Review

Author(s): Suet-Ling Pong

Review by: Suet-Ling Pong
Source: Comparative Education Review, Vol. 56, No. 4, Special Issue on the Local and the Global
in Reforming Teaching and Teacher Education (November 2012), pp. 729-731
Published by: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Comparative and International
Education Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/668493
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BOOK REVIEWS

that paradigm could be and should be changed, with more project-based learning,
more technology, more online activities, and more global connections. If there is
a major shift of the role of teacher, what kind of teacher education might we need?
YONG ZHAO

University of Oregon

Balancing Acts: Youth Culture in the Global City by Natasha K. Warikoo. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2011. 248 pp. $21.95 (paper). ISBN 978-52026211-9.
American immigration researchers have long asked how second- generation students (native-born children of immigrants) perform in school as compared to
native children. For more than 2 decades, the prevailing theory for understanding
the educational performance of immigrants children has been of segmented
assimilation. This theory predicts three possible socioeconomic outcomes for the
second generation: upward mobility and assimilation to Americas middle class;
upward mobility through accommodation to American society but without cultural
assimilation; and downward assimilation to Americas underclass. Although this
theory came out of the shadow of classic assimilation theory that emphasized the
upward mobility of immigrants offspring, the unique insight of segmented assimilation theory is its emphasis on downward mobility among some groups of immigrants. The theory suggests that second-generation racial/ethnic-minority immigrant groups living next to poor African American peers in inner cities assimilate
into these peers culture, which is supposedly oppositional. The oppositional culture, to use the phrased coined by anthropologist John Ogbu, refers to the attitudes and behaviors against middle-class white Americans, which is said to cause
failure in school. Balancing Acts, authored by Natasha K. Warikoo, poses a serious
challenge to this theory by questioning the existence and consequences of an
oppositional culture among second-generation minority youths in two global cities.
Warikoos study exemplifies the use of a comparative design to interrogate
theory. Warikoo compared low-achieving students aged 1417 in one New York
City high school with similar-aged students in a school in London. This international comparison tests the cultural explanation of the segmented assimilation
theory in a way that has not so far been seriously done. If oppositional culture can
only be developed from proximity to African American peers, as postulated by the
segmented theory, then we would expect to find oppositional culture in New York
City but not in London, because there is not a concentration of British black
students in London.
Warikoo made a conscious effort to pick the two schools that are comparable
in terms of ethnic composition and socioeconomic status. She collected information from three sources: 120 in-depth interviews, a survey of 191 students, and
ethnographic observations. The in-depth interviews of the second-generation minority students were with 20 Indian-origin and 20 Afro-Caribbean-origin students
in each city. The book is rich with detailed descriptions of the informal practices
Comparative Education Review

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729

BOOK REVIEWS

of high school students in relation to the consumption of popular cultural items

and ornaments, including style, fashion, and music genre.
Warikoos findings are at odds with the predictions of segmented assimilation
theory: youth culture in both cities is remarkably similar. In London, low-achieving
second-generation minority students act like minority students in New York City.
They embrace a culture characterized by a hip-hop music genre and the ghetto
style of clothing, footwear, jewelry, and other observable body wear. School authorities disapprove of such hip-hop culture, which is pollinated by global consumption. Not only did Warikoo find similar oppositional cultures in London and
New York City, she also found that oppositional culture does not necessarily lead
to school failure. When asked about their educational aspirations and attitudes
toward schooling, Warikoos informants showed pervasive expectations of attaining
a college education. And most students, including those who perceived discrimination, generally believed that they could move up the social ladder through
schools. Warikoo concludes that the second generation may adopt an oppositional
culture but not oppositional attitudes. Their poor school performance cannot be
attributed to their enchantment with hip-hop culture or ghetto style. Thus, Warikoos book rejects the cultural explanation of the segmented assimilation theory
for two important reasons. First, oppositional culture adopted by poor secondgeneration minority youths in US cities came not from their residential proximity
to African Americans but from global capitalism. Second, oppositional culture is
evidently unrelated to school failure. In fact, many second-generation informants
in Warikoos study try to juggle between approval by adults and acceptance by
peers. Such balancing acts prevent them from suffering severe consequences of
school failure, such as suspension or dropout.
A good comparativist looks for differences as well as similarities. Warikoo found
that racial/ethnic boundaries matter much more in New York City than in London
for a youths identity and selection of friends. She proposed three structural explanations. First, British students typically follow a form class for the whole school
day for a number of years. Thus, her London students tended to identify with their
form classes rather than with other individual characteristics such as race/ethnicity.
Also, Britain does not have the same history of black-white segregation as the United
States or the same degree of immigration; many more immigrants have arrived in
New York than in London in recent years. And most US immigrants are from
nonwhite countries, creating greater salience of race and ethnicity in New York
City than in London. I would also want to consider the explanation by David Kirp
that racially inexplicit social welfare policies may have benefited Afro-Caribbean
immigrants, leading to greater equality and less consciousness about race and
ethnicity in Britain (David Kirp, Good by Doing Little: Race and Schooling in Britain
[Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979]).
Warikoo is mindful about the lack of a precise definition of culture. Nevertheless, she attempts to define oppositional culture as the behaviors regarding
particular types of musical styles and dress codes. This definition seems to be
restrictive. Why do we not consider academic attitudes and behaviors in the definition? Paul Willis depicted oppositional culture among British lads who Willis
found favored a working-class shop life while looking down upon pen-pushing work
(Paul Willis, Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs [New
730

November 2012

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BOOK REVIEWS

York: Columbia University Press, 1977]). The lads thus opposed teachers and
caused trouble in class. Certain academic behaviors, such as cutting classes or
conflict with teachers, were seen by Willis to be part of youths oppositional culture.
In this broad sense, oppositional culture would be highly associated with failure
in school. The adoption of oppositional culture may cover a wide range of behaviors
and attitudes. Treating it as a spectrum rather than an either-or entity would be
more fruitful as we consider its academic consequences.
The book contains useful advice for school teachers and administrators who
work with youths. However, readers may be confused about whether Warikoo means
to offer advice for the teaching of all students or only of immigrant students. Is
not every student, immigrant or native, better off by successfully balancing the
demands of peers and school authorities? The metaphor of the balancing act is
hardly new, or applicable only to the students interviewed by Warikoo. Still, her
sensitive detection yields a vivid account of how second-generation youths switched
codes to avoid immigrant parents reprimands.
Warikoos book would be a good resource for a variety of college courses,
including cultural sociology/anthropology, race/ethnicity in education, and immigration, not to mention comparative and international education. The book asks
stimulating questions about youth culture in global cities. The careful selection of
racial/ethnic/immigrant groups provides important theoretical insights into the
sociology of adolescence. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in secondgeneration adolescent students around the world.
SUET-LING PONG

Chinese University of Hong Kong and Pennsylvania State University

Comparative Education Review

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