Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: I introduce two continuous measures of subculture membership (ideological embeddedness and behavioral-relational involvement), and use them to examine the relationship between membership in the jamband subculture and the affective meanings (evaluation, potency, and activity) associated with ten identities that are relevant to that subculture. I advance three hypotheses. First, I expect the continuous measures of membership to be stronger predictors of meanings than a dichotomous measure. Second, I predict that ideological embeddedness mediates the relationship between involvement and meanings. Third, I hypothesize that continuous membership is related positively to the evaluation and potency of subculture identities (a deadhead, a hippie, a phishhead, a raver, a stoner, a tourrat, a vendor), and related negatively to the evaluation and potency of authority identities (a capitalist, a nark, a police officer). Using data from self-administered surveys (N = 352), I find that continuous measures of membership provide more predictive power than a dichotomous measure. Also, I find that embeddedness mediates the relationship between involvement and six identity meanings. Finally, I find that continuous membership is related positively to the seven subculture identities and related negatively to the three authority identities.

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Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this paper, I examine the music and style that contributed to today’s emo subculture. In order to clearly explicate this subculture, I use the voices of emo kids as found through their online presence. In an attempt to define emo as a subculture, I examine the style and values of this subculture and how it functions as a tool for resistance of popularity.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: My paper examines how punk and alternative rock subcultures have created their own commercially independent media, such as independent record labels and fanzines, through a so-called "do-it-yourself ethic." The formation of independent media is a response to the growing concentration of power among corporate conglomerates in the entertainment and music industries. The do-it-yourself ethic gives people involved with punk and alternative rock music democratic access to a means of creative expression, empowering them to be cultural participants rather than just consuming spectators. In many cases, it also enables them to use music as a vehicle of protest and activism, a kind of "public sphere" that gives voice to viewpoints marginalized by mainstream media while facilitating dialogue about critical social issues. My paper gives special attention to the "riot grrrl" movement and subculture, a collective of young women who sought to revitalize feminism by using fanzines and music as media for consciousness-raising and community organizing.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this article we introduce the concept of scenes and analyze the relationship be-tween social movements and movement scenes. We define a scene as a network of people who identify as part of a group and share a common set of beliefs and convic-tions, and which is centered around a particular location or set of locations. It is ar-gued that scenes, when attached to social movements, can serve to support and sus-tain movements by serving 1) as a mobilization pool for movement actions and dem-onstrations; 2) as a site for experimentation with alternative organizational struc-tures, decision-making processes, and modes of interaction; 3) as a social space for the construction of commitment frames and collective identities; and 4) as a set of “abeyance structures” that can preserve movement culture, ideals, and practices from one wave of mobilization to the next. We conclude with a discussion of the rele-vance of movement scenes for research on social movements and investigations into the nature of civil society and the relationship between associations and democracy. We argue that because movement scenes are likely to make a qualitatively different contribution to democracy than either non-scene related movements or traditional voluntary associations, they should be conceptualized as a distinct sector of civil so-ciety. Secondly, we argue that the nature of the relationship between movement and scene is an important factor mediating the democratic impact of social movements.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Shanghai has become one of the largest magnets for foreign direct investment in the world and is emerging as China’s global city. Shanghai also is attracting a large population of foreign managers, professional and service workers. Using qualitative data from interviews and long-term ethnographic fieldwork, this paper examines the gendered, sexual and ethnic relations at play in the development of this new international community. Based on this ethnographic study, dating and marriage are the most common ways in which foreign male residents establish close ties to Chinese residents. This international community can be interpreted as a kind of cosmopolitan subculture that includes the romantic and marriage partners of the long-term foreign residents in Shanghai. As a local cosmopolitan subculture, the community offers status and rewards to foreign and Chinese participants that are not generally available in their home societies. The paper uses a historic sociological study to compare the international community in Shanghai with that of the foreign “Shanghailanders” before 1949.