Politics of friendship in the lives of black girls and girls of colour in Scotland

Abstract

Friendship is usually perceived as wholly separate from, and even alien to, structural inequalities and power relations. This research contests the aforementioned assumption by interrogating the politics of friendship in the lives of Black girls and girls of colour in Scotland. By ‘politics of friendship’ I am referring to the ways that friendship is affected by, contends with and challenges structural inequalities and power relations. The thesis brings the sociology of friendship into conversation with Black feminist thought, youth studies and girlhood studies to analyse how participants’ experiences and understandings of friendship politics were informed by intersections of ethnicity, gender and age.

The thesis is based on an ethnographic study with girls, aged 14-20, and youth workers in an anti-racist youth work charity in Scotland. Fieldwork was conducted from September 2020 until November 2021. It included participant observation in the organisation’s girls’ groups and youth club; workshops based on creative methods conducted with the girls’ groups; and in-depth interviews with some of the girls and youth workers.

I argue that in some cases friendship interactions and bonds can involve oppression and hinder political engagement. They therefore require complex navigations of structural power relations. At the same time, I contend that friendship ties, concepts and practices can be politically affirming when they can counter processes of othering and outcomes of injustice. Moreover, friendships can help challenge inequalities and cultivate activism for social change.

The politics of friendship analysed in this thesis refine sociological theorisation of how friendship is formed, fostered and ended, the ways it is idealised and practised and the positive, negative and ambivalent experiences this relationship can entail. Additionally, the politics of friendship illuminate some of the ways that oppression, particularly racism, manifests in personal relationships and everyday life. They also shed light on the significance of friendship to youth activism. Finally, this research helps bring scholarly attention to the experiences and perspectives of Black girls and girls of colour in Scotland.