This book assesses the legacy of Dick Hebdige and his work on subcultures in his seminal work, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979). The volume interrogates the concept of subculture put forward by Hebdige, and asks if this concept is still capable of helping us understand the subcultures of the twenty-first century. The contributors to this volume assess the main theoretical trends behind Hebdiges work, critically engaging with their value and how they orient a researcher or student of subculture, and also look at some absences in Hebdiges original account of subculture, such as gender and ethnicity. The book concludes with an interview with Hebdige himself, where he deals with questions about his concept of subculture and the gestation of his original work in a way that shows his seriousness and humour in equal measure. This volume is a vital contribution to the debate on subculture from some of the best researchers and academics working in the field in the twenty-first century.
Section I: Theories and Debates.- 1. Hebdige, Punk and the
Post-Subcultural Meaning of Style- Andy Bennett.- 2. Scavenger and Bricoleur:
A critical analysis of Dick Hebdiges repurposing of subculture through the
intersection of biography and history- Shane Blackman.- 3. Resuscitating the
Subcultural Corpse: A reflection on subculture as lived experience and the
importance of class and ethnicity!- Peter Webb.- 4. The Scholar and the Punk:
Hebdige's master narrative and the deceptive self-knowledge of the
subaltern- Pete Dale.- Section II: Others, Absence and Identity.- 5. Where
the (Untypical) Girls Are: Inscribing womens experiences into Dick Hebdiges
Subculture: The Meaning of Style- Christine Feldman.- 6. Syncretic Youth: The
phantom legacy of Hebdiges Subculture: The Meaning of Style- Rehan
Hyder.- Section III: Hebdige and Contemporary Subcultures.- 7. On the Meaning
of Style: Black Metal's Black- Edia Connole.- 8. There and Back Again:
Linking online and offline spaces in/of Czech emo subculture- Martin
Hemanskż.- 9. Under-Connected: Youth subcultures, resistance and sociability
in the Internet age- Paula Guerra.- 10. Can you really get away with that at
work?: Recent experiences of teaching and learning Hebdige- Lucy Robinson
and Chris Warne.- 11. An interview with Dick Hebdige- The Subcultures Network.
The Subcultures Network was formed as the Interdisciplinary Network for the Study of Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change in 2011. The Networks steering committee comprises Keith Gildart (University of Wolverhampton), Anna Gough-Yates (University of Roehampton), Sian Lincoln (Liverpool John Moores University), Bill Osgerby (London Metropolitan University), Lucy Robinson (University of Sussex), John Street (University of East Anglia), Pete Webb (University of the West of England) and Matthew Worley (University of Reading).
