From Labouring to Learning: Working-Class Masculinities, Education and De-Industrialization(Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education)

Highly Commended in the Society of Educational Studies Book Prize This book explores how economic changes and the growing importance of educational qualifications in a shrinking labour market, particularly effects marginalized young men. It follows a group of young working-class men in a de-industrial community and challenges commonly held representations that often appear in the media and in policy discourses which portray them as feckless, out of control, educational failures and lacking aspiration. Ward argues that for a group of young men in a community of social and economic deprivation, expectations and transitions to adulthood are framed through the industrial legacy of geographically and historically shaped class and gender codes. These codes have an impact on what it means to be a man and what behaviour is deemed acceptable and what is not.

About the Author :
Michael R.M. Ward is Lecturer in Social Sciences at Swansea University, UK and programme director for Education. His work centres on the performance of working-class masculinities within and beyond educational institutions. He is the author of the award winning book, From Labouring to Learning, Working-class Masculinities, Education and De-industrialization and the editor of Gender Identity and Research Relationships, and Higher Education and Social Inequality: University Admissions, Experiences and Outcomes. Mike is also an editorial board member for Sociological Research Online, the Journal of Boyhood Studies, and the British Journal of Educational Studies and co-convenor of the BSA Education Study Group.

Review :
“This is a substantial and rich ethnographic study on the implications of economic restructuring on the lived experiences of working class men and the multifaceted ways in which masculinity is performed across space and through time.” (Darren T. Baker, Symbolic Interaction, 2016) "From Labouring to Learning is one of the most significant studies on working class masculinities since Willis's Learning to Labour and Walker's Louts and Legends. His metaphor of chameleonisation captures the complexities of the classed, gendered and heteronormative processes involved in the re-traditionalized and re-embodied practices of masculinity." - Wayne J. Martino, Professor of Equity and Social Justice, The University of Western Ontario, Canada "This book demonstrates the complex nature of masculinities as young men move through different forms of further and vocational education. This book is a major contributions to masculinity studies, to the sociology of education and to local community-based social inquiry." - David H. J. Morgan, Emeritus Professor, University of Manchester, UK "Ward unpacks the multiple, often contradictory, ways young men perform masculinity and attempt to maintain masculine control in this fraught context. Most originally, his analysis reveals how masculine performance and power are intricately entangled with place." - Edward W. Morris, Associate Professor, University of Kentucky, USA "Close observations, detailed field notes and the author's own willingness to listen, make for a rewarding ethnography showcasing the shape-shifting aspects of young masculinities in rapidly changing times." - Anoop Nayak, Professor in Social and Cultural Geography, Newcastle University, UK "The past 30-40 years have witnessed a number of educational ethnographies all of which have provided important insight into the way in which formal learning has the potential to impact the wider orbits of everyday life. Some of these accounts have focused on gender relations and where this has been the case the relationship between individual identity and educational trajectory has come to the fore. In this ground-breaking book, Michael Ward maps the educational journeys of a small group of working-class males from the Welsh Valleys charting both the history and impact of de-industrialisation in this once vibrant economic community. Set within the context of the social and political realities of modern-day life and an in situ personal biography, From Labouring to Learning presents a nuanced articulation of how young men from the Valleys 'do' masculinity in a world where traditional forms of manliness remain and where broader conceptions of gender and sexuality are flavoured by the cultural expectations of by-gone days."- Andrew Parker, Professor of Sport and Christian Outreach, University of Gloucestershire, UK.