Abstract

CASTILLO BERTHIER, Héctor. From Gangs to Urban Tribes: From Transgression to New Social Identity. Desacatos [online]. 2002, n.9, pp.57-71. ISSN 2448-5144.

Where the contradictions ofmodernity and marginalization are patent at every turn, social problems become unsolvable issues which, as they are such a daily occurrence, seem to have already become part of the dark and gloomy landscape. It is in this sense and as part and parcel ofit that the study ofworking-class youth, grouped together in "gangs", has taken on a dimension which is necessarily inserted in the rest of the urban social spectrum. When we speak of "gangs" we mean working-class youths who, during the 1980s and early 1990s, referred to themselves as such and were seeking an identity of their own. However, the phenomenon took different paths over the years. The aim of this text is to deepen our knowledge in a recent urban phenomena with the greatest social impact: the massive presence of working-class youths living in Mexico City. This paper is the partial result of a direct field study which began 13 years ago, the project "Circo Volador: cultura y juventud trabajadora en la ciudad de México" (Flying Circus: Culture and Working-class Youth in Mexico City) has published two books and over a dozen articles, created a cultural forum which hosts some 3 500 youths per week and has broadcast on the radio for the past eight years. It has also created a wide variety of files on youth culture.

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