Britain has one of the most innovative and vibrant youth cultures in the world. It has come to define post-colonial British identity and has helped to make London the cultural and commercial capital of Europe. This course will examine the history, sociology, aesthetics and economics of British youth culture, from the early days of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll, through to Beatlemania, Punk, Britpop, Rave and the latest contemporary developments.
How was British youth culture formed? To what extent is it different from America’s youth culture? To answer these questions, the course looks at the impact which the black and white cultures of America have had on Britain, as well as charting the influence of Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and indigenous British folk traditions. The unique fusion created from these elements is set in the context of social change in the second half of the 20th century, primarily: class mobility, female independence, black migration, technological progress, and the birth of the consumer society.
As well as amplifying the creative relationship between music, fashion, cinema, art and design, the course will assess their links with business and the media, showing how underground cults become mainstream culture, and how moral panics are turned into material profits. This course should not only benefit students majoring in the arts and social sciences but also those majoring in business and communications.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
Students will become familiar with the key historical developments and sociological themes within British youth culture. In addition they should:
Grasp the commercial and social patterns that turn ‘street’ styles into mass phenomena.
Understand the economic value of the creative industries and strategies for developing them in the global market.
Reach a deeper understanding of British culture and identity, and its close relationship with that of the United States.
Method of presentation:
Lectures (including PowerPoint projections and other audio/visual material), seminar discussions, film screenings, student presentations plus guided tours to Soho, Abbey Road and Brighton. Throughout the course students should consider the following themes in order to understand how commerce, culture and identity interact:
The tension between individual persona and collective identity in the membership of youth cults. Can the ‘tribe’ be a path to self-realisation?
The extent to which advertisers and the media shape/create youth cults in order to stimulate demand.
Does youth culture challenge social divisions of class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and nationality and, if so, does commercialisation neutralise that challenge?
How do new technologies affect the relationship between producers and consumers in the music and fashion industries?
The extent to which the generation gap is narrowing now that youth culture has been experienced in some form by most people.
What are the differences and similarities between British and American youth culture?
Required work and form of assessment:
Attendance and class participation (15%), midterm research assignment (30%), oral presentation (15%), final exam (40%). NOTE: Lectures are designed to illuminate themes and to generate discussion. They are NOT a substitute for reading set texts or any other required material. It is therefore essential that students do the required reading, as well as take notes during lectures.
content:
Week 1: The Origins of British Youth Culture
‘What Do You Want If You Don’t Want Money?’: Affluence, mass media, the ‘consumer society’ and the invention of the teenager. Jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues and the American influence on Britain in the 1950s. Early moral panics about juvenile delinquency and the generation gap; plus an introduction to themes in the study of modern youth.
Week 2: Beatlemania, Mod and ‘Swinging London’
From Graceland to Carnaby Street: The fusion of styles and attitudes that created a distinctive British youth culture in the 1960s, with two case studies: The Mod movement – patriotism, class mobility, the reformation of male fashion and the birth of club culture; The Hippy movement – political activism, sexual freedom, drug use and the birth of festival culture.
Week 3: The Fashion Industry
From Catwalk to Shopping Mall: The ready-to-wear retail revolution and the challenge to ‘haute couture’ fashion houses; The rise of female designers from Mary Quant to Stella McCartney; The iconography of youth: photographers, style magazines, ‘Supermodels’ and the cult of celebrity; Designer labels and global branding: the commodification of ‘street style’, or a new internationalism?
Week 4: Skinhead, Punk and the Reaction to Commercialism
Resistance Through Rituals: the return of class conflict in 1970s youth cults: The Skinhead movement from Rude Boy to Oi!: macho working-class style, racist politics and football hooliganism; The Punk Movement: Radical entrepreneurs from Maclaren to Branson and the revival of live music, ‘pirate’ radio, independent labels and music journalism; plus the rise of female artists and their impact on perceptions of women.
Week 5: Reggae and the Rise of Black British Youth Cultures
From Consumption to Integration: the emergence of a distinctive black British youth culture in the 1970s and its effect on racial integration in the UK. Reggae, Ska and the Caribbean influence, including the Two Tone movement; Bhangra and the beginning of Asian British youth culture; ‘Minority’ entrepreneurs and the marketing of black music and style.
Week 6: London Field Trip
Soho and Abbey Road; details to be announced.
Week 7: CLASS PRESENTATIONS AND SUBMISSION OF MIDTERM PROJECT
Invent an American group or solo artist, outlining their music, dress and graphic style plus their human profile (i.e. personal histories and creative influences). Utilising a budget of $150,000, devise a 12-month strategy and business plan for selling your act in the UK. The aim of the project is to analyse the differences between British and American youth culture. Details to be announced.
Week 8: The Music Industry
From Performers to Artists: how groups since the Beatles have gained more artistic and commercial control over their work; Svengalis: the rise of the ‘creative manager’, from Brian Epstein to Simon Cowell, and their influence on production and promotion; The use of art, film, radio, and television from Ready, Steady Go! to MTV; The growth of global merchandising and the internet challenge: corporate surge or an industry in crisis?
Week 9: Glam Rock, Disco and New Romanticism
The Great Escape: hedonism in the 1980s and the emergence of modern dance culture. The influence of gay style on pop cults from David Bowie to Boy George and its impact on British masculinity; ‘Hang The DJ’: ‘New Wave’ post-Punk style from Goth to Indie, and the reaction to disco.
Week 10: The Triumph of Dance Culture
‘God Is A DJ’: Hip-Hop, House, Techno, Garage & Jungle: an Anglo-American dialogue and its influence on British society. The rise of ‘Superfestivals’, ‘Superclubs,’ and the DJ - a post-modern star? The influence of recreational drugs on the ‘Rave Generation’, media/State attempts to control it and the ‘Freedom to Party’ movement; ‘Balearic Beat’ and the Mediterranean rave scene.
Week 11: Britpop and Dance/Rock Fusion
Mad For It: The rise of ‘Madchester’ and the ‘Rave ‘n’ Roll’ dance/rock crossover in the 1990s, including the Acid Jazz movement; Britpop and the Mod revival: Blur, Oasis and the reaction to American influences; the ‘New Lad’ phenomenon and ‘Girl Power’; Arise, Sir Bob: The use and abuse of pop culture by political parties and pressure groups.
Brighton Field Trip, details to be announced.
Week 12: Trends in Contemporary British Youth Culture
Towards a Global Youth or a Luxury of Affluent Societies? The long-term effects of the internet and other new media on the music and fashion industries; Death of the Teenager? the colonisation of youth culture by middle-aged consumers and its implications for the meaning of youth.
Required readings:
Osgerby, Bill, Youth Media (Routledge, 2004); and other relevant readings as assigned by the professor
Recommended readings:
General
Bennett, Andy, Cultures of Popular Music (OUP, 2001).
Melly, George, Revolt Into Style: The Pop Arts in Britain (1970).
Osgerby, Bill, Youth in Britain since 1945 (Blackwell, 1998)
Shapiro, Harry, Waiting for the Man: The Influence of Drugs and Popular Music (2nd Ed., Helter Skelter, 1999)
Class
Davis, John, Youth and the Condition of Britain: Images of Adolescent Conflict (Continuum, 1990)
Hall, Stuart and Jefferson, Tony, Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Postwar Britain (Routledge, 1993)
Hebdige, Dick, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (Routledge, 1979)
Gender
MacRobbie, Angela, Feminism and Youth Culture (Routledge, 1998)
Padel, Ruth, I’m A Man: Sex, Gods and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Faber, 2000)
Reynolds, Simon, The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Serpent’s Tail, 1995)
Race
Tulloch, Carol, ‘Black Style in Britain’, in Carol Tulloch (ed.) Black Style (V&A, 2004)
Hebdige, Dick, Cut ‘N’ Mix : Culture, Identity and Caribean Music (Routledge, 1987)
Hyder, Rehan, Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene (Ashgate, 2004)
Jones, Simon, Black Culture, White Youth: The Reggae Tradition from JA to UK (Macmillan, 1988)
Fashion
Breward, Christopher, Fashion (Oxford, 2003)
MacRobbie, Angela, In The Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music (Routledge, 1999)
MacRobbie, Angela, British Fashion Design: Rag Trade or Image Industry? (Routledge, 1998)
Tungate, Mark, Fashion Brands: Branding Style From Armani to Zara (Kogan Page, 2004)
Music & Other Media
Bugge, Christian, ‘Selling Youth in the Age of Affluence: Marketing to Youth in Britain since 1959,’ in Black and Pemberton, An Affluent Society? Britain’s Post-War ‘Golden Age’ Revisited (Ashgate, 2004)
Donnelly, K.J., Pop Music in British Cinema (BFI, 2001)
Mundy, John, Popular Music on Screen (Manchester University Press, 1999)
Napier-Bell, Simon, Black Vinyl, White Powder: (Ebury, 2002). A manager’s inside account of the British music industry
Passman, Donald S., All You Need to Know About the Music Business (4th UK Ed., Penguin, 2004)
Mod
Barnes, Richard, Mods! (Plexus, 1991)
Hewitt, Paolo, The Soul Stylists: Six Decades of Modernism from Mods to Casuals (Mainstream, 2003)
Rawlings, Terry, Mod: A Very British Phenomenon (Omnibus, 2000)
Punk
Savage, Jon, England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond (Faber, 1992)
Reggae and Ska
Bradley, Lloyd, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (Penguin, 2001)
Thompson, Dave, Wheels out of Gear: 2 Tone, The Specials and a world in flame (Helter Skelter, 2004)
New Wave
Reynolds, Simon, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84 (Faber, 2005)
Britpop
Harris, John, The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock (Fourth Estate, 2003)
Hip-Hop
Chang, Jeff, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (Ebury, 2005)
Rave
Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Headline, 1999)
Garratt, Sheryl, Adventures In Wonderland: A Decade of Club Culture (Headline, 1998)
Collin, Matthew, Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (2nd Ed., Serpent’s Tail, 1998)
Reynolds, Simon, Energy Flash: Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (Picador, 1998)
Notes:
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Dr. Richard Weight holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge and a PhD. from University College London. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an advisor to the Institute for Public Policy Research, he creates TV and radio documentaries and is the author of numerous books and articles on modern Britain, including Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940-2000.
British Youth Culture From 1950 To The Present
Britain has one of the most innovative and vibrant youth cultures in the world. It has come to define post-colonial British identity and has helped to make London the cultural and commercial capital of Europe. This course will examine the history, sociology, aesthetics and economics of British youth culture, from the early days of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll, through to Beatlemania, Punk, Britpop, Rave and the latest contemporary developments.
How was British youth culture formed? To what extent is it different from America’s youth culture? To answer these questions, the course looks at the impact which the black and white cultures of America have had on Britain, as well as charting the influence of Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and indigenous British folk traditions. The unique fusion created from these elements is set in the context of social change in the second half of the 20th century, primarily: class mobility, female independence, black migration, technological progress, and the birth of the consumer society.
As well as amplifying the creative relationship between music, fashion, cinema, art and design, the course will assess their links with business and the media, showing how underground cults become mainstream culture, and how moral panics are turned into material profits. This course should not only benefit students majoring in the arts and social sciences but also those majoring in business and communications.
None
Students will become familiar with the key historical developments and sociological themes within British youth culture. In addition they should:
Lectures (including PowerPoint projections and other audio/visual material), seminar discussions, film screenings, student presentations plus guided tours to Soho, Abbey Road and Brighton. Throughout the course students should consider the following themes in order to understand how commerce, culture and identity interact:
Attendance and class participation (15%), midterm research assignment (30%), oral presentation (15%), final exam (40%). NOTE: Lectures are designed to illuminate themes and to generate discussion. They are NOT a substitute for reading set texts or any other required material. It is therefore essential that students do the required reading, as well as take notes during lectures.
Week 1: The Origins of British Youth Culture
‘What Do You Want If You Don’t Want Money?’: Affluence, mass media, the ‘consumer society’ and the invention of the teenager. Jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues and the American influence on Britain in the 1950s. Early moral panics about juvenile delinquency and the generation gap; plus an introduction to themes in the study of modern youth.
Week 2: Beatlemania, Mod and ‘Swinging London’
From Graceland to Carnaby Street: The fusion of styles and attitudes that created a distinctive British youth culture in the 1960s, with two case studies: The Mod movement – patriotism, class mobility, the reformation of male fashion and the birth of club culture; The Hippy movement – political activism, sexual freedom, drug use and the birth of festival culture.
Week 3: The Fashion Industry
From Catwalk to Shopping Mall: The ready-to-wear retail revolution and the challenge to ‘haute couture’ fashion houses; The rise of female designers from Mary Quant to Stella McCartney; The iconography of youth: photographers, style magazines, ‘Supermodels’ and the cult of celebrity; Designer labels and global branding: the commodification of ‘street style’, or a new internationalism?
Week 4: Skinhead, Punk and the Reaction to Commercialism
Resistance Through Rituals: the return of class conflict in 1970s youth cults: The Skinhead movement from Rude Boy to Oi!: macho working-class style, racist politics and football hooliganism; The Punk Movement: Radical entrepreneurs from Maclaren to Branson and the revival of live music, ‘pirate’ radio, independent labels and music journalism; plus the rise of female artists and their impact on perceptions of women.
Week 5: Reggae and the Rise of Black British Youth Cultures
From Consumption to Integration: the emergence of a distinctive black British youth culture in the 1970s and its effect on racial integration in the UK. Reggae, Ska and the Caribbean influence, including the Two Tone movement; Bhangra and the beginning of Asian British youth culture; ‘Minority’ entrepreneurs and the marketing of black music and style.
Week 6: London Field Trip
Soho and Abbey Road; details to be announced.
Week 7: CLASS PRESENTATIONS AND SUBMISSION OF MIDTERM PROJECT
Invent an American group or solo artist, outlining their music, dress and graphic style plus their human profile (i.e. personal histories and creative influences). Utilising a budget of $150,000, devise a 12-month strategy and business plan for selling your act in the UK. The aim of the project is to analyse the differences between British and American youth culture. Details to be announced.
Week 8: The Music Industry
From Performers to Artists: how groups since the Beatles have gained more artistic and commercial control over their work; Svengalis: the rise of the ‘creative manager’, from Brian Epstein to Simon Cowell, and their influence on production and promotion; The use of art, film, radio, and television from Ready, Steady Go! to MTV; The growth of global merchandising and the internet challenge: corporate surge or an industry in crisis?
Week 9: Glam Rock, Disco and New Romanticism
The Great Escape: hedonism in the 1980s and the emergence of modern dance culture. The influence of gay style on pop cults from David Bowie to Boy George and its impact on British masculinity; ‘Hang The DJ’: ‘New Wave’ post-Punk style from Goth to Indie, and the reaction to disco.
Week 10: The Triumph of Dance Culture
‘God Is A DJ’: Hip-Hop, House, Techno, Garage & Jungle: an Anglo-American dialogue and its influence on British society. The rise of ‘Superfestivals’, ‘Superclubs,’ and the DJ - a post-modern star? The influence of recreational drugs on the ‘Rave Generation’, media/State attempts to control it and the ‘Freedom to Party’ movement; ‘Balearic Beat’ and the Mediterranean rave scene.
Week 11: Britpop and Dance/Rock Fusion
Mad For It: The rise of ‘Madchester’ and the ‘Rave ‘n’ Roll’ dance/rock crossover in the 1990s, including the Acid Jazz movement; Britpop and the Mod revival: Blur, Oasis and the reaction to American influences; the ‘New Lad’ phenomenon and ‘Girl Power’; Arise, Sir Bob: The use and abuse of pop culture by political parties and pressure groups.
Brighton Field Trip, details to be announced.
Week 12: Trends in Contemporary British Youth Culture
Towards a Global Youth or a Luxury of Affluent Societies? The long-term effects of the internet and other new media on the music and fashion industries; Death of the Teenager? the colonisation of youth culture by middle-aged consumers and its implications for the meaning of youth.
Osgerby, Bill, Youth Media (Routledge, 2004); and other relevant readings as assigned by the professor
General
Bennett, Andy, Cultures of Popular Music (OUP, 2001).
Melly, George, Revolt Into Style: The Pop Arts in Britain (1970).
Osgerby, Bill, Youth in Britain since 1945 (Blackwell, 1998)
Shapiro, Harry, Waiting for the Man: The Influence of Drugs and Popular Music (2nd Ed., Helter Skelter, 1999)
Class
Davis, John, Youth and the Condition of Britain: Images of Adolescent Conflict (Continuum, 1990)
Hall, Stuart and Jefferson, Tony, Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Postwar Britain (Routledge, 1993)
Hebdige, Dick, Subculture: The Meaning of Style (Routledge, 1979)
Gender
MacRobbie, Angela, Feminism and Youth Culture (Routledge, 1998)
Padel, Ruth, I’m A Man: Sex, Gods and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Faber, 2000)
Reynolds, Simon, The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Serpent’s Tail, 1995)
Race
Tulloch, Carol, ‘Black Style in Britain’, in Carol Tulloch (ed.) Black Style (V&A, 2004)
Hebdige, Dick, Cut ‘N’ Mix : Culture, Identity and Caribean Music (Routledge, 1987)
Hyder, Rehan, Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene (Ashgate, 2004)
Jones, Simon, Black Culture, White Youth: The Reggae Tradition from JA to UK (Macmillan, 1988)
Fashion
Breward, Christopher, Fashion (Oxford, 2003)
MacRobbie, Angela, In The Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music (Routledge, 1999)
MacRobbie, Angela, British Fashion Design: Rag Trade or Image Industry? (Routledge, 1998)
Tungate, Mark, Fashion Brands: Branding Style From Armani to Zara (Kogan Page, 2004)
Music & Other Media
Bugge, Christian, ‘Selling Youth in the Age of Affluence: Marketing to Youth in Britain since 1959,’ in Black and Pemberton, An Affluent Society? Britain’s Post-War ‘Golden Age’ Revisited (Ashgate, 2004)
Donnelly, K.J., Pop Music in British Cinema (BFI, 2001)
Mundy, John, Popular Music on Screen (Manchester University Press, 1999)
Napier-Bell, Simon, Black Vinyl, White Powder: (Ebury, 2002). A manager’s inside account of the British music industry
Passman, Donald S., All You Need to Know About the Music Business (4th UK Ed., Penguin, 2004)
Mod
Barnes, Richard, Mods! (Plexus, 1991)
Hewitt, Paolo, The Soul Stylists: Six Decades of Modernism from Mods to Casuals (Mainstream, 2003)
Rawlings, Terry, Mod: A Very British Phenomenon (Omnibus, 2000)
Punk
Savage, Jon, England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond (Faber, 1992)
Reggae and Ska
Bradley, Lloyd, Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King (Penguin, 2001)
Thompson, Dave, Wheels out of Gear: 2 Tone, The Specials and a world in flame (Helter Skelter, 2004)
New Wave
Reynolds, Simon, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84 (Faber, 2005)
Britpop
Harris, John, The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock (Fourth Estate, 2003)
Hip-Hop
Chang, Jeff, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (Ebury, 2005)
Rave
Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Headline, 1999)
Garratt, Sheryl, Adventures In Wonderland: A Decade of Club Culture (Headline, 1998)
Collin, Matthew, Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (2nd Ed., Serpent’s Tail, 1998)
Reynolds, Simon, Energy Flash: Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (Picador, 1998)
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Dr. Richard Weight holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge and a PhD. from University College London. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an advisor to the Institute for Public Policy Research, he creates TV and radio documentaries and is the author of numerous books and articles on modern Britain, including Patriots: National Identity in Britain 1940-2000.