Peer Relationships at School
New Perspectives on Migration and Diversity
Abstract
Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book draws on ethnographic research in two UK secondary schools, considering the shifting roles of migration status, language, ethnicity, religion and precarity in young people’s peer relationships. The book challenges culturalist understandings of social cohesion, highlighting the divisive impacts of neoliberalism, from pervasive temporariness and domestic abuse to technologization and neighbourhood violence. Using Martin Buber’s relational model, the book explores the interplay of ‘I-It’ boundary-making with reciprocal ‘I-Thou’ encounters, pointing to the creative power of these encounters to subvert, reimagine, and even transform social difference. The author provides a pragmatic and ultimately hopeful view of the dynamics of diversity in everyday life, offering valuable insights for social policy and practice.
Keywords
Diversity; Ethnicity; Ethnography; Inequality; Migration; Race; Religion; Schools; Social cohesion; Social interactionDOI
10.47674/9781529235753ISBN
9781529235753, 9781529235760, 9781529235777Publisher
Bristol University PressPublisher website
https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/Publication date and place
Bristol, 2024Classification
Migration, immigration and emigration
Relating to migrant groups / diaspora communities or peoples
Refugees and political asylum
Social discrimination and social justice
Social and ethical issues
Ethnic groups and multicultural studies