Poor students’ class and gender identity making. The search of respect in a secondary school in the City of Buenos Aires

MEO, ANALÍA INÉS

Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow (Reino Unido).

Conferencia; British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2010; 2010

British Sociological Association

This paper presents some results of a qualitative study carried out in a secondary school in the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina). It examines how two students from poor families responded to, and viewed, aggression by peers at their school. This paper argues that the examination of students´ narratives about aggression (based on classism and sexism) illustrates the analytical usefulness of the moral dimension of social life to unpack crucial aspects of the micro politics of class and gender and processes of identity-making. Following Sayer (2005), this article maps students´ responses to immoral sentiments and misrecognition: the search for respect and respectability, and moral boundary drawing. It demonstrates that these reactions are entangled in students´ class and gender identity-making.  It also shows how “victims” are able to regain respect. However, the individualized nature of these processes and the spirals of aggression which they instigate demonstrate the fragile and temporary nature of this achievement.