Paul Willis (cultural theorist)
Encyclopedia
Paul Willis is a leading British cultural theorist
.
He was born in Wolverhampton
and received his education at the University of Cambridge
and at the University of Birmingham
. He worked at Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
and subsequently at the University of Wolverhampton
. He was a Professor of Social/Cultural Ethnography
at Keele University
. In the autumn of 2010, he left Keele University
and is now a professor at Princeton University
.
He gave a paper at the 9th Symposium of the National Deviancy Conference in January 1972 entitled 'A Motor-Bike Subculture'.
In 'Learning to Labour', Willis conducted an in-depth ethnography of a set of working class 'lads' in a town in the West Midlands referred to as 'Hammertown'. He conducted a series of interviews and observations within a school, with the aim of discovering why 'working class kids get working class jobs'. He concluded his research stating that the lads had an 'anti-authority' subculture that transmitted to the workplace.
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
.
He was born in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and received his education at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
. He worked at Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies was a research centre at the University of Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1964 by Richard Hoggart, its first director...
and subsequently at the University of Wolverhampton
University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
. He was a Professor of Social/Cultural Ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
at Keele University
Keele University
Keele University is a campus university near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain...
. In the autumn of 2010, he left Keele University
Keele University
Keele University is a campus university near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study, Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain...
and is now a professor at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
He gave a paper at the 9th Symposium of the National Deviancy Conference in January 1972 entitled 'A Motor-Bike Subculture'.
In 'Learning to Labour', Willis conducted an in-depth ethnography of a set of working class 'lads' in a town in the West Midlands referred to as 'Hammertown'. He conducted a series of interviews and observations within a school, with the aim of discovering why 'working class kids get working class jobs'. He concluded his research stating that the lads had an 'anti-authority' subculture that transmitted to the workplace.
Books
- The Ethnographic Imagination (Cambridge: Polity, 2000)
- (with S Jones, J Canaan and G Hurd) Common Culture. Milton Keynes: Open University, Press 1990, reprinted 1994 & 1996.
- 'Profane Culture' (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978)
- Learning to Labour (Aldershot: Gower, 1977) reprinted 1978, 79, 80,81,88,94,98, 2001
- Learning to Labour in New times , (ed with Nadine Dolby & Greg Dimitriadis). New York: Routledge, 2004
- Moving Culture. London: Gulbenkian Foundation, 1990.
- jointly edited with M Castells et al., Neuvas Perspectivas Criticas en Educacion . Barcelona: Paidós Educador, 1994
- (with A Bekenn, T Ellis and D Whitt) The Youth Review . Aldershot: Gower, 1988
- (with A Bekenn, T Ellis and D Whitt) The Social Condition of Young People in Wolverhampton in 1984 . Wolverhampton: Wolverhampton Borough Council, 1985.
External links
- Paul Willis at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....