Situating Street Kids: An Ethnography of Nomadic Street Kids in Portland, Oregon
By: Elizabeth de Lise '13
Advising Faculty: Anthony P. Graesch
This thesis examines how a nomadic lifestyle is the cornerstone of street kid ethos and a meaningful site for framing a general disenchantment with mainstream American culture. Following a summer of ethnographic research in and among street kid communities in Portland, Oregon, de Lise argues that street kid lifeways are better regarded as a subculture rather than a counterculture. Departing from the “street kid as victim” approach, de Lise refocuses an anthropological lens on the ways that street kids are agents of their own actions and understood only within the context of past events that shaped decisions to live on the street.
This honors paper may be viewed at Digital Commons @ Connecticut College.
http://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/anthrohp/6/
Related Fields: Anthropology