The Straightedge Youth Sub-Culture: Observations on the Complexity of Sub-Cultural Identity

Wood, Robert T.

doi:10.1080/1367626032000068154

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In contrast, other research shows heterogeneous communities tend to fragment and enter a state of decline (Hebdige 1979;Irwin 1973;Logan 2004;Spiegler 1996;Wood 2003). Consider, for example, the disco dance movement.…”

Section: Heterogeneity and Community Continuitymentioning

confidence: 82%

When Differences Unite: Resource Dependence in Heterogeneous Consumption Communities

Thomas

Price²,

Schau³

2013

J Consum Res

237

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Although heterogeneity in consumption communities is pervasive, there is little understanding of its impact on communities. This study shows how heterogeneous communities operate and interact with the marketplace. Specifically, the authors draw on actor-network theory, conceptualizing community as a network of heterogeneous actors (i.e., individuals, institutions, and resources), and examine the interplay of these actors in a mainstream activity-based consumption community -the distance running community. Findings, derived from a multimethod investigation, show that communities can preserve continuity even when heterogeneity operates as a destabilizing force. Continuity preserves when community members depend on each other for social and economic resources: a dependency that promotes the use of frame alignment practices. These practices enable the community to (re)stabilize, reproduce, and reform over time. The authors also highlight the overlapping roles of consumers and producers and develop a dimensional characterization of communities that helps bridge prior research on brand communities, consumption subcultures, and consumer tribes.Bryan is a serious runner and a member of the distance running consumption community. He is sponsored by a major athletic brand and is integral to his local running community. In addition to running competitively for almost 30 years, he is also a coach who evangelizes the benefits of running to novices and recruits and is proud of how community members interact with and support each other, regardless of their speed or how much they run. At the same time, he struggles with the participatory nature of the sport, longing for the "good old days" when only a competitive mentality prevailed. B ryan embodies the complexities and paradoxes of a strong, heterogeneous, activity-based consumption community that is able to align the differences between members. Over the past three decades, Bryan has witnessed a radical transformation of the running community from a small, competitive, tight-knit, male-dominated group to a mainstream, popular activity-based consumption community with mass participation. As outlined in appendix A, throughout these 30 years, heterogeneity has emerged in terms of the actors present within the community, the roles they play, and the resources they use and exchange. The purpose of this study is to enhance understandings of how complex heterogeneous communities manifest and interact Accetta and Paul Connell for assistance recruiting informants.

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Section: Heterogeneity and Community Continuitymentioning

confidence: 82%

When Differences Unite: Resource Dependence in Heterogeneous Consumption Communities

Thomas

Price²,

Schau³

2013

J Consum Res

237

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“…For example, within the North American 'straightedge' youth subculture, the 'masculine' characteristics of rationality and control are favoured, while the 'masculine' behaviours of drinking, smoking, drug use, and promiscuous sex are denied and avoided (Wood, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alcohol consumption and masculine identity among young men

Visser

Smith

2007

Psychology & Health

218

185

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“…But these boundaries are not rigid. Indeed, the online forum serves as a meeting space for people who have had very different experiences with straightedge, depending on their biographies and the conditions under which they come to affiliate with the subculture (Lahickey 1998; Wood 2003). As previously mentioned, many participants claim to be members of face‐to‐face straightedge music scenes, whereas others admit they do not.…”

Section: Expressing Authentic Identities Onlinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The result was static and homogeneous conceptualizations of the subcultures in question (see Fine and Kleinman 1979). In contrast, symbolic interactionists emphasize that each participant's perspective on the subculture is unique—an insight that enables the more nuanced understanding that subcultural members “will not internalize or identify with pre‐existing culture in exactly the same way, nor will they necessarily construct identical or even similar subcultural identities” (Wood 2003:38).…”

Section: Expressing Authentic Identities Onlinementioning

confidence: 99%

“How Edge Are You?” Constructing Authentic Identities and Subcultural Boundaries in a Straightedge Internet Forum

Williams¹,

Copes

2005

Symbolic Interaction

114

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We analyze how participants in an internet forum dedicated to the straightedge subculture articulate and express subcultural identities and boundaries, with particular attention to how they accomplish these tasks in a computer‐mediated context. Through participant observation, “focused discussions,” and interviews, we explore the complexity of identity‐making processes in terms of cyberspace and subculture, conceptualizing identification as occurring at the intersection of biography, subculture, and technology. We find that the internet influences how individuals participate in subcultural communities by analyzing their claims for authenticity and how they position themselves in relation to subcultural boundaries. This article provides insight into the dialectic relationship between participation in a subculture and in an internet community.

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The Straightedge Youth Sub-Culture: Observations on the Complexity of Sub-Cultural Identity

Cited by 22 publications

References 13 publications

When Differences Unite: Resource Dependence in Heterogeneous Consumption Communities

When Differences Unite: Resource Dependence in Heterogeneous Consumption Communities

Alcohol consumption and masculine identity among young men

“How Edge Are You?” Constructing Authentic Identities and Subcultural Boundaries in a Straightedge Internet Forum

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