Table of Contents

Part 1: Youth studies and theoretical foundations

A mix tape for Part 1

1. Youth, class and everyday struggles

Introduction

Youth

Class

Bourdieu’s ‘struggles’

Chapter outline

2. Sociological practice: Towards a Bourdieusian understanding

Introduction: Bourdieu’s thinking tools

Bourdieu’s conception of class

Struggle, illusio and social gravity

Social games and strategy

Habitus and field

Capitals

Trajectory

Doxa and misrecognition

Symbolic violence

Cultural arbitrary

Distinction

Conclusion

3. Bourdieusian prospects and theory in youth studies

Introduction

Reflexivity and inequality

The symbolic, the moral and ‘value’

Affect and emotion

Conclusion

Part 2: Classification struggles in the field of representation

A mix tape for Part 2

4. Hipsters and bogans: Distinctive figures of classed anxieties

Introduction

Hipsters and bogans in the news

Slippery categories

What is a bogan? What is a hipster?

Hipsters and bogans as ‘figures’

Classification struggles in the field of representation

Conclusion

5. Hipsters and bogans in the news media and comedy: Two case studies

Introduction

Case study 1

Case study 2

The affective economy of hipsters and bogans

Conclusion: Global hipsters and local bogans

Part 3: DIY cultures: Struggles about creativity, identity and meaningful work

A mix tape for Part 3

6. A DIY scene: Cultural struggles and meaning making

Introduction

‘DIY’: From punk to sociology to co-optation and beyond

Everyday struggles in a DIY music scene in Australia

Conclusion

7. A DIY career? Labour and creativity struggles

Introduction

Class, labour and creativity

DIY cultures to DIY careers

Subcultural capital and illusio

Choice, struggle and making do: Strategic poverty?

Conclusion

8. Coda: Hipsters, bogans and class in the DIY scene

9. Conclusion

Introduction

Modalities of everyday struggle

Bourdieu, affect and reflexivity

Youth, modalities of struggle and the ‘future’

About the Author

Steven Threadgold is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Reviews

‘Struggle’ is one of those over-used words we use to evoke a political ‘feel’ to analysis. In Youth, Class and Everyday Struggles, however, Steven Threadgold takes the idea of struggle seriously, and develops a multi-layered understanding of struggle to provide an exciting and insightful analysis of the challenges young people negotiate in everyday life. Drawing together a thoughtful reading of Bourdieu through theories of affect, risk and reflexivity, Threadgold shows that struggle is fundamental to the constitution of young people’s classed and gendered existence in a world shaped by precarity. Through an examination of hipsters, 'bogans' and DIY music, the book argues not only that there are modalities and temporalities to struggle, but that struggle is creative and mundane, agentic and oppressive. It offers an original and thought-provoking contribution to the field of youth studies.Greg Noble, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, AustraliaA smart, sensitive and sophisticated analysis of how youth figures in the ways class is produced and contested in conditions of precarity. Centring the concept of struggle, Threadgold incisively addresses the cultural politics and quotidian material realities of new and old class relations through careful attention to the everyday lives of young people. This book is an important contribution to the theorisation of social class today, and a shining example of truly generative scholarship at the intersection of youth transitions and youth cultures research.​Anita Harris, Research Professor, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University, AustraliaThis is an excellent book that pushes the boundaries of theorising in youth studies to another level. By using the notion of ‘struggle’ and other Bourdieusian concepts, Steve Threadgold is able to create a more nuanced understanding of the contemporary forms of class social reproduction and youth reflexivity. As such this book is a must read for all students and scholars interested in the youth question.Alan France, Professor of Sociology, University of Auckland, New ZealandYouth, Class and Everyday Struggles is a masterfully researched and compellingly written book. Casting an expert eye over an increasingly diverse field, Threadgold has produced a much needed synthesis of key ideas relating to youth cultures and youth transitions that will be of seminal value to both experienced youth researchers and students in search of a critical introduction to youth studies. Andy Bennett, Professor, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Australia