The Subcultural Imagination
The Subcultural Imagination discusses young adults in subcultures and examines how sociologists use qualitative research methods to study them. Through the application of the ideas of C. Wright Mills to the development of theory-reflexive ethnography, this book analyses the experiences of young people in different subcultural settings, whilst also reflecting on how young people in subcultures interact in the wider context of society, biography and history. From Cuba to London, and Bulgaria to Asia, this book delves into urban spaces and street corners, young peoples parties, gigs, BDSM fetish clubs, school, the home and feminist zines to offer a picture of live sociology in practice. In three parts, the volume explores:
History, biography and subculture;
Practising reflexivity in the field; and
Epistemologies, pedagogies and the subcultural subject.
The book offers cutting edge theory and rich empirical research on social class, gender and ethnicities from both established and new researchers across diverse disciplinary backgrounds. It moves the subcultural debate beyond the impasse of the terms relevance, to one where researchers are fully engaged with the lives of the subcultural subjects. This innovative edited collection will appeal to scholars and students in the areas of sociology, youth studies, media and cultural studies/communication, research methods and ethnography, popular music studies, criminology, politics, social and cultural theory, and gender studies.
Shane Blackman is Professor of Cultural Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK.
Michelle Kempson is a lecturer at Solihull College and University Centre, UK.
Youth, Young Adulthood and Society
Series editor: Andy Furlong
University of Glasgow, UK
The Youth, Young Adulthood and Society series brings together social scientists from many disciplines to present research monographs and collections, seeking to further research into youth in our changing societies around the world today. The books in this series advance the field of youth studies by presenting original, exciting research, with strongly theoretically- and empirically-grounded analysis.
Published:
Body Work
Youth, gender and health
Julia Coffey
Young People and the Aesthetics of Health Promotion
Beyond reason, rationality and risk
Kerry Montero and Peter Kelly
The Subcultural Imagination
Theory, research and reflexivity in contemporary youth cultures
Edited by Shane Blackman and Michelle Kempson
Forthcoming:
Young People in the Labour Market
Past, present, future
Andy Furlong, John Goodwin, Sarah Hadfield, Stuart Hall, Kevin Lowden and Henrietta OConnor
Youth, Class and Culture
Steven Threadgold
Spaces of Youth
Identities, inequalities and social change
David Farrugia
Rethinking Young Peoples Marginalisation
Beyond neo-liberal futures?
Perri Campbell, Lyn Harrison, Chris Hickey and Peter Kelly
Muslim Youth in the Diaspora
Challenging extremism through popular culture
Pam Nilan
The Subcultural Imagination
Theory, research and reflexivity in contemporary youth cultures
Edited by Shane Blackman and Michelle Kempson
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2016 Selection and editorial material, Shane Blackman and Michelle Kempson; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Blackman, Shane J., editor. | Kempson, Michelle, editor.
Title: The subcultural imagination : theory, research and reflexivity in contemporary youth cultures / edited by Shane Blackman and Michelle Kempson.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Youth, young adulthood and society
Identifiers: LCCN 2015045220| ISBN 9781138844032 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315730684 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Youth--Social conditions. | Youth--Social life and customs.
Classification: LCC HQ796 .S8845 2016 | DDC 305.235--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015045220
ISBN: 978-1-138-84403-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73068-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by HWA Text and Data Management, London
For Kate Blackman, long may you shine.
For Matthew Pratt, whose encouragement has been invaluable.
Contents
SHANE BLACKMAN AND MICHELLE KEMPSON
PART I
History, biography and subculture
PHIL COHEN
ELENI DIMOU
ANTHONY GUNTER
PART II
Practising reflexivity in the field
SHANE BLACKMAN
RACHELA COLOSI
ROBERT McPHERSON
GEMMA COMMANE
PART III
Epistemologies, pedagogies and the subcultural subject
ROBERT HOLLANDS
MICHELLE KEMPSON
VIHRA BAROVA
J. PATRICK WILLIAMS
SHANE BLACKMAN AND MICHELLE KEMPSON
Vihra Barova is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and lecturer in Social Anthropology at Plovdiv University, Bulgaria. She has written in the field of urban anthropology, on topics across youth studies, subcultural theory and social inclusion/exclusion.
Shane Blackman is a Professor of Cultural Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. He received his PhD at the Institute of Education, University of London as an ESRC scholarship student supervised by Professor Basil Bernstein and Phil Cohen. His books include Youth: Positions and Oppositions, Style, Sexuality and Schooling (1995); Drugs Education and the National Curriculum (1996); Chilling Out: The Cultural Politics of Substance Consumption, Youth and Drug Policy (2004) and Young People, Class and Place (eds), with Shildrick, T. and MacDonald, R. (2010). He has recently published papers on ethnography, subcultural theory, anti-social behaviour and alcohol and young women. He is an editor of the Journal of Youth Studies