Overview

How do poverty, youth and crime relate to the concept of being 'cool'? Jonathan Ilan presents a unique, theoretically informed overview of street culture in various parts of the world – its origins, functions, manifestations and appeal – examining both its bearing on criminal lifestyles and on the cultivation of 'cool.' Drawing on contemporary research and original examples to evidence new ways of thinking about street culture - from the favelas of Brazil to housing projects in the USA - the text locates street culture within its particular social, cultural and economic contexts. Covering diverse subjects from brutal violence to contemporary fashion it explores the ways in which street culture is intertwined with processes of social exclusion and inclusion. An in-depth and even-handed guide to understanding the practices, styles and struggles associated with a particular section of the socio-economically disadvantaged, this text stands as an invaluable resource for students and academics across a range of disciplines, including youth studies, urban studies, criminology, sociology, cultural studies and geography.

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9781137028587

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Reviews

'Innovative and insightful, Ilan's Understanding Street Culture illuminates the life of the streets. A work of imaginative integration, it carries the reader from the smallest of street spaces to the largest of global issues.' - Jeff Ferrell, Visiting Professor of Criminology, University of Kent, UK 'This brilliant, comprehensive study embodies and finesses the contradictions that beset street culture. It locates the street's 'posture of defiance' in a global context and ultimately highlights the process whereby street expressivity becomes a 'commodifiable cool'.' - Gregory J. Snyder, author of Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground

'Understanding Street Culture' by Jonathan Ilan is a book about the manifestations of street culture; what it is, how it came to be, the implications of it on mainstream society, and the effects mainstream society has on it. ... the book is a useful source for others to develop research on this important topic. ... Learning from Ilan's book would offer a different way to consider how marginalization shapes adolescent development and outcomes. (Billie Endress, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 45, 2016)

Author Information

Jonathan Ilan is Lecturer in Criminology and Director of Studies for BA Criminology at the University of Kent, UK. He has researched youth cultures in Dublin and published numerous journal articles in the field of cultural criminology.

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