Abstract
This book pretty much does as the title suggests, discussing youth resistance theory and the relationship to theories of change through a lens of educational injustice. The narrative is dealt with chronologically, starting with the emergence of resistance theory and ending with a discussion about the future. It uses contemporary contexts such as Hurricane Katrina, the Occupy movement and the Arab Spring to bring the theory to life. Using narrative based on conversations with prominent theorists such as James C Scott, Michelle Fine, Robin DG Kelly, Gerald Vizenor, Signithia Fordham and Pedro Noguera, the authors weave the interviews into a reflection on contemporary examples and begin to rethink the theory.
There is one constant golden thread throughout the book – the work of Paul Willis (1977), Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Before reading this book I had only heard of Paul Willis once, and this was through a series of comedic autobiographical radio programmes on Radio 4 made by Micky Flannigan about his progression from working class cockney ‘Herbert’ to middle class genius (Micky’s words, not mine!). Since hearing this series, the idea of youth resistance has been resonating in my head, and I have been hooked. Back then I didn’t realize the wealth of literature which had grown up around Willis’s seminal work. This book has given me the grounding, the background, and the current thinking in resistance theory. For someone trying to grasp the basics, this book is a must. It has provided me with a pivotal moment in my practice as I have come to realize that what I had found so engaging about Willis was shared by many others, and shared to the extent that resistance theory evolved.
The book contributes to the topic by bringing together some of the current thinking, moved on through the impact of global resistance movements, and how to engage – how to move towards thinking about social justice from a resistance perspective. It doesn’t present one long cohesive argument or thesis, though. It is a collection of thoughts from theorists, sometimes contradictory, but nevertheless real, multidimensional, and complex. The editors intertwine these interviews into a charming narrative which is not only easy to read – a feat for any academic work – but also enjoyable and applicable.
The book is divided into three parts. The first section details the conversations with theorists who define and redefine their thoughts on resistance. This is by far the largest part in the book, with eight thought-provoking chapters. The second section looks at the relationship with theories of change through the authors’ engagement with teachers, researchers and those who work alongside young people in the context of change. Other chapters offer the reader current examples such as the DREAMers’ movement, STEM education and black emancipation, and perspectives from Palestine. The book then ends with views towards future action research considering the difficulties with the methodologies and epistemologies and samples, some of the new research discussing the complexities of research by including examples from native young people resisting the curriculum, LGBTQ young people and undocumented youth ‘coming out’.
The interesting elements for me, as a practitioner in the British Youth Justice System, were the notions and references to individualized and collective learning, and the book encouraged me to make connections (even though the tone is at times is distinctly American) to my own practice and contemporary debates. There are reverberations with British work – for example, Hatcher (2013)’s talk, Activism in the school system in England, and Rodgers and Gunter (2012)’s article, ‘Crouching target and hidden child’, along with numerous other research examples regarding pupils ‘resisting’ full time education and the current headlines about the underachievement of white working class children (most notably boys) in relation to the individualized vs collective learning argument.
Youth Resistance Research and Theory of Change challenges the reader with careful and committed writings, whilst avoiding a fall into the trap of despair. It urges practitioners to listen, and encourages them to work with young people on notions of freedom. The final sentence from Ruth Wilson Gilmore (p. 233) sums this up for me: ‘Mostly, the chapters in this book assure me that the capacity to make freedom, imaginatively and energetically, prevails, especially among young people. So too with all of us….’