Youth, Class and Intersectionality

Abstract

A major criticism of class studies has been that in prioritising class other inequalities are marginalised and given less attention. This logic has (perhaps inadvertently) been influential in marginalising class in the analysis of young people's lives. We suggest that recent theoretical and empirical developments in sociology that use a Bourdieusian approach can show the intersection between class and other inequalities, and illuminate how class changes the very nature and experiences of other inequalities. We suggest that by drawing on these approaches youth sociology could also gain greater insight into the intersection of class for indigenous populations such as the young New Zealand Māori and young people from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait backgrounds. So far we have paid attention to the ways social class shapes young people's lives in a very pervasive and influential manner. Our approach in this chapter is not only to outline other inequalities that characterise young people's lives but also to draw attention to the lack of significance for youth studies of the notion of intersectionality – a way of trying to under-stand the interrelationship between inequalities that was brought into