‘It’s a place where all friends meet’ 1: Shared places, youth friendships and the negotiation of masculine identities in rural estonia

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Abstract

Interest in young people’s lives in East and Central Europe (ECE) has often centred around exploring the broader social, political and economic processes and their impact on youth well-being and living conditions (Taimalu et al. 2007, Stenning and Hörschelmann 2008, Krevs 2008, Blazek 2011). Considering the extent of the post-socialist transformations it is not surprising that in this context research has been ‘more frequently preoccupied with solving problems of economic, social, political and environmental survival’ (Krevs 2008: 146). Therefore, to date, an absence of academic engagement with everyday lives of young people in East and Central Europe can be observed (Blazek 2011, Stenning and Hörschelmann 2008). Research into youth kinship networks in provincial Russia by Walker (2010: 647) reveals that local social networks, family and friends are central in shaping the life-chances and helping young people to ‘get by’ (see also Habeck 2007). The special role of friendship in young people’s daily lives and relationships has been often emphasised, especially in the field of developmental and social psychology (e.g. Erwin 1998, Schneider 2000, Dunn 2004). While the psychological approach to studying young people and their peer relations has been concerned primarily with the impact of friendship on youths’ immediate well-being and on their transitions to adulthood, importantly for this chapter, social scientists have also highlighted the central role of friendships in young people’s ongoing negotiation of their social identities (Nayak and Kahily 1996, Dyson 2010, Blazek 2011). For example, in his research in an urban neighbourhood in Slovakia, Blazek (2011) found that it is children’s practices of friendship which are the enacting and transforming medium of their identities (see also Goodwin 2008). Other authors such as Nayak and Kehily (1996, 1996), Morris-Roberts (2001, 2004), Renold (2006) and Dyson (2010), furthermore show the significance of embodied practices that accompany friendship in the formation of young people’s gendered subjectivities.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMasculinities and Place
EditorsAndrew Gorman-Murray, Peter Hopkins
PublisherTaylor & Francis Group
Pages317-333
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781317100003
ISBN (Print)9781472409799
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6-May-2016

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