SOCIOLOGY TOPIC B TOPIC 5 : POSTMODERN VIEWS

What does Postmodernism state ?

• Society has moved away from structure

• TOWARDS

• Fluidity , choice and uncertainty

How do Postmodernists NOT see youth subcultures ?

• No longer based on social class , gender and ethnic issues of capitalism , patriarchy or racism

• They would also rarely see them as deviant or criminal

How DO Postmodernists see youth subcultures ?

• Due to the fact that people now have access to information about people and styles all around the world , this makes youth subcultures ever changing and ever more hybrid.

What is the point made by Neo-Tribes ?

Youth subcultures have become non-political and individualistic.

Define Neo-tribes ?

• Loosely associated groupings

• With similar taste but low commitment

• organised around lifestyle themes Attitudes to life and consumer choice

Who did Borden research ?

Skater’s

What did Borden find the Skater’s lifestyle consisted of ?

• Clothing brands like DC’S, Vans and Airwalk

• Listening to hip-hop and indie music

• Being ‘Into’ graffiti art

• Hanging out with each other in fluid groups

What did Borden find Skater’s were loosely associated with ?

• Low commitment levels

• No one was expected to be at a given space at a given time

How was Status and street cred gained for Borden’s skaters ?

Through skateboarding skills and social connections within their groups.

What did Muggleton use his research to show ?

• Show that youth subcultures are no longer politically motivated

What did Muggleton find in his research ?

• Less clearly defined boundaries between members

• A weaker sense of commitment to ‘the cause’

• Greater variety of styles adopted within the group

• Greater emphasis on style than belief

How did Muggleton conduct his research ?

• Semi structured interviews

• 43 young males and 14 young females in Preston and Brighton

What did Muggleton find with his group of people ?

• Few identified with a distinct named subculture

• Instead they said they were punkish , rather than being a punk

What does Thornton argue ?

• Youth’s now take a highly individualised approach to style and identity

• They are more likely to make decisions which vary from each other

What does Thornton actually study ?

• Clubbing culture

• Found people use a picNmix approach

• They choose apparently random elements and curate a mis-matched identity

• This identity may well be creative , unique and changing overtime

What was the only thing bringing the ravers together according to Thornton ?

• Shared taste in music

• Letting one’s hair down at rave events

Who does Blackman critique ?

• The postmodern approach

What does Blackman argue ?

• By choosing to focus on subcultures such as clubbing

• Researchers are ignoring more politically active subcultures

What are examples of Blackman’s ‘Politically active subcultures’ ?

• Extinction rebellion and Black Lives Matter

• Hundreds of thousands of younger people have taken an active role in participating in these groups

• Both are large global protest movements

• They are both very political and challenge the status quo

• Both groups raise issues around inequality , discrimination and negative effects of capitalist production.

What is Blackman’s thoughts on Ravers in opposition to Thornton’s ?

• Ravers often politically motivated in opposition to raves being made illegal

• 1980’s & 1990’S wore anti apartheid and pro-equality colours

• Campaigned against nuclear energy

• In addition to taking recreational drugs , were influential in campaigns on drug legislation

What’s another factor about youth subcultures in the eyes of postmodernists ?

• Youth subcultures are increasingly hybrid and diverse

Why do postmodernists argue hybridity is increasing ?

• We are free to choose multiple identities in the contemporary world

• Previously people are more tied to strict roles

• Associated with class , gender , age and ethnicity

What phrase did Polehemus coin ?

• Supermarket of style

What does Polehemus’s phrase supermarket of style show ?

• Contemporary youth styles have become very fluid

• Young people can choose from a range of different :

• Fashions

• Music

• Tastes

• Identities

• In the same way people can choose from different brands and varieties in the supermarket

What did Les Back find ?

• New hybrid identities emerging among young people

• Whites

• Asians

• Blacks

• In two council estates in South London

What are the young people on the council estates doing according to Les Back ?

• Young people are in a transitional stage where they have the freedom and opportunity to construct new identities

• Their cultures are not fixed traditions to behold

• They therefore try out and create new cultural ideas , styles , meanings and symbols in all sorts of unexpected ways.

What did Back see in these council estates ?

• Inter-racial friendship

• A great deal of cultural borrowing from other groups

• Language , interest in reggae , soul hip-hop , rap and house.

What does Nayak attempt to show ?

• Some young , white , working class males attempt to adopt the style and language of black culture

What other phrases does Nayak use to describe the group of people he studied ?

• White wannabes

• Wiggers and wangstas

What would Marxists and Feminists argue is the reason that youth subcultures are mixing more ?

• The disenfranchisement of all youths in society

What can affect all youth subcultures regardless of ethnicity and gender ?

• High unemployment

• Low wages

• High tuition fees

• Lack of housing hits many youth subcultures

What would Marxist’s argue that youth’s today have less of and why ?

• Less choice of expression

• Due to incorporation

What did the Manchester institute of popular culture research ?

• Club cultures

• Role of media in 1980’s and 90’s

• Social media / phones

• Not only allowed people to know where local raves were talking place

• But also

• Showed them what was cool

• Played a significant role in what Thornton called ‘Sub cultural capital’

Define sub cultural capital …

• Being in the know about what is ‘in’ or ‘out’ in the club scene

• Gaining status from mainstream followers of rave music

What does the link to ‘Sub-cutural capital’ show about he media ?

• Role of media in creating (pretend) authenticity

• Integral and undermines the role of choice and individualism that postmodernism suggests

What is another factor about youth subcultures according to Postmodernists ?

• Youth subcultures are largely based on thrill seeking and the pursuit of excitement

Why does Katz suggest that youth are part of deviant youth subcultures ?

• Pleasure of transgression

• Thrill of misbehaviour

• Break with routine

What does Katz liken deviant behaviour to ?

• Sexual pleasure

• Calls it the sexual metaphor

• Suggests , when youth are deviating , their pulses race , they feel excited and they get a rush of adrenaline

• Just like in a sexual experience

What else does Katz liken youth deviance to ?

• A religious experience

• Religious metaphor

• Some deviance is driven by a desire to create symbolic meaning or to ruin something sacred

What is another metaphor that Katz likens youth deviance to ?

• Ludic metaphor

Define Ludic metaphor

• It’s like a game

What is an example of Katz’s Ludic metaphor ?

• Gang members spend much time trying to gain strategic advantage

• Over other gangs where the goal is to ‘Win’ territory or status

Who would dispute Katz’s idea that youth subcultures operate only for thrill seeking ?

Venkatesh and Scraton

What does Venkatesh show ?

• Shows how youth subcultures help in the fight against capitalistic oppression

• They join to earn a living not just for the thrill of it

What does Scraton show ?

• Rascism and anti-colonial struggles means some ethnic groups are involved in deviancy and criminality

• Not for thrills or seduction but to make political statements