post-modern conflict resolution: dealing with conflict in utf hipster culture

POST-MODERN CONFLICT RESOLUTION 1

Post-Modern Conflict Resolution:

Dealing with Conflict in UTF Hipster Culture

Ashley Henderson

Portland State University


Abstract

This paper explores intercultural conflict resolution within a subtype of the Portland, OR, USA hipster

community. The hipster contemporary subculture is defined and other possible meanings explored. Hipster

conflict resolution styles are specified for Unemployed Trust-Funder (UTF) hipsters. The article focuses on the

methods by which hipsters are known utilize resources and elements distinctive to their subculture stereotypes

to resolve conflicts. Final analysis offers costs and benefits of hipsters post-modern attitude of conflict and

resolution styles.

Keywords: hipster, post-modern, conflict resolution, trust fund, satire, fashion, sarcasm, Pabst Blue

Ribbon


Post-Modern Conflict Resolution:

Dealing with Conflict in Hipster Culture

Different cultures view and deal with conflict in various ways. Resolutions usually depend on the type of

culture—ethnic, racial, political, religious, gender specific, or one of the many types of cultures or subcultures

based on types of media or philosophical ideals. Each type of culture has at least a slightly different view of the

world based on it's related beliefs. Within a culture there is also room for independent ideas and views by each

individual. There is no way to generalize or make blanket statements about any type of culture and include each

of the individuals that make up a culture. A human being is born into several cultures and are adopted into

dozens more as they reach adulthood. This paper will make generalizations about the UTF hipster subtype only

be means of convenience.

Issues with Hipster Classifications

Hipsterdom is perhaps the most difficult subculture to define because of the cultures members affinity

for contradiction vagueness, unpredictability, parody, and satire. For this reason there only a few academic

studies on hipsterdom. There are many subtypes of hipsters, yet all of their attitudes and lifestyle focus around

fashion, intoxicants, and music. The specific type of each is dependent on types of hipster. While they term

hipster has only come to popularity beginning with the Beat poets of the 1950's, the attitude and lifestyle of the

hipster can be seen in the many historical artists and writers such as Sappho, the lesbian trust-funder poet, Lao

Tzu, the lazy philosopher, and Marcel Duchamp, the pretentious/anti-pretentious artist (Lanham, 2002). A

decade ago, hipsters were defined by their love for indie music and film but due to the vagueness of such a

classification, new and more specific classifications have been created for hipster subtypes and their locations.

The hipsters examined in this sociological paper are specific to the Portland, OR, USA region and of the

Unemployed Trust-Funder (UTF) variety. They will be examined in this essay through pop culture literature by


hipster experts as well as first hand research and on site viewing of the subtype in their natural environment by

the writer.

Unemployed Trust-Funder Hipsters

Robert Lanham, the ultimate authority on hipsters, defines the UTF as an unemployed hipster who lives

off their family's trust-fund. The sub-type tries hard to mask their wealth by dressing almost elusively in

secondhand attire found at their local thrift store. UTFs claim to being bohemian is dressing the part. Any

fashion they wish to buy new will later be claimed to have been found on the street. UTFs go to elaborate

lengths to hide their true socio-economic status and upbringing by selecting lower class clothing, mannerisms,

speech, lack of hygiene, and avoidance of their past (2002). This displacement of socio-economic status creates

many conflicts in the hipster world with the type of hipster they are imitating. Their source of imitation--the

hipster of lower class to lower-middle class upbringing who appears poor because they are poor. These

authentic non-UTF hipsters have the same media interests and lifestyle, but their lifestyle is caused by poverty

rather than choice.

UTF Lifestyle

Authentic hipsters of this variety support independent media because they can't afford to market their

music or art and support other starving artists in solidarity. They drink Pabst Blue Ribbon because it is the

cheapest beer on the menu. While I call these individuals “authentic hipsters” they are in no way trying to be

hipsters.

It is with the upper class affinities and art school vocabularies, that UTFs stray from their poverty

stricken role models image--and their upper class upbringing reveals their true status. Mimicking this culture,

UTFs claim to be liberals who have an affinity for independent media—whether it be music, film, or radio.

They prefer alternative means of transportation including bicycles and mopeds. They adore alternative private


liberal arts colleges. Due to high attendance at private art schools, UTFs love to talk about art and in

conversation and to add “post-” to all types of movements. Lanham also notes the UTFs affinity for obscure

sports, small body size, pretentious magazines, New England, and fashionable accessories for their bicycle or

Vespa.

UTF Beliefs

While many observations have been made about UTF lifestyle, there is no way to classify common UTF

beliefs. UTFs enjoy claiming belief in religions such as Zen Buddhism, living by the principles of Socialism,

and being followers of Liberal politics—yet none of these belief systems show up in the actual actions of UTF

hipsters. Many sociological observers as well as actual UTFs have noted that UTFs don't have a belief system

beyond their fashion and music ideologies. This development in the study of UTFs and hipsters as a whole has

made it incredibly difficult to study these individuals psychology.

UTF & Other Hipster Conflicts

Due to lack of belief structure, most UTF conflicts arise around identity presentations. UTFs develop

identities like an outfit rather than letting an identity develop around their passions and personality. A identity

presentation is created by a UTF and most other types of hipsters by their observations of their selected hipster

subtype and direct imitation. A presentation usually consists of a subtype standard clothing style, music genre

interests, and standard lifestyle behaviors.

Ironically, hipsters will always deny being a hipster. Arsel & Thompson analyzed this contradiction in

their 2011 article on current consumer practices. They found that while subcultures strive to imitate their

specific identity presentation, they also greatly resist the mythology of their subculture. The scientists found that

while subcultures enjoy their lifestyle, they almost always have a disdain for their classification. UTFs are

known to have heated discussions amongst other UTFs about the current absence of meaning in the word


hipster--as well as the American post-hipster society. This contradictory view on hipsterdom often leads to the

hipster identification conflict.

I hypothesize that UTFs identification conflict is based on the authentic starving artist hipsters image

they base their appearance and lifestyle on. The authentic hipsters usually have no idea that they are hipsters

and will never claim to be. While most hipsters resist their mythologies, UTFs embrace theirs. Their reason for

denying their classification is mimicry of the authentic hipsters lack of subculture identification.

Sociologist Mark Grief at New York's New School--one of UTFs favorite alternative colleges—has

spend several years investigating and documenting the sociology of the hipster. He noticed a conflict between

UTFs and and non-trustfund but more authentic hipsters. UTFs look down upon non-UTF hipsters of the same

fashion and music scene despite modeling themselves after the authentic hipsters (2010). I hypothesize that

UTFs are threatened by the authenticity of their non-UTF hipster counterparts. By thumbing their nose at what

they are trying to be—again living in contradiction—they attempt to disguise their imitation.

Hipsters are also at war with themselves. Arsel & Thompson (2011) say about the conflict that is at the

root of hipsterdom itself: “While the 1950s hipster of the Beat Generation was represented as a countercultural

iconoclast who defied consumerist norms of middle class culture, the millennial hipster increasingly came to be

represented as an über-consumer of trends and as a new, and rather gullible, target market who consumes cool,

rather than creating it” (p. 6). Arsel & Thompson's analysis of the transformation of the hipster icon over half a

decade clearly shows the decay of meaning in the idea modern hipsters are imitating. The true irony in Beat

Generation hipsters was the number of Beats living off trust-funds. Christina Diamente (2010) cites that Beat

UTFs included William S. Burroughs, Edie Kerouac, and Lucien Carr (p. 8). Although, the Beat's spend their

trust-fund money on art rather than ironic t-shirts.

While teenage hipsters may not be aware of what their fashion and music taste signify—adult UTFs are

at least partially aware of the history of the hipster icon. Adbusters, one of the hipsters favorite magazines notes

in their article “Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization,” that hipsters now belong to a consumer group


instead of a subculture.

UTF Conflict Resolution

UTF hipsters deal with their conflicts in several ways. Intercultural conflicts within the UTF community

as often met with avoidance in the form of humor. Rather than arguing or fighting with a hipster, a UTF will

often use sarcasm or other dry humor to change the subject away from a a topic they wish to avoid.

UTFs also use competition to deal with conflicts. Provocations from an UTF antagonist are generally

met with pretension and contempt directed at the antagonist in sarcastic and deprecating jokes. UTFs struggle

for perfecting their hipster icon ideal is partially achieved by deprecating their fellow UTFs to raise their own

image.

Collaboration and compromise are rarely an option unless the conflict is team effort to achieve

something to enhance their hipster image. If their UTF team is having trouble creating costumes to match their

Iditarod shopping cart for Portland’s Urban Iditarod race, the UTFs may actually problem solve to achieve their

ideal fashion. Due to the rarity of team sport activities in hipster culture, UTF compromise and collaboration is

extremely rare.

All of the UTFs I've studied in the field frown upon self-improvement. Avoidance and competition reign

high in their conflict resolution toolbox—as does drinking enough Pabst Blue Ribbon that the UTFs

disagreements bubble away like carbonation until their concerns are replaced by a pining for a new fixed gear

bike to match their DollarStore aviator glasses.

Analysis

While UTF conflict resolution skills do not follow psychology and counseling’s current prescription for

resolving problems with individuals in our cultural groups, they seem to work for the UTFs. Not once in all of

my field work, have I viewed a physical altercation between two hipsters. Their sarcasm and pretentious


demeanors seem to prevent physical altercations or visible hurt feelings.

A primary concern for the UTF conflict resolution is the UTFs response to such contempt, as it seems to

encourage them to enhance their identity presentation. While this obsession with image may seem unhealthy,

the benefit of this dysfunction is that these UTFs are able to stimulate our struggling economy. Future research

may look at whether contempt of hipster presentation for reasons of current season, recent independent

magazine articles, or comparison to mainstream musicians or celebrities could act as a catalyst for revitalizing

the United States economy.


References

Arsel, Z. & Thompson, C. J. (2011). Demythologizing comsumption practices: How

consumers protect their field-dependent identity investments from devaluing

marketplace myths. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(5), 1-16.

Diamente, C. (2010). Walking with the barefoot beat. Beatdom, 6, 8-10.

Greif, M. (2010). The hipster in the mirror. The New York Times, Sunday Book Review,

BR27, November 14, 2010.

Haddow, D. (2008). Hipster: The dead end of western civilization. Adbusters, 79.

Lanham, R. (2002). The hipster handbook. New York: Anchor Books.

Hipster (contemporary subculture). (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved September 3, 2011,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_%28contemporary_subculture%29

post-modern conflict resolution: dealing with conflict in utf hipster culture

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