Abriéndose camino: mundos juveniles de descendientes de familias ecuatorianas, dominicanas y mixtas en Barcelona

Abstract

In this Doctoral Thesis, I explore the worlds and lives of descendants of mixed and non-mixed Ecuadorian and Dominican families in Barcelona. I wonder about the different key aspects in the configuration of the young people's lives and analyse their practices, expressions and socio-cultural identifications in these areas. The condition of 'being young' —having a certain biological age and a particular social identity— turned out to be the guiding thread that crosses all these aspects transversally. The experience of 'being young' organizes other vital experiences that are connected to leisure activities and youth cultures on the one hand, and to obligational studies and the family space on the other hand, particularly within the relationships with their parents. Topics such as physical appearance, 'popularity' and positioning in youth spaces are also central to understanding certain youth expressions. In addition, I analyse socio-cultural practices and identifications of young people from their sociodemographic contexts —place of residence— and from their personal social relationships with different people. While young people themselves give little importance to national or ethnical self-identifications, experiences of racialization or racism may, depending on the case, influence how young people understand themselves in relation to others in Catalan society. Social class and gender cross transversally experiences and practices of young people in their different vital areas. Furthermore, I emphasize the personal and family biography of young people as important possible motivations behind many youth practices and expressions. This broad approach to the realities and lives of young people's lives —of Ecuadorian, Dominican and Catalan origin— is reflected in the methodological approach. I realized 24 in-depth case studies with adolescents and young people of a varied profile, all of them between 12 and 23 years old and residents of different neighbourhoods in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The methodological proposal consists, more specifically, in the application of a set of different research techniques, suitable for adolescents and young people and with which I pretended to be able to explore young people's realities from different angles. These techniques include innovative proposals such as the use of 'Mind maps', an 'Association game' or a 'Guided walk through the Neighbourhood'. This research is basically exploratory, on a subject with little research done in Spain and Catalonia, and ethnographic.

Date of Award	29 Jul 2017
Original language	English
Supervisor	Dan Rodriguez Garcia (Director)