Subcultural capital and the female ‘underclass’? A feminist response to an underclass discourse

Abstract

It is often argued that economically marginalized young women occupy a school and post‐school underclass, and that this underclass has a particular culture associated with it. Such views provoke a profound ambivalence in many of those who work with such young people. On the one hand, they are anxious to acknowledge the culture of the communities to which marginalized young women belong. On the other hand, they wish to avoid the pernicious implications of underclass theories that suggest disadvantage is the result of the culture and values of marginalized social groupings. This paper offers an overview and feminist critique of the structuralist and cultural or behaviourist strands of underclass theory. It focuses particularly on the work of Charles Murray, a major proponent of the culturalist perspective and the representation of the single mother in this discourse. It then considers how a less punitive theorization of marginalized cultures might be achieved by drawing on and adapting concepts from Pierre Bourdieu's sociology. The paper reflects on how such ideas might serve as a way of exploring how gender impacts on the forms of cultural capital available to young women in difficult economic circumstances.

Notes

Elizabeth Bullen & Jane Kenway, Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures, University of South Australia. Correspondence to: Elizabeth Bullen, Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures, University of South Australia, Holbrooks Road, Underdale, South Australia 5032, Australia. Email: [email protected]

This paper represents some of the early conceptual work of the Australian Research Council Project Australian Research Council (Discovery grant, 2002–2005), Young Women Negotiating from the Margins of Education and Work: Towards Gender Justice in Educational and Youth Policies and Programs. Researchers on the project are Jane Kenway, Alison Mackinnon, Elizabeth Bullen and Danni Nicholas‐Sexton, University of South Australia, and Julie McLeod, Andrea Allard and Katie Wright, Deakin University. This project seeks to develop new understandings of such young women's experience of school and post‐school life and of the ways in which family, friends, work, education, youth culture and youth services converge in their lives. The first phase of the project, involving girls aged 13–15 years, has been completed and the second phase has begun. This involves young women aged 19–25 years.

‘The Moe community group People Together told The Age the town became a “dumping ground” for Melbourne’s single mothers because of its cheap government housing' (Freeman 1998, p. 40).

We recognize that there are significant differences between the specificities of place and the ethnic and racial constitution of the UK communities and our own research site. We do not underestimate the importance of these factors, but do not here attempt to analyse their impact. Likewise, although there is a strong racial element in the American underclass analysis, we do not address the implications of this in this paper.

According to Moi (1999, p. 269), amor fati means ‘love your destiny’ or ‘self‐fulfilling prophecy’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Bullen

Elizabeth Bullen & Jane Kenway, Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures, University of South Australia. Correspondence to: Elizabeth Bullen, Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures, University of South Australia, Holbrooks Road, Underdale, South Australia 5032, Australia. Email: [email protected]