My parents and I have always had an interesting relationship to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I love and cherish them greatly. However, when it comes to seeing eye-to-eye on certain matters, a clashing does occur. I have never wondered or gave the topic a second thought until Phil Cohen’s ‘Subcultural Conflict and Working-class Community’ was assigned as a reading for class last week.
In order to explore some tensions behind parent and youth cultures I decided to visit my mother’s old house. Forty years ago, my mother lived, with her family, in Musheireb - as did many of the locals in Qatar. It was where a strong community once lived. Regardless of the poor state the inhabitants of the area had a strong bond. I’ve noticed that many of my father’s friends, including my dad, are able to speak Persian and Indian. This is because most children that lived in that close community played outside and bonded on a day-to-day level.
While exploring the area of Musheireb with my mother I can sense the personal attachment she has for the area, even though she hasn’t lived there for twenty-five years.
Around twenty-five years ago the locals began to move out of the area. “Gradual depopulation” was evident at the time. The government bought some of the houses to concentrate on “building new estates.” An example of this would be the expansion and reconstruction of Souq Wagif.
Modernization has its advantages of course; redevelopment brought more opportunities and bettered the “material conditions” of many. However, a clash between parent culture and youth culture is somewhat present. Traditions of the past seem to no longer or rarely exist. When my parents speak of their childhood there is less emphasis on material consumption and more on how strong their community was. The different lifestyles that their children have and the one they had years ago differ to a great extent. It is only natural that parents worry about the BBM lifestyle and the vast changes that seem to swirl around them. The ideology of spectacular consumption and the traditional ideology of production seem to clash. There is a great emphasis on consuming products, especially with some of the youth culture. Also, there seems to be less interest in producing as opposed to consuming. Some of the youth culture in Qatar seem to have “weaken links” in relations to “historical and parent culture.” However, some events taking place in Qatar seem to try to reconnect youth to traditions of the past. For example, on Tuesday November 13th, I attended a Dhow event that took place in Katara. It showcased the traditions of the past and had mini stalls that show how pearl diving was and fishing was conducted. The event could be trying to reconnect and educate youth about past times and also give the parent culture a trip down memory lane.
It leaves me to wonder how things will be in twenty-five years. The thought is almost haunting.
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