The Subcultural Imagination : Theory, Research and Reflexivity in Contemporary Youth Cultures

The Subcultural Imagination examines young adults in subcultures, and how sociologists use qualitative research methods to study them. It applies the ideas of C. Wright Mills to the development of theory-reflexive ethnography. Looking at the experiences of young people in different subcultural settings, this book shows how young people in subcultures interact in the wider context of society, biography and history.

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, as well as 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 people’s 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;
• 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 term’s 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.