Student Culture and the Contradictions of Equality at a Mexican Secondary School

Abstract

This article examines the dynamic relationship between official school structures and forms of student subjectivity through an ethnographic account of student culture at a Mexican secondary school. Tightly interwoven discursive and organizational practices promoting solidarity and equality defined the “official” school structure. Students appropriated these resources to fashion a culture of equality which both accommodated and denied different student sensibilities. The article concludes with an analysis of student culture in terms of practice and cultural production theory.