Paul Hodkinson

Below is a list of published books and articles written or edited by Paul Hodkinson. Some are available for download directly from this site. If you are interested in articles not available for download, email me.

  Books
 

goth cover

Goth. Identity, Style and Subculture, Berg 2002.

*view contents page*

'there remains an enormous goth subculture, which Hodkinson, proud to count himself a part of it, analyses stylishly in this "ethnographic study".'
The Guardian

 

'engaging...'

The Daily Telegraph

 

'The first major anthropological study of UK Goths is a priceless work. [ a] fascinating read that I found very difficult to put down.'

Kaleidoscope

 

'I would recommend it as a valuable text that should be included on undergraduate reading lists for courses dealing with fan, music and popular cultures.'
Garry Crawford, British Sociological Association
'Network' Magazine

 

'The single best book on the goth movement.'

UK Goth Mini-FAQ

     
     
  Youth Cultures Youth Cultures: Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes (co-edited with Deicke, W.), New York: Routledge 2007.
  Youth Cultures offers a comprehensive outline of youth cultural studies in the twenty-first century, with reference to a range of new research case studies. Featuring both well known and emerging scholars from the UK, the US and mainland Europe, the book addresses core theoretical and methodological developments before going on to examine key substantive themes in the study of young people's identities and lifestyles. These include questions of commerce, power and politics, issues of gender and ethnicity, uses of place and space and impacts of new media and communications. Simultaneously offering an accessible introduction and a range of new contributions to the subject area, Youth Cultures will appeal to both students and academics within a range of disciplines, including sociology, media and cultural studies, youth studies and popular music studies.
     
     
  Articles and Chapters

 

  researching 'Grounded Theory and Inductive Research', in Gilbert, N. (ed.), Researching Social Life - 3rd Edition, London: Sage, 2008.
  This is a new chapter in the latest edition of this widely respected text. The chapter outlines the principles and mechanics of grouded theory as an approach to inductive research before considering criticisms and problems with the approach.
     
     
  Young 'Online Journals as Virtual Bedrooms: Young People, Identity and Personal Space' (with Sian Lincoln), YOUNG, Vol 15(1), 2008.
  'Particularly popular among those in their teens and early twenties, online journals constitute an interactive form of web log whose content tends to be dominated by reflections upon the everyday experiences, thought and emotions of their individual owner. We propose here that  such online journals often take on for their users the symbolic and practical properties of individually owned and controlled space – something we illustrate through a comparison with young people’s uses of the primary individual centred physical space in their lives – the bedroom.' (taken from article abstract)
     
     
  nms

'Interactive Online Journals and Individualisation',

New Media and Society Vol 9(4), 2007.

 

An study of users of one of the first social networking platforms. Many of the features of Facebook, MySpace and other sites drew upon the friends list, user profile pages and other features pioneered amongst others by LiveJournal, the focus for this article...

'Ostensibly centred upon the individual rather than the group, yet increasingly interactive and socially oriented, interactive online journals appear particularly consistent with the notion of individualistic, rather than group-centred patterns of sociability. The paper explores this possibility in relation to case study research...' (taken from article abstract)

     
     
  routledge

'Goth Music and Subculture', in Spooner, C. and McEvoy, E. (eds), The Routledge Companion to Gothic, London: Routledge, 2007.

 

'I briefly outline key elements of the style and its history here before considering some of the different ways in which we might make sense of goth subculture. Specifically, I suggest that it may be mistaken to assume all the details and explanations about the motivations, behaviours and identities of goths can be found beneath the surface of goth or indeed Gothic cultural texts.' (taken from chapter introduction)

     
     
  Goth: Undead Subculture '"We're all individuals but we've all got the same boots on!" Traces of Individualism in a Subcultural Community", in Goodlad, L. and Bibby, M. (eds.), Goth: Undead Subculture, Duke University Press 2007.
  '...at the same time as placing collective demands upon its members, the goth scene simultaneously accommodated certain elements of what might be termed individualism which, however limited, were of importance to participants' (from article introduction). Focusing on identity, stylistic practices and recent trends in the use of online communications, this chapter illustrates the role of traces of individual difference and sovreignty within a music scene otherwise dominated by collective identity, commitment and communal values.
     
     
  Uses of Blogs

'Subcultural Blogging: Online Journals and Group Involvement Among UK Goths', in Bruns, A. and Jacobs, Y. (eds.), Uses of Blogs, Peter Lang 2006.

 

'...several studies have illustrated the capacity of the internet to contribute to the development... of music and fashion related scenes and subcultures. My own research of the internet use of UK goths during the late 1990s demonstrated findings consistent with such studies. Yet these findings... largely were based on the use of internet resources which were explicitly focused upon and oriented towards a particular music and style community. For this reason, I was intrigued to observe that, during the early 2000s, goths collectively migrated the majority of their online communications away from collective spaces such as discussion groups in favour of the ostensibly more individual-oriented format of personal journals type blogs' (taken from chapter introduction)

     
     
 

jys

'Insider Research in the Study of Youth Cultures',

Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 8 (2), 2005.

'Ethnographic research on youth cultures, particularly at doctoral level, is often conducted by investigators with some degree of initial cultural proximity to the individuals or cultures under the microscope. Yet elaboration of the... implications of ‘insider research’ among such scholars has been somewhat limited. This article contributes to the development of such discussion through drawing together a range of previous writings and by drawing upon elements of the author's own experience of researching a contemporary youth subculture as a long-term participant of the grouping'. (taken from article abstract)

     
     
  music scenes

'Translocal Connections in the Goth Scene', in Bennett, A. and Peterson, R. (eds.), Music Scenes: Local, Translocal and Virtual, Vanderbilt University Press, 2004.

 

'With the collapse of the worldwide mass media-promoted genre of goth music in the early 1990s, numerous groups of goths linked up to form a translocally connected movement. Hodkinson shows how goth fans mutually reinforced each other through their symbols of goth identity, frequent travel to goth evens, compilation of goth records, fanzines, Internet communication and mail-order speciality stores. (taken from contents page)

     
     
  aftersub

'The Goth Scene and (Sub)Cultural Substance',

in Bennett and Harris (eds.), After Subculture: Critical Studies in Contemporary Youth Culture (Palgrave 2004).

 

The practice of recounting and rejecting subcultural theory has possibly never been more popular... The rejection of the CCCS’s particular version of subcultural theory has also prompted some calls for the abandonment of the term subculture itself which, among other things, is deemed unable to capture the essential fluidity of contemporary lifestyle patterns... This chapter aims to contribute to such discussions in relation to ethnographic research on a music and style grouping known as the goth scene. (taken from chapter introduction)

     
     
  postsub

'"Net.Goth": Online Communication and (Sub)Cultural Boundaries',

in Muggleton and Weinzeirl (eds.), The Post-Subcultures Reader (Berg 2003).

 

'It may seem logical to suggest that the ability of anonymous internet users to participate in limitless divergent cultural practices from the comfort of their homes adds further weight to the case of those who suggest we have now moved into ‘post-subcultural’ times... This chapter explicitly argues against sucn an interpretation of online technology. Without disputing the potential for internet tehnology to enhance cultural fluidity in some circumstances, it will be suggested that online networks of communication can also function to enhance and intensify the boundaries which separate cultural groupings.' (taken from chapter introduction)  

     
     

 

Publications