Subculture - A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture. Often wrongly defined by dress sense and music taste but these elements can be related. Some subcultures also have distinctive aesthetic styles they generally follow.
Possible subcultures/belief systems to look into...
Free the nipple - feminism
Hippie culture - freeganism
Occupy 99% movement
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/mar/20/youth-subcultures-where-have-they-gone
"Dr Ruth Adams of King's College London thinks it might be linked to the speed at which "the cycle of production and consumption" now moves. "Fashion and music, they're much cheaper and they're much faster today," she says. "I think it's a lot easier to be promiscuous, subculturally speaking. When I was a teenager, you had to make more commitment to music and fashion, because it took more of a financial investment. I had a pair of gothy stiletto boots, which lasted me for years: I had to make a sort of commitment to looking like that, because I wasn't going to get another pair of alternative shoes any time soon, so I had to think about which ones I wanted. Now, it's all a bit more blurry, the semiotic signs are not quite as hard-edged as they used to be."
"there's something oddly self-conscious and non-committal about it: perhaps that's the result of living in a world dominated by social media, where you're under constant surveillance by your peers."
Do subcultures only really exist in the abundance of the internet? Does feminism disprove this? Or is feminism even a subculture? or just a belief system?
seapunk example "They catch people's imagination, get appropriated by mainstream culture then die away"
styles that used to be subcultures before the digital revolution are now re-invented and regurgitated weekly. Relevant to what Barthes talks about originality being impossible. The real subcultures that existed in the 60's such as Punks, Mods and Hippies existed because they were original and their belief systems were strong in going against general opinion and popular culture.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/police-vs-british-subcultures-302
SKINHEADS
Before the skinhead look had been co-opted by racists and Dutch fashion designers, authorities targeted the relatively peaceful, apolitical subculture under the banner of public safety – because shaving your head and holding your trousers up with braces is clearly a sign that you want to bottle strangers. However, as Dr Williams noted, much of that initial violence was manufactured by the police themselves. “You had a very working-class police force at the time,” he explained, “and creating problems was one of the things they enjoyed.”
Dr Wilson added that skinheads were singled out from very early on, and were made to remove their shoelaces at football games so they couldn’t run away or kick out at people. “One element of the skinhead fashion was a piece of material in your top pocket,” he said. “At clubs and bars, if you had this they’d not let you in. At one point, a lot of them were wearing red ties, and this was a warning signal. This policing based on your clothing was relentless.”
Are drugs a big part of subcultures or is it general media that produces this idea? do people wanting to then be a part of the subculture because of the belief system feel more inclined to take drugs to fit in?1985 Stonehenge Free Festival, in an attack that would later be dubbed the “Battle of the Beanfield”. is this why subcultures dont exist? fear?
GRIME AND GARAGE
According to Dr Williams, grime and garage are the first two subcultures that the police have found unsettling in a long time. While cops can’t force a venue to shut down a grime show, “they can threaten to revoke licenses”, said Williams. “They can also make it very difficult for a venue to hold an artist they see as problematic.” A recent example was Just Jam at London’s Barbican, set to feature artists like JME and Big Narstie. The night was cancelled the day before on the grounds of “public safety”, AKA venue owners bowing to police pressure.
All of this control revolves around Form 696, a risk assessment sheet that judges the supposed danger of violent crime at an event (Noisey released a great documentary about it earlier this year). There used to be a section asking whether there would be any ethnic minorities in attendance, but despite that blatant red flag of racism now being removed, the question is still implied. It’s a worryingly effective way of policing an entire musical subculture.
http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/noisey-specials/form-696-the-police-vs-grime-music
http://www.academia.edu/7515713/Northern_Soul_music_drugs_and_subcultural_identity_introduction_and_Chapter_1_
No comments:
Post a Comment