%0 Journal Article
%T Of lads and earĄŻoles: School, work, and the microsociology of social reproduction
%A Andrea Voyer
%J Ethnography
%@ 1741-2714
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1466138118780153
%X This article draws on structural symbolic interactionism (SSI) to extend WillisĄŻs insights into social reproduction and social mobility. Willis contrasts the lads with the earĄŻoles ¨C working-class youth who conform to the requirements and ideology of school. If, as Willis argues, working-class youth encounter conflict between the culture of school and the culture of labour, then the earĄŻolesĄŻ pro-school behaviours may be interpreted as rebellious in their own right. SSI suggests that the earĄŻolesĄŻ continued attachment to school requires abandoning or delaying adoption of the adult breadwinner role ¨C a working-class role-identity assigned to those who finish required schooling, find jobs, and establish independence. While the lads conform to the behavioural norms and values of their class cultural milieu through their nonconformity at school, the earĄŻoles opt for school at considerable social cost. As successful earĄŻoles experience mobility, these class ĄŽstraddlersĄŻ struggle with feelings of inadequacy and guilt
%K education
%K class mobility
%K social reproduction
%K conformity and resistance
%K symbolic interactionism
%K identity theory
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1466138118780153