often appears to perpetuate this racialization (i.e. market logics).

KEYWORDS:

• Latino boys
• educational inequality
• urban education
• tech
• merit

Acknowledgments

Special acknowledgement is due to David Minkus and the Graduate Fellows Program at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, for reading early drafts of this paper and providing generous feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. To protect the confidentiality of participants, we use pseudonyms for all students, teachers, and entities that took part in this study.