The 21st Century Ladz (Continuity and Changes among Marginalised Young Men from the South Wales Valleys)

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online.

School-to-work transition studies have a rich sociological history that has traditionally focused on marginalised young men, until recently. Returning the focus to the most marginalised working-class young within a contemporary context, The 21st Century Ladz explores changing ideas of manhood, masculinities and social class identity.

Drawing on a qualitative study, Gater studies the school-to-work transition and formation of masculinity of a group of marginalised working-class young men from the South Wales Valleys. Filling a gap in the literature by challenging the notion that marginalised working-class young men are synonymous with protest masculinity and historically associated behaviours and views including anti-learning, manual employment aspirations, homophobia, sexism, suppression of emotion and avoidance of physical tactility, this work identifies key continuity and changes in young men's views and behavior. The author offers a new concept to masculinities studies in the form of amalgamated masculinities, which is understood as a fusion of locally constructed protest masculine characteristics and softer masculine attributes adopted through external cultural influence. Chronicling a “rupturing process” or the destabilisation of masculine beliefs associated with protest masculinity, Gater highlights softer displays of masculinity in this sub-group.

Delving into the intersections of marginalised working-class young men, social class, education, employment and masculinities, this era-defining text offers a fresh perspective on the study of working-class young men.