bun-u said:
I think it often depends on who is doing the name calling
I don't think the idea of a "hostile and parasitic" youth culture is anything new, so I too think this is the central feature of the debate. I would be more interested in trying to define the different types of speakers on this thread and elsewhere who tend to offer either sympathy, solidarity, or scorn. (You could add to that a fourth "S"—suspicion, if you like.) What are these voices all about and how can they be organised?
As a Canadian who spent some time in the sprawl of London a few years back, I found the "hegemonic" (to quote someone upthread) aspect of chav to be its defining character. Sure, we have fashion trends and idle, destructive packs of teenagers (like anywhere), but I can assure you there is
nothing, absolutely
nothing in Canada as mystifyingly (almost admirably) uniform as the chav.
With this thread on my mind recently, I walked by a group of Canadian high school kids who were spending their lunch hour outside 7-11. Sure enough, I found myself offended by them—the angle at which baseball caps are worn, the quantity and gaudiness of the jewellry, the "classic"-ness of the trainers have all increased dramatically in the last few years. Or have they?
I was going to write some stuff about how "the discourse producer" (if we can apply a "chav"-like label to him or her too) has now entered that phase of life where teenagers are a constant threat and irritation, but then I decided to scrap it: that hardened "authentic" chav exterior I encountered in Britain—seen lounging outside the offie or from the window of a train—is about where it stops. The chavs I made friends with (ie. those who would probably identify themselves as such, if asked) are bright, resourceful, unfailingly loyal, and hypermodern. There is a relentless push towards newness among these guys at all times (no irony or recontextualisation here) that makes me feel like a bit of a fucking dinosaur. (And genuinely embarrassed for trying to figure out whether they're the noughties equivalent of mod.)