Grafting, going to college and working on road: youth transitions and cultures in an East London neighbourhood

The local neighbourhood has an enduring significance for British urban, working-class youth in relation to their transitions, cultures and leisure practices. This paper examines these interrelated issues by drawing upon ethnographic research undertaken in ‘Manor’, a deprived, multi-ethnic East London neighbourhood. It explores the transitions taken by black, white and mixed-parentage young males (and some of their female peers), transitions that were formed by the interaction of paid work opportunities with youth cultures and leisure practices (‘road’ and ‘grafter’ cultures), ethnicity, gender and social networks. Even within a single deprived and stigmatized neighbourhood such as Manor, a number of transitions could be identified. These include ‘grafting’ at manual, masculine ‘dirty work’ in the construction industry; going to college allied to ‘clean’, service-sector work; and an ‘alternative’ route of ‘working on road’ by undertaking a variety of low-level, illegal money-making activities