‘If I had more time it could be better, but the new wave’s about spontaneity, right?’: finding meaning in Britain’s early punk fanzines (1976–77)

This article uses fanzines produced from the UK in 1976–77 to explore how punk’s politics, production and cultural impact were understood by those first enticed by ‘the new wave’. It is divided into three principal sections, the first offering some context: a rough survey of who made fanzines and how. The second will explore definitions of punk’s new wave, looking at how emergent cultures were understood and the rationale applied to any point or purpose. Third, the inherent tensions of punk’s cultural formation will be teased from fanzine editorials and articles seeking to maintain the momentum of 1976–77 and protect against perceived infiltration or dilution. In each case, choice examples are given and the article is not meant to suggest any definitive reading. Rather, the objective is to test, challenge and confirm recurring punk myths and give voice to those who ‘were there’ without enabling any conceited subjectivity to transform into universalism

From Cellblocks to Suburbia: Tattoos as Subcultural Style, Commodity and Self-expression

This research study uses scholarship on tattooing, popular cultural representation and the practice and experience of tattooing to look at how subcultures (social groups excluded from mainstream society) express themselves through style and how style creates meaning and identification. These subcultures differ from other subcultures, such as racially marginalized groups, in that they create style in order to separate themselves from the mainstream. These marginal ideas of style are often picked up and adapted by America’s mainstream, materialistic culture and marketed as “cool” by corporations and other members of mainstream society for mass consumption. When discussing related subcultural theory in light of tattoos, one must not overlook the unique features of tattoos, including their permanent quality and the way society continues to perceive tattoos. Moreover, in today’s consumption-obsessed society, it is difficult to escape capitalism’s effect on “cool” and the ways in which cool is commodified. The mainstream is constantly commodifying subcultural trends, forcing subcultures to continually create new trends to remain marginal. Because commodification is perpetual and corporations are constantly seeking new ways to profit off of the mainstream’s next perceived idea of “cool,” it is somewhat remarkable that a centuries-old form of self-expression has largely managed to escape this process of commodification as tattoos have done

The "Non-favourite": Neo-tribal Sexualities on Celluloid

Much academic ink has been spilt over the way in which female subjectivities and sexualities are constructed in the public domain. Issues of female sexuality form a huge part of queer studies and feminist accounts. Surprisingly enough, the construction of female sexualities and more specifically bisexuality has never been worth mentioning in the accounts of subcultures. The transition from subcultures to neo-tribes and neo-tribal sociality has paid scant attention to the construction of female sexualities. Even more importantly, most academic accounts deal with the construction of female sexuality as usually being strictly kept within the limitations of the familiar, familial and predominantly straight sexuality. This article examines the ways in which female subjectivities and sexualities are constructed on celluloid canvas through an examination of a recent movie called “Disobedience” by the Chilean director Sebastian Lelio as forming an integral part of neo-tribes. It takes a different view on the construction of female sexualities as it locates this construction within the transition from subcultures to neo-tribes. This paper puts forward the suggestion that female sexuality apart from being a product of a number of different socio-cultural relationships, norms and laws, it mainly exposes the dynamics of not just subcultures but also neo-tribes at play. The first part of the article places the formation of female sexuality within the transition from subcultures to neo-tribes. The second part of the paper discusses the way in which class informs female sexuality within the context of neo-tribes. The final part of the article places the discussion on the construction of female sexualities within the overall context of juxtaposing neo-tribal lifestyle choices

Honour subcultures and the reciprocal model

Tests of models of reciprocal interactions of testosterone and behaviour patterns in honour subcultures, if based on adult samples measured at a single point in time, would be aided by measures of behaviour in such samples that indirectly index basal testosterone levels at earlier developmental ages, for example, hand preference and other measures of cerebral dominance. Such models raise questions about the social preconditions of honour subcultures, and their indirect effects on health

Status-Seeking in Criminal Subcultures and the Double Dividend of Zero-Tolerance

This paper offers a new argument for why a more aggressive enforcement of minor offenses ('zero-tolerance') may yield a double dividend in that it reduces both minor offenses and more severe crime. We develop a model of criminal subcultures in which people gain social status among their peers for being 'tough' by committing criminal acts. As zero-tolerance keeps relatively 'gutless' people from committing a minor offense, the signaling value of that action increases, which makes it attractive for some people who would otherwise commit more severe crime. If social status is sufficiently important in criminal subcultures, zero-tolerance reduces crime across the board.status concerns, street crime, subcultures, penalties, zero-tolerance, broken windows policing

Subkultury młodziezowe i pedagogika społeczna

This text deals with youth subcultures from the point of view of social pedagogy. Text introduces the basic terms such as culture, the dominant culture, subculture and counterculture and alternative culture. Furthermore there is analyzed the concept of subculture youth as well as the concept of lifestyle. A di erence between modern and postmodern approach to subcultures is also mentioned. Furthermore there is described the relationship between youth subcultures and social pedagogy, which is one of the disciplines that are devoted to youth subcultures. The nal part of the text brie y discusses selected youth subcultures in the Czech Republic and the negative manifestation of these subcultures

Cullers and Guardians: subcultures, attitudes and culling kangaroos

Traditional approaches to identifying and classifying subcultures (such as class and demographics) are limited in their applicability online. Social media provide an abundant source of insight into subcultures, but the irregular and natural presentation of data often defies systematic analysis and traditional tools. To identify and understand subcultures this study uses appraisal method to analyse comments in public Facebook discussions. It focuses on a contentious issue in Australian society, the culling of kangaroos. The findings are consistent with existing theories about wildlife attitudes and subcultures, suggesting credibility in the sample and findings. Two main groups were identified, referred to here as Cullers, who favour culling and reflect a more general attitude of human dominance over wildlife, and Guardians, who oppose culling and reflect a more general attitude of mutuality in rights and relations for humans and other species. The study supports previous research assertions that attitudes and values are integral to the development of subcultures. The appraisal method provided valuable insight into the complexity of attitudes within the two main groups. The analysis using attitudes helped to reveal economic, environmental, patriotic and rights influences on positions taken by subcultures, and suggests merit in future research using appraisal to identify and account for ‘sub-subcultures’

Formation of Subcultures: Resistance to Hegemony of Dominant Class

Dominant class employs hegemonic power to control subordinate groups of society. Instead of using physical violence, they seek the consent of marginalized people. In a sharp contrast to common submission to hegemonic powers, subcultures encounter dominant ideology by producing their own style, music, attire and phrases. Subcultures address invisible power structures by forming alternative discourses and practices. Subcultures like Hip-hop and Rap emerge from the marginal space and gradually develop into a level where they even pose threat to main stream cultural gestures. Bricolage is a one of the powerful strategies which subcultures manipulate to appropriate the artifacts of the dominant class. At the same time, dominant ideology in turn attempts to contain subcultures

Are the Kids Alright? A Critique and Agenda for Taking Youth Subcultures Seriously

Researchers have long been fascinated with youth subcultures. Decades of study have yielded several competing paradigms, which attempt to interpret these subcultures in diverse ways, with each succeeding paradigm criticizing, and attempting to improve on, those that came before it. Rather than offering criticism of a specific youth studies paradigm, this article provides a critique of this body of theory as a whole by delineating several theoretical assumptions that have persisted across these perspectives. These include: (1) the tendency to group all youth phenomena under a monolithic conceptual umbrella; (2) a preoccupation on the part of researchers with style and the consumption of goods; and (3) the assumed lack of rational behavior found in subcultures and an accompanying inability on the part of subcultures to achieve real goals or effect social change. It is argued that such assumptions trivialize subcultures, have led to a priori understandings of these without adequate empirical grounding, and must be addressed if subcultures are to be adequately understood and appreciated