The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Movement and Young People with Serious Physical Illnesses Who Support Building Communities of Care

In 2011–2012, a qualitative exploratory pilot study was conducted to examine the experiences of immigrant Mexican women using a culturally specific domestic violence intervention model curriculum in a Midwestern state. Using a psychoeducational group format, 20 immigrant Mexican women participated in two 11-week groups over a 9-month period at a community-based health clinic. Findings indicated immigrant Mexican women examined current relationships, dating, and domestic violence dynamics in group settings and reported changes in self-esteem within their own culture. Implications for social workers include learning how they can use culturally competent curriculums and programs in group formats.     

“Jesus Would Turn the Tables Over”: Five Dimensions of Authenticity Applied to Countercultural Christianity

This paper draws on extant literature to identify five dimensions that are deployed by a wide range of social groups to claim and achieve authenticity in variety of social settings: being honest or real, forgoing external rewards or compensation, coming from or living in the right place or time, embodying or participating in something, and consuming correctly. We then demonstrate the utility of these five dimensions of authenticity in action by applying them to two different qualitative studies of countercultural Christians. Our analysis of these data shows that different communities have different understandings of what makes one authentic, but the five dimensions that we outline in this article make comparisons across different groups possible.     

Queer punx: young women in the Newcastle hardcore space

This article investigates the ‘becoming’ of queer female punx in the contemporary hardcore scene in a regional Australian city. Twelve young women aged 20–30 years were interviewed about their experiences of queer identity. They emphasized their involvement in the music scene as a key catalyst for the development of a queer punk identity even though the local hardcore scene is male-dominated and homosocial. We find that these young female queer punx assert their identity through collectively summoning and synthesizing the counternormative resources of both queer and punk Do It Yourself (DIY) to configure the space of hardcore differently. Our findings confirm the durability of a playful, subversive punk ethos in constituting challenges to the normative.     

论杨平小说《MUD—黑客事件》的赛伯朋克风格

赛伯朋克是新兴的科幻小说门类,而年轻的科幻作家杨平是我国赛伯朋克的代表作家之一。在杨平的小说《MUD—黑客事件》中,作家通过网络世界对现实世界所造成的冲击和淆乱,对前者进行了有力的消解,实现了对现实世界的回归,同时也是在更深层次上对人性的回归。     

Laughing otherwise: comic-critical approaches in alternative comedy

Abstract

The origins of ‘alternative comedy’ are difficult to pinpoint, though it coincided with the rise of Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979 – that year saw the appearance of something called ‘alternative cabaret’, a term usually associated with Tony Allen, who combined activism and comedy. The acts this article will focus on are those which took a critical approach to comedy and/or politics – ‘alternative’ comedy (or altcom), therefore, as seeming to promise change through critical awareness. This paper will discuss parody as a means of critical (dis)engagement and transformation, in relation to context, and to influences such as punk. Altcom demonstrates an apparent eschewal of approaches which rely on irony and ambiguity, in favour of more ‘direct’ political engagement. It will be argued however that such ‘direct’ approach does not cancel out critical distance, but rather seeks alternative routes to establish it – namely comic and parodic overstatement, and the problematisation of ‘trust’. This entails the key questions of whether parody may take up critical distance without irony, as well as of the political implications of an approach which seeks to eliminate ambiguity. This more ‘direct’ approach however still depends on a balance of engagement and disengagement, requiring distancing from pre-established codes.     

Consumption Styles and the Fluid Complexity of Punk Authenticity

Subcultures are distinguished in terms of what they are not, highlighting differences with broader cultural characteristics. From this perspective, authenticity is drawn from external contrasts. This ethnographic study of a local punk scene shows that internal comparisons among participants centered on consumption styles also construct authenticity. This activity was dominated by three indigenous cultural processes: the publicized possession of consumer goods, stylized presentations of self, and conversational display of acquaintance with punk esoterica. In contrast to previous studies, this article shows how the interpretive particulars of consumption in talk and interaction move beyond style alone to feature the fluid complexity of punk authenticity.     

Culture,boundary, and identity: a comparison of practices between two online punk communities in China

This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online communities. By using the concepts of boundary and identity, it explores the formation of two online punk communities in China, created by those who are interested in punk music originating from Anglo-American countries. Drawing on data from participant observation and 10 in-depth interviews, this article first reviews literature on Internet culture in China, online communities, boundaries, and identity. It then focuses on the differing practices of the two online punk communities. A discussion is subsequently provided concerning how boundaries are constructed in online communities through the exclusion that is enabled by the technological platform. An analysis of how the members identify themselves with online communities and form punk subcultures encouraged by the boundaries of their respective communities is then presented towards the end of the article. It is through this process that the members empower themselves in their relationships with the surrounding society.