the virtual and the real

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DOI: 10.1177/0044118X03260498 2005; 36; 276 Youth Society

Brian Wilson and Michael Atkinson Youth Subcultures

Rave and Straightedge, the Virtual and the Real: Exploring Online and Offline Experiences in Canadian

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10.1177/0044118X03260498ARTICLEYOUTH & SOCIETY / MARCH 2005Wilson, Atkinson / CANADIAN YOUTH SUBCULTURES AND INTERNET

RAVE AND STRAIGHTEDGE,THE VIRTUAL AND THE REAL

Exploring Online and Offline Experiencesin Canadian Youth Subcultures

BRIAN WILSONUniversity of British Columbia

MICHAEL ATKINSONMcMaster University

Over the past 10 years, sociologists have attended to the impacts of the Internet onyouth subcultural coalescence, display, identity, and resistance. In this article, the au-thors develop a critique of this body of work, describing how existing research placesundue emphasis on young peoples experiences either online or offline and how a lackof consideration has been given to the ways that subcultural expressions are continu-ous across the apparent virtual-real divide. With the aim of addressing some ofthese concerns, the authors draw on ethnographic case studies of Rave andStraightedge to explore the impact of the two realities (i.e., online and offline reali-ties) on understandings of subcultural experience in these youth formations and artic-ulate how the theoretical split between the virtual and real in cyber-subcultural re-search does not accurately capture the lived experiences or identity negotiations ofthese youth.

Keywords: Rave; Straightedge; youth; subculture; Internet; resistance;cyberculture

In recent years, various attempts have been made to empiricallydocument and theoretically dissect millennial youth subcultures.Notable in this context of inquiry are discussions about the rise of theInternet and its impact on the globalization of youth cultures, and con-

276

AUTHORS NOTE: We acknowledge the support provided by Social Sciences andHumanities Research Council of Canada graduate fellowships. We are also gratefulto Kathryn Herr and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful suggestions.YOUTH & SOCIETY, Vol. 36 No. 3, March 2005 276-311DOI: 10.1177/0044118X03260498 2005 Sage Publications


siderations of the Internets influence on traditional forms of youth ex-pression, resistance, and identity development. Along these particularlines of investigation and others, researchers have begun to examinethe characteristics of, and issues surrounding, the emergence of sub-cultures as cybercommunities or cybersubcultures. Hackers(Ross, 2000), hate groups (Hier, 2000), fan groups (Clerc, 2000), andcybersex participants (Branwyn, 2000) are some of the many groupsprofiled in this broad area of research.

Despite innovations made in areas concerning youth cybercom-munities, a series of theoretical and substantive schisms tend to bereplicated within this body of work, two of which are the focus of thisarticle. The first is that conceptual understandings about subculturesand the Internet are typically offered without referencing (in any inte-grative manner) the literature on youth subcultures and the media.This is a problematic schism given that scholars on both sides of theAtlantic have focused considerable attention on the youth-subculture-media relationship via the study of media audiences, media contents,and media production practices. In a related way, more recent work onalternative zine cultures is seldom referenced or taken as a theoreti-cal guide for examining subcultural production through the Internet.The second is that existing research on Internet (youth) cultures tendsto focus on either online or offline subcultural experiences, withoutuncloaking the links between these two subcultural worlds, or interro-gating the implications of these links for subcultural members(Sterne, 1999).

In this article, we partially redress these theoretical and empiricalissues through the critical inspection of (a) the intricacies of the rela-tionship between youth subcultures and the media, in light of theemergence of the Internet as a computer-mediated communication(CMC) platform and (b) the complexities of youth membership inoffline subcultural communities that are influenced by online partici-pation. Substantive questions addressed through this analysis includewhat links can be made between the cybersubcultures literature andmore mainstream work on youth subcultures and media; how has theInternet been integrated into the everyday subcultural lives of youth;to what extent has youth community formation been affected by theglobalization of culture and the rise of the Internet; what overlaps/connections exist between online and offline cultures and how are

Wilson, Atkinson / CANADIAN YOUTH SUBCULTURES AND INTERNET 277


these overlaps relevant to current understandings of the nature ofyouth subcultural communities? To accomplish this, we discuss previ-ous work on subcultures and media and provide a bridge between thisliterature and recent theory/research on the Internet and cyber-cultures. This is followed by an analysis and comparison of two youthsubcultural formations that are characterized by their range of mediaand technology-oriented perspectives, experiences and practicesRave and Straightedge, respectively. We examine the impact ofthe two realities (i.e., online and offline realities) on understandings ofsubcultural experience in these youth formations and suggest that thetheoretical split between the virtual and real in existing cybersub-cultural research does not accurately capture the lived experiences oridentity negotiations of these youth.

SUBCULTURES AND THE MEDIA:HISTORY, GAPS, AND LINKS

Contemporary discussions of youth subcultures and the media typ-ically commence with reference to Cohens (1972) landmark book,Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers,Hall, Critcher, Jefferson, Clarke, and Roberts (1978), Policing theCrisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order, and/or Hebdiges(1979) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. The general arguments putforth in these volumes were that subcultures tend to be portrayed inpopular media as, on one hand, troubled or troubling (i.e., as alienatedand disaffected, or as social problems/deviants), and on the otherhand, chic and cool. This representational treatment of subcultureswas considered to be part of a process whereby groups viewed asthreatening/resistant to the status quo are initially censured and la-beled and later incorporated into mainstream culture (e.g., by convert-ing subcultural signs into mass-produced objects). This process, ac-cording to these authors, inevitably leads to the ideologicalneutralization of oppositional groups.

Most pertinent to this article is the way that media are interpretedby youth subcultures themselves, and how media (in a variety ofways) plays an integral part in the formation and maintenance of thesegroups. Thorntons (1995) work on club cultures in Britain ex-

278 YOUTH & SOCIETY / MARCH 2005


plored two issues central to this topic. The first dealt with howyouths subcultural ideologies position the media, and the second,with how the media are instrumental in the congregation of youth andthe formation of subcultures (p. 121). Regarding the first issue,Thornton discussed how subculture members perceive mass media/culture as a threat to their status as an esoteric group (e.g., because ofthe medias tendency to incorporate/popularize previously distinctsubcultural styles). Regarding the second, Thornton emphasized howrelationships with mass media are a necessary and inescapable part ofsubcultural development and ideology, and are crucial for confirmingsubcultural status:

The positioning of various media outletsprime time television [mu-sic] chart shows versus late-might narrowcasts, BBC versus pirate ra-dio, the music press versus the tabloids, flyers versus fanzinesas wellas the discourses about hipness and selling out, moral panic andbanning are essential to the ways that young people receive these me-dia and, consequently, to the ways in which media shape subcultures.(pp. 121-122)

Perhaps the most notable of Thorntons contributions is her discus-sion of the diversity and evolution of the subculture-media relation-ship, wherein she identifies the problems with theoretical interpreta-tions of mass media reactions to youth deviance, and the increasingimportance of alternative media in subcultural struggle. The latterpoint is elaborated on by McRobbie and Thornton (1995), who arguedthat young subcultural folk devils are not only less marginalizedthan they once were but now find themselves vociferously and articu-lately supported in the same mass media which castigates them, andfind their interests to be simultaneously defended by their own nicheand micro-media (p. 559).

Although McRobbie and Thornton usefully identify the potentialfor counterhegemony through alternative media, work on media andsubcultures tends to focus on soft forms of resistance in media con-sumption, discussing the ways that viewers/readers become empow-ered through media by temporarily subverting the influences of con-sumer culture. Work in this tradition of audience research focuses ongroups that share interests in music, sports programming, television



shows, and romance novels (Ang, 1985; Jhally & Lewis, 1992;Radway, 1991; Wilson & Sparks, 1996, 1999). Studies that unveil thesometimes resistant readings that audiences/consumers made of thesepopular culture texts/items (e.g., the collective and individual use oftexts/items in ways unintended by media producers) are sometimeslinked to the subculture-media traditionalthough some of theseworks are criticized for being overzealous in celebrating the ability ofaudiences to resist the influences of media texts (Gruneau, 1988;Muggleton, 2000).

Although McRobbie and Thornton described a movement towardthe use of alternative media as a form of resistance and communityforming, Duncombe (1997) is one of the few authors to devote ex-tended analysis to this topic. In Notes from the Underground: Zinesand the Politics of Alternative Culture, Duncombe (1997) provides aseries of clarifications to some of McRobbie and Thorntons points,describing how zinesters and affiliated subcultures are prepoliticalgroupsgroups that are made up of people who have not yet found, orhave only begun to find, a specific language through which to expresstheir aspirations about the world. Cresser, Gunn, and Balmes (2001)research on female zinesters points to the political potential of CMC,and how the cultural aspirations of online resisters cannot be fully re-alized in cyberspace. In this way, zinesters (i.e., those who produce,publish, and distribute noncommercial, nonprofessional, small-circu-lation magazines) are akin to the niche and micromedia producersidentified by McRobbie and Thornton. Duncombe does, however, ac-knowledge that the distribution of hard-copy zines is now being haltedby the creation of Web-zines, which have a much larger and morediffuse audience.

Although Duncombes work is seldom referred to as a departurepoint for studying subcultural struggle and alternative/Internet mediaproduction, there are several existing studies that broach these areas,including Leonards (1998) work on the Riot Grrrl Punk movement,and Jordan and Taylors (1998) study of hackers. Leonards (1998) re-search is especially notable in this context because it examines femi-nist youth movements with a focus on the hard-copy and online zineplatforms that promote them. Although Leonard does not establishtheoretical links between work on alternative media and studies ofInternet cultures, her empirical investigation of the ways that female



youth subcultural resistance is enacted through various media and inpublic and private spaces is noteworthy. Despite these advancements,existing studies say little about the Internets positioning in the offlinelives of subculture members, or about the everyday experiences ofthose who are part of online subcultures (cf. Sterne, 1999).

Other authors, such as Robins (1996), critique the tendency forcommentators to glorify the virtual, out-of-body, multiple-identitypossibilities of the Internet without adequately considering relation-ships between virtual and real-world experience. This simple reifica-tion of online reality is also rejected in Markhams (1999) work on theinterconnection between on- and offline selves, and Parks and Rob-erts (1998) research on the relationship building through computerMOOs (multiuser domain, i.e., chat rooms, online role-playing envi-ronments). In this context, Robins (1996) expressed his disapproval ofwork that emphasizes a dual reality, or writing that is overzealous inadopting poststructuralist and postmodernist interpretations of onlineculture:

Virtual reality and cyberspace are commonly imagined in terms of re-action against, or opposition to, the real world. . . . In certain cases,these are presented as some kind of utopian project. Virtual Reality isimagined as a nowhere-somewhere alternative to the dangerous condi-tions of contemporary social reality. . . . The mythology of cyberspaceis preferred over its sociology. I have argued that it is time to re-locatevirtual culture in the real world (the real world that virtual culturalists,seduced by their own metaphors, pronounce dead or dying). Throughthe development of new technologies, we are, indeed, more and moreopen to experiences of de-realisation and de-localisation. But we con-tinue to have physical and localised existences. We must consider ourstate of suspension between these conditions. (Robins, 1996, pp. 16,26)

Although Robins (1996) call for balance and for more integratedresearch are both rationales that underlie this article, we more directlysuggest that research underpinned by microsociological emphasescan guide understandings of the relationship between online andoffline lived experience. For example, in Denzins (1995) and Pleace,Burrows, Loader, Muncer, and Nettletons (2000) respective exami-nations of Internet-facilitated communication processes between



members of addiction/recovery groups, important links are made be-tween the conventions of Internet support communities and the oraltraditions of face-to-face support meetings. Jordan (1999) also ex-plored the relationship between offline and online communication(with a particular focus on gender), discussing the potential for moreegalitarian online discussions because of the liberating and limitingpotential of exclusively text-based conversation. Turkles (1995)work on identity and the Internet includes several stories of individu-als whose experiments with online identity are part of developing theiroffline selves (e.g., playing the role of another family member). Issuesto do with race/ethnicity, class, and gender have also been studied aspart of understanding the relationship between offline and online ex-perience/identity (cf., Ebo, 1998; Harcourt, 1999). Burkhalter (1999),for example, showed how racial politics emerge in newsgroup discus-sions and described the linkages between racial identity online andgrounded racial experiences offline. Equally, through a netographyof displaced Croatians online communication, Stubbs (1999)inspected how diaspora and community restructuring are signifiedacross Internet spaces.

Miller and Slaters (2000) ethnographic study of the Internet inTrinidad is one of the most rigorous pieces of research on the position-ing of the Internet in the everyday lives of people. The rationale theyprovide for their approach is at odds with much of the research that hasbeen conducted to date, as they explain:

[The existing] focus on virtuality or separateness as the defining fea-ture of the Internet may well have less to do with the characteristics ofthe Internet and more to do with the needs of these various intellectualprojects. . . . The present study obviously starts from the opposite as-sumption, that we need to treat Internet media as continuous with andembedded in other social spaces, that they happen within mundane so-cial structures and relations that they may transform but they cannot es-cape into a self-enclosed cyberian apartness. Indeed, to the extent thatsome people may actually treat various Internet relations as a worldapart from the rest of their lives, this is something that needs to be so-cially explained as a practical accomplishment rather than as the as-sumed point of departure for investigation. How, why and when dothey set cyberspace apart? Where and when do they not [italics inoriginal] do this? In what ways do they make use of virtuality as a



feature of new media? What do they (businesspeople, Carnival bands,schoolkids or government agencies) regard as real or virtual or conse-quential? (pp. 5-6)

Their research confirms the need to consider the way that the Internetis part of everyday life, and not necessarily abstracted from it.

In sum, then, despite a surge of work in the area of Internet and cul-ture, few studies explicitly link online culture/community with offlineculture/community. Especially relevant is that although authors suchas Porter (1997), Smith and Kollack (1999), and Tapscott (1998) haveproduced path-breaking empirical interrogations of virtual communi-ties, only a handful of researchers have critically inspected the inter-section between on- and offline life within youth subcultures. In thisarticle, we argue that to grasp how youth subcultural activity is experi-enced in everyday life and how young people negotiate their identitiesthrough various forms of subcultural resistance, it is important to con-sider how subcultural members negotiate the online-offline divide,and how for many youth, this might not be a divide at all.

THE VIRTUAL ANDTHE REAL IN RAVE AND STRAIGHTEDGE

It is from the aforementioned theoretical and substantive departurepoints that we interrogate the relationship between the virtual and realin two separate youth subcultures in CanadaRave and Straightedge.This exploration is based on fieldwork conducted by both authors.Our discussion in this section emphasizes conceptual issues, usingpreviously collected data as a departure point. The analysis of Ravederives from an ethnographic study of the culture as it existed insouthern Ontario from 1995 to 1999 (Wilson, 1999, 2002b), from on-going contact with the southern Ontario scene through Internet andnewsgroups, and especially from observations of two Ontario-basednewsgroups and one global newsgroup (contributed to by Ravers invarious locations around the world). Observations at a virtual Raveparty and analyses of high profile Rave Web sites that were key refer-ence points for those who were part of the southern Ontario scene arealso referred to here.



In the second example of Straightedge, the discussion presented inthis article stems from a participant-observation based study ofStraightedge lifestyles in Canada (Atkinson, 2003a). The conceptualanalysis of Straightedge as a distinct youth group has been partiallyculled from field observations, in-depth interviews, and lifestyle par-ticipation (i.e., the researchers personal practice of Straightedge withgroup members) with 32 Straightedge practitioners in three Canadiancities. More germane to this article is, however, that the second authorconducted an extensive netography (Stubbs, 1999) of 117 Straight-edge Web sites, and regularly participated in or contributed to fourStraightedge chat rooms/bulletin boards. The analysis of Straightedgeoffered here is predominantly derived from these latter data.

RAVE CULTURE

In 1988, Britain experienced what has come to be dubbed the sec-ond summer of love, a time and label now synonymous with themass-mediated emergence of the all-night dance/drug culture knownas Rave or Acid House. For some dance music historians and theo-rists, this second summer of love signified the beginning of the end(i.e., the end of Raves potential as a resistant force), for a culturewhose origins could be traced back to the 1970s and 1980s dance mu-sic scenes in New York City, Chicago, Detroit and Ibiza, Spainaholiday sun location where the original Rave dance parties occurred inthe early 1980s and where working-class British vacationers were in-spired to start a scene at home (Collin, 1997; Redhead, 1997). Ofcourse, the idea that 1988 was an endpoint is vast overstatement ifRaves mass-mediated emergence is viewed as part of a subculturalevolutionary process, where a subculture does not dissipate, so muchas it morphs. As authors such as Thornton (1995) described, Rave cul-ture evolved into a more incorporated club-based dance culture de-fined less by collective resistance to the mainstream, and more by theattempts of subculture members to attain esoteric status within theirgroup. Others, such as Reynolds (1997), documented Raves evolu-tion into a fragmented (i.e., fragmented musically and philosophi-cally), cynical, drug-driven, and destructive scenea hedonist sub-culture without a cause. Bennett (2000) and Malbon (1998), more



positively, describe the neo-tribal habits of dance music consumersand connoisseurs, who move from scene to scene, embracing a varietyof subcultural spaces and (electronic) sounds.

As might be expected, debates about the historical importance ofRave are complex and have persisted among critics. Some commenta-tors argue that Rave is similar to other working-class cultural move-ments of the past, in the sense that Ravers are reacting to (by escapingfrom) the oppressive and mundane circumstances that frame their ev-eryday lives at weekend dance/drug party retreats (Wilson, 2002b).Others contend that Rave is unique because, unlike previous subcul-tures that were defined by overt and symbolic expressions of resis-tance by their members, Rave is an apolitical culture of avoidance andhedonism (McRobbie, 1993; Tanner, 1996). Still, others have labeledRave the first postmodern subculture because of its escapist stanceand de-emphasis on traditional markers such as gender and race(McGuigan, 1992).

Of central relevance to this article is the small body of work that hasfocused on Raves intriguing relationship with media and technology.To a certain extent, this relationship is encompassed in the writings ofMcRobbie and Thornton (1995), and Thornton (1995) that describedhow subcultures such as Rave respond to their stigmatization in main-stream media within (prosubculture) niche and alternative media. Asrelevant, but less studied, is the somewhat interdependent relationshipthat Rave has with media-related technological advances. That is tosay, unlike previous youth subcultures that rejected mainstream pro-gressions in communications and media, Ravers embrace technologyas part of their philosophy (Wilson 2002b).

In fact, a closer look at the early Rave cultures in New York City,Chicago, and Detroit, as well the early/influential German techno mu-sic band/duo Kraftwerk, reveals how technological (i.e., computer-generated) music came to reflect and articulate the social dislocationthat many DJ-musicians and their audiences felt in postindustrial lo-calities (Collin, 1997). The blurring of Rave and the cyberpunk cul-ture and genre of writing in this context is striking. Kellners (1995)description of cyberpunkan especially technology-sensitive culturethat influenced early techno musicis instructive here:



[As writers and consumers of science fiction stories, novels and mov-ies] cyberpunks are very much a product of the technological explo-sion of the 1980s with its proliferation of media, computers, and newtechnology. Their work is heavily influenced by the saturation of cul-ture and everyday life through science, technology and consumer cul-ture . . . a response to (the) explosive proliferation of technology andmass culture which it embodies. (p. 303)

Similarly, for Rave, there is a relationship between the usage/con-sumption of technology by subcultures members, and the everydayexperiences, perspectives and activities of these same membersa re-lationship seldom studied in work on youth subcultures. Of course,and as Gilbert and Pearson (1999) argued, the problem with employ-ing the term technology so widely is that it assumes high technol-ogy, when in fact dance music cultures interact with and are predi-cated a variety of technologies, new and old, high and low(p. 111). It is from these underpinnings that we consider the positionof Internet technology and communication in the Rave subcultureatopic not engaged by Gilbert and Pearsonand interrogate relation-ships between online and offline life for Rave subculturalists.

RAVE CULTURE, THE INTERNET, AND EVERYDAY LIFE

By recognizing that Rave cultures in different locales are subtlydistinct, we begin by establishing that Rave in southern Ontario, Can-ada, is a largely middle-class youth scene, renowned for amphetaminedrug use, an interest in computer-generated music known as techno (aterm used here to describe a variety of electronic dance music genres),and attendance at all-night Rave dance parties (Weber, 1999; Wilson,1999, 2002b). In Toronto in particular, Rave culture, or what is some-time called club culture (a more evolved and mainstream version ofRave), has evolved to a point where techno dance music is widelyavailable in mainstream and after-hours clubs. Having said this, moreconventional Rave partiesusually nonalcoholic events, with ayounger crowd (14 to 25 years old) that are promoted in ways that arein keeping with the peace-love-unity-respect (PLUR) doctrine thatis a traditional reference point for the southern Ontario Rave commu-nitystill occur, albeit in legally sanctioned venues. The Rave com-



munity is especially defined by their protechnology views and prac-tices, which are embodied in the computer-generated music theyproduce, the often technology-related occupations they hold, and, ofcourse, their frequent use of the Internet for various reasons (Wilson,2002b). In fact, Dery (1996) described Ravers as counterculturaltechnopagans because of their participation in the subcultural ritualof free-form dancing to synthesizer-produced, heavy-beated musicthat is arranged by DJ techno-Shamans (p. 52).

Following Dery, we assert that Rave is a complex example of a sub-culture that is not only defined by its existence online and offline butalso by its tendency to embrace this relationship. Online-offline rela-tionships were evident in the practice of Raving, the disseminationof Rave values, the promotion of the local and global Rave commu-nity, in the business of raving, in the politics surrounding raving, andin the globalization of Rave more generally.

The most explicit example of the relationship between online andoffline is the virtual Ravea simultaneously virtual and real event.Virtual Raves, which take various forms, usually include live video ofDJs playing music and an accompanying chat room where virtualRavers can interact (the video and chat room appear together on theevents Web page). Evidence that Ravers are leaders in the develop-ment of online and offline subcultural links is that virtual Raves sur-faced (in Canada) in the mid-1990s, a time when the World Wide Webwas only beginning its rise. In Toronto, for example, among the firstonline-offline Rave parties took place at the home of Toronto DJ Men-tal Floss in the summer of 1997, followed by another event in this DJsuniversity residence (also in Toronto) the following year.

A more traditional example of online-offline interaction is onsouthern Ontariobased newsgroups and Web sites that were de-signed to promote the local scene and community. Although severalcurrently exist in Toronto area, one of the longest running sites is theWestern New York and Southern Ontario Rave-Net (WNYSOR). Be-gun in 1993 as an e-maildriven Listserv discussion group (whichcontinues to operate), the community is now supported by a well-developed Web site that includes

a list of local DJs who are part of the newsgroup (including links totheir own personal/business Web pages),



a list of upcoming events, links to local online radio stations, links to mass media articles about Rave and drugs, photos from recent local Rave parties, a space to sign-up for the e-mail based Listserv, and a chat room/forum for discussion.

In the chat room section, online interactions take place that are par-ticularly relevant for offline subcultural life and developments. Topicsdiscussed are under the headings Rave Events (with subheadingsevent reviews and upcoming events), Music (with types of music anddiscussions among DJs subheadings) and General Topics. Especiallynotable is the DJ discussion area, described as a place to discuss waysto promote yourself as a DJ and your gigs, to discuss skills such asmixing, scratching, producing, gear, record shopping, labels, and newvinyl releases, and to promote local DJ relationships. The GeneralTopics area includes a subsection devoted to harm reduction and in-formation about illicit drug use. Other topics in this section includethe politics of the Rave scene, relationships with police and the law,Rave-related clothing styles and their meanings, and places and timesthat Listserv members can meet at upcoming Rave parties.

In some respects, this promotion and protection of community (es-pecially the local DJ community) through Internet technology is atodds with conventional arguments by commentators such as Buxton(1990) who suggested that technology/synthesizer music such as thatproduced by Kraftwerk has disenfranchised the musician at the ex-pense of the computer boffin (Gilbert & Pearson, 1999, p. 119). Rec-ognizing that Buxton is referring to the impacts of technology on theauthenticity of produced music (which is itself a contentious claim),the irony here is that state-of-the-art technology has always been usedto advance the production quality of music. In the same way, the do-it-yourself distribution possibilities made possible by the Internet, alongwith the local and global business and peer-group connections that areenabled by Web pages and discussions forums, have enfranchisedmany DJ-musicians and helped democratize music promotion.

The Rave community generally, and its attendant online-offline re-lationships, are also supported through Web sites posted by Rave pro-moters. In the earlier days of Internet and Rave in Toronto (mid-



1990s), the posting of information online about secret Rave loca-tions and times was common, and congruent with Raves history ofsubversion tactics, wherein Rave promoters needed to avoid having il-legal parties closed down by police. Eventually, though, the Internetbecame more about the advertising of Raves through promotion com-pany Web sites. Since the late 1990s, promotion company sites haveremained quite static, typically including

a history of the company and its most noteworthy events/parties, an overview of companys Rave-related values and what it hopes to

contribute to the scene (Note: It is here where variations of the peace-love-unity-respect doctrine of the Rave community tend to be outlinedand promoted),

profiles of the DJs that regularly spin at their parties, a promotional section focused on upcoming Raves being put on by the

company, usually with a Rave flyer for the event posted online, photographs taken at previous Raves put on by the company, a message board where Ravers talk about the companys most recent

event and talk about the Rave scene generally, links to other Rave-related Web sites (often other companies that might

be run by friends of the promoter), and a contact e-mail for the promotion company.

These sites are rich sources for understanding online and offline Rave-related experiences because they embody simultaneous connectionswith the business of raving, the promotion of community within theToronto Rave scene, and the marketing of Rave-related philosophiesand values more generally. In some respects, a vortex of (subcultural)publicity has been created as these mutually supportive networks ofRave promotion interact and interweave (cf. Wernick, 1991). Somecompanies exemplify one of these layers of connection more explic-itly than others though, depending on their ideological orientation.Torontos Nightmare Productions (www.nightmarehell.com/) is anexample of a company that has positioned itself as a promoter of anunderground Rave community. At the same time, though, the Night-mare Productions Web site is intricately connected to the business ofRave, through Web-site links to a Rave clothing company, to a Cana-dian retailer of LED lights (used at Rave parties), and to various on-and offline Rave-inspired stores that sell clothing, CDs, and tickets.



This is in addition, of course, to the companys promotion of its ownRave parties.

A Baltimore-based Rave promotion company known as Ultraworldadvertised what they perceived to be the final step toward a virtualRave world on one of the Toronto Rave newsgroups. This vision of acommunication, business, and pleasure-oriented environment forthose from the electronic music community embodies the fluidity andcontinuity of the online-offline connection. This is evident from thefollowing description of the Ultraworld concept appearing on thecompanys Web site:

We are creating a virtual world dedicated to the electronic music com-munity. In this world you will find individuals and businesses that havesome relation to the growing worldwide electronic music scene. This isan interactive 3D virtual environment, in which you can have an identi-fiable character. . . . From the business end, we will be populating theUltraworld with anything and everything that is relevant to electronicmusic, or anything that we think is cool enough to be in the world.There will be record stores, DJ booking offices, clothing stores, thea-tres where visual artists can show their work, etc. . . . There is no limit towhat we can do. Here again, the setup can be simply a link to a busi-nessesWebsite, or they could have a virtual store where customers cancome in and browse. Imagine this scenario: You log into theUltraworld, and the virtual world appears on the screen. You chooseyour avatar and youre ready to go. The onscreen display tells you thatthere are over 400 people worldwide currently logged on! From the listyou see 10 people that you are friends with, and you send them all a let-ter: Hey, I just logged on, meet me in front of the Ultraworld VisitorsCenter as soon as possible....After that, you want to do some record/CD shopping, so you walk to the street where record stores from allover the world are located.

As pertinently, Web sites similar to the one proposed by Ultraworldfacilitate offline relationships between Ravers around the world, as doglobally oriented community Web sites that provide links to Rave-re-lated sites in various countries. In this sense, and drawing on Best andLuckenbills (1994) framework for understanding deviant organiza-tions and Straws (1991) conceptualization of music scenes and com-munities, Rave can be understood as a complex social organization



that includes local, integrated communities that exist within moretransient local scenes. In turn, these communities and scenes are lo-cated within a more diffuse and imprecisely defined subculturalworld. The San Diego-based Web site Rave Links is an example of aworld-level links site, while sites such as Seattle, Washington-basedEvent Nation disseminate information about and links to a variety ofregional scenes in North America. Interactions on this world levelhave been facilitated for several years by the Web site called Hyper-real, a site that historically had a North American and European ver-sion. The philosophy underlying the Web site is as follows:[Through] on-line connections, information is exchanged, a loosecommunity evolves. Technology fosters communication: Interactingon the Internet helps bring us together (from http://www.hyperreal.org/Raves/spirit/plur/PLUR.html).

The potential interactions between Ravers from around the worldare online experiences that will sometimes result in offline transac-tions or potential meetings. Indeed, the current hyperreal.org site in-cludes a map of the world and an invitation for users to click on anypart of the map to download Rave-related information about that loca-tion. Affiliated with Hyperreal is the globally accessed newsgroup,alt.Rave, that has been in operation since 1992a newsgroup that, ac-cording to Hyperreal, is read by approximately 20,000 users.

The increasing number of offline travelling Ravers who touraround the world with the primary goal of raving/clubbing is notablein this context, as is the increasingly global Rave/club scene and busi-ness, because they embody key relationships between the Internet, theglobalization of culture, and the globalization of subculture. In partic-ular, these trends are consistent with Appadurais (1990) understand-ing of travel, technology, media/communication, finance, and ideas asvarious dimensions/avenues of cultural flow that contribute to thedevelopment and acceleration of a global culture (or in this case,global subculture; cf., Carrington & Wilson, 2002). Similarly, theselinks between a global Rave scene, the Internet, and interrogations ofonline and offline cultural life bring to mind Gilbert and Pearsons(1999) view of technology and the modes and locations within whichvarious music is encountered and interacted with (p. 130). That is tosay, by incorporating understandings of the various spaces that simul-taneously guide and structure interactions with technology into our



examination of the Internet and Rave, much can be ascertained aboutthe notion of subcultural mobility and its relationship to the appar-ent virtual-real divide. This is especially evident in the movement ofelectronic/techno music (from CDs or MIDI files to the Internetthrough uploading, and to CDs or MIDIs through downloadsandeventually to Walkmans and music players), information (e.g.,Internet discussions about upcoming events or about the quality ofnewly released dance music that move between online forums andoffline music stores or DJ-basement parties), and people (whose on-line and offline interactions at virtual-real Raves are facilitated bymovements between cyber and physical spaces). This perspective onthe connection between (global) flows of culture, local interactionsand interpretations, and everyday life is consistent with our thesis thatonline and offline experiences do not exist in disparate social spaces,nor are they conceived as such by subculture members.

STRAIGHTEDGE

In 1981, an American Punk Rock band named Minor Threat wrotea song titled, Out of Step (With the World). The song extolled thevirtues of self-restraint, personal responsibility, and social awareness.By rejecting the largely nihilistic messages offered to youth by otherPunk Rockers of the day, Minor Threat challenged their fans to em-brace more positive social attitudes about the body (Wood, 1999,2001). Specifically, instead of being encouraged to aggressively resisttheir own political disenfranchisement and cultural dislocationthrough present-centered hedonism, a new generation of Punks wereasked to adopt strict corporeal practices that would enrich their lives.The credo of this inverted Punk philosophy, dubbed Straightedge, be-came dont drink, dont smoke, dont fuck. At least I can fuckingthink. These underlying ideas suggested that if young persons couldfirst take control over their own bodily impulses, they could collec-tively stimulate cultural change (Irwin, 1999). In effect, Straightedgeevolved into a lifestyle of rebellion against the physical excessesassociated with many youth, and indeed adult, cultures in NorthAmerica.



Through the early 1980s, the first and second waves of NorthAmerican Straightedge practitioners fabricated brands of Punk music,clothing, and language to represent their philosophies of corporeal as-ceticism. Closely aligned with more traditional Punk styles (e.g.,ripped clothing, Mohican hairstyles, shaven heads, thrasher music,and Doc Marten boots), Straightedge style drew attention to an alter-native message of walking the edge through self-restraint. By themid-1980s, Straightedge had developed into a fully subterranean life-style of social resistance, with practitioners alternative physicalstyles entwined with nonmainstream messages of physical purity(Wood, 2001). Reaching the apex of its initial popularity during thisperiod, the lifestyle waned in appeal by the latter part of the decade asRap, Grunge, Goth, and other socially rebellious (and more nihilistic)style cultures blossomed in suburban scenes.

However, facing social uncertainties initiated by globalization pro-cesses, economic expansion, biological threats, and cultural fragmen-tation characteristic of the 1990s (Hannerz, 1990; Muggleton, 2000),some middle-class North Americans and Europeans started to re-ex-plore the viability of Straightedge as a lifestyle geared toward self-protection. During this time, Straightedge spawned a variety of ideo-logical offshoots such as Hardcore and Emo, and some practitionersincorporated Vegan and/or Animal Liberation Front ideologies intothe lifestyle. Some of the younger Straightedgers in the United States(New York, Utah, and across southern California), Canada (BritishColumbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland), England (London and Man-chester), and Sweden (Umea and Lulea) adopted more militant posi-tions regarding physical purityclaiming absolute purity to be thehallmark or true subcultural uniqueness of Straightedge. An evensmaller number of extremist Straightedgers (termed terrorist or hate-edgers) began to aggressively promote Straightedge, utilizing vio-lence against nonbelievers as a means of illustrating their commitmentto the lifestyle.

The sociological literature on lifestyles of bodily resistance such asStraightedge is a diverse collection of empirically oriented and theo-retically diverse research. Sociologists, for instance, have located andtheorized about how corporeal practices ranging from ritual piercing(Pitts, 1998) to the cultivation of cyborg bodies (Balsamo, 1996;Wolmark, 1999) are undertaken in the process of representing cultural



discord. From a review of studies on lifestyles of corporeal resistance,a consistent theoretical theme is uncoveredresistant bodily prac-tices such as Straightedge tend to be produced by structural relation-ships of exploitation/inequality, and are designed to confront domi-nant social structures, relationships, and ideologies in dramatic andhighly disruptive manners. They are, as Hebdige (1979) might concur,forms of distinct cultural noise in situated contexts of social interac-tion. Despite McRobbies (1994), Muggletons (2000), and Wilsons(1999) suggestions that resistance in the postmodern era may take onmore mundane, everyday, and less spectacular forms of expression,few study corporeal resistance as that which is either muted or moreprivate. Even fewer, aside from feminist researchers, analyze forms ofbodily resistance as the hyper-acceptance of dominant norms ratherthan the deliberate violation of cultural standards.

In a related way, only a handful of researchers have critically in-spected the role of middle-class youth in developing subcultures ofphysical resistance. Despite cursory research on middle-class resist-ers including Slackers/Gen-Exers (Epstein, 1998), Ravers (Wilson,2002b), Cyberpunks (Featherstone & Burrows, 1995), and ModernPrimitives (Atkinson, 2003b; Atkinson & Young, 2001)all ofwhom arguably engage in bodily resistance (i.e., through idleness,drug experimentation, wearing technology, or ritual body marking)as variations of retreatism (Merton, 1938)scant theoretical atten-tion has been granted to forms of corporeal resistance common amongWhite, heterosexual, youth in the urban middle class. Research on an-tiwar movements (Boulding, 2001), environmental rights advocacy(Jelin, 2000), and anticorporate movements (Seymour, 2001) has re-spectively identified key factions of the young middle class as socialdissidents, however sociologists have remained largely inattentive tohow subcultural resistance may be enacted through the body inmicrological contexts of interaction. Equally, there is a paucity of re-search on the processes through which lifestyles of corporeal resis-tance are affected or mediated by the pursuit of social protest online(Shields, 1996). In the following discussion of Straightedge in Can-ada, emphasis is given to how off- and online resistance became inter-laced within the Straightedge figuration (Atkinson, 2003a), andhow practitioners utilize cyberspace to promote and reaffirm theexperience of bodily purity.



STRAIGHTEDGE, THE INTERNET, AND EVERYDAY LIFE

Similar to any other belief system underpinning a lifestyle orienta-tion, Straightedge cannot be understood when decontextualixed fromits practice-situated contexts of interaction. In the case of Straight-edge, we must commence with a fundamental recognition that the as-cetic mantras of personal responsibility and self-protection (i.e., nopromiscuous sex, illicit drugs, or alcohol) are more than espoused phi-losophy; these dictums are the very bedrock of the everyday life prac-tices of Straightedgers (Atkinson, 2003a; Irwin, 1999; Wood, 1999).Such corporeal orientations permeate all aspects of practitionerslivesand are not merely experimented with in the leisure sphere. The abilityto walk the Straight-edge (i.e., to integrate principles of self-controlinto daily regimen) set the individual apart from the cultural main-stream. As the Straightedger Patrick (age 25) proclaimed:

Walking the Edge is not just a thing you do when its convenient. Its aminute by minute, hour by hour, day by day lifestyle. Wherever I go,whatever I do, its with me. . . . I look at myself, and see myself as dif-ferent, because I am in control, I am strong.

On these grounds, self-proclaimed disciplined group members co-alesce around and revel in their perceived distinction from others. InThorntons (1995) terms, it is the possession and display of suchsubcultural capital that distinguishes them as an esoteric group.Outsiders, perhaps quite predictably (cf., Muggleton, 2000), are col-lectively deemed as a homogeneous set of unsympathetic, uncon-vinced, or unenlightened others. It is, then, the everyday physical per-formance of Straightedge (i.e., the management of desire, therenunciation and control of impulse, the battle with addiction andcraving, and the suppression of hedonistic urges), coupled with iden-tity-confirmation processes between group members in micrologicalcontexts, that reinforce the meaning of the lifestyle for practitioners.

Straightedge is typically practiced within a local community ofmutually identified and interdependent others. Because group mem-bers are interlinked by ideology and everyday lifestyle performance,they form into a web or con-figuration (Elias, 1994) of actors. Somewithin the Straightedge figuration are bound to one another throughdeep interdependencies, while others more occasionally affiliated



(Atkinson, 2003a). In a majority of Canadian cities, the population oflocal practitioners is relatively small, ranging from a few dozen to aseveral hundred. Therefore, people involved in the local scene (Irwin,1977), come to know one another and develop at least loose personalaffiliations. Others form more tightly-knit Straightedge factionstermed crews. These relative lifestyle enclaves (Stebbins, 1997)reflect more traditional, symbolic interactionist conceptualisations ofwhat subcultural life entails (cf. Prus, 1997):

Your crew is where you feel at home, even more so than among your bi-ological family. The crew understands where you come from, and howtough it can be to lead the lifestyle [Straightedge]. . . . When we hangout together at a [music] show, its like going home, taking your shoesoff, and putting your feet up. Sometimes, I feel like Ive known theseguys my whole life. (Jim, age 26)

Principally, active crew members place qualitatively and quantita-tively similar emphases on walking the Straight-edge, actively prac-tice Straightedge as a group lifestyle, reaffirm the identities of otherpractitioners as legitimate and authentic, forge personal relationshipswith members that transcend the spare-time spectrum, and promoteintense commitment to Straightedge among others.

Whether one interacts with Straightedgers in an open communityof locals or an internally policed crew that defends its subcultural cap-ital, a central gathering place for all practitioners is the urban musicshow (simply, a concert involving at least one, but typically several,Straightedge bands). As in other subcultures such as Rave (Wilson,1999, 2002a), Hip-Hop (Bennett, 1999, 2000), and Goth (Hodkinson,2002), music plays a key role in signifying and disseminatingStraightedge ideologies (Wood, 1999). The current generation ofStraightedgers organize and perform collective expressions ofStraightedge (though music/lyrics, dancing/posturing, dress, andother forms of display) at urban shows, much like their Punk prede-cessors of the 1980s (cf. Baron, 1989; Leblanc, 1999). The show is,then, a vehicle for realizing and exhibiting Straightedge as a meaning-ful group behavior. As in Wilsons (2002b) case study of Rave culture,practitioners ritually perform their ideologies at music shows throughsymbolic gesture (i.e., dance) and language (i.e., interpersonal com-



munication and musical lyric). In most Canadian cities, shows formthe interactional hub of Straightedge figuration; they are a focal meet-ing place for practitioners, showcase central figures of the lifestyle(i.e., musicians), and function as a tool for attracting potentialnewcomers or neophytes.

Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has provided Straightedgerswith a vital communicative medium for the promotion of local bandsand shows. Web sites such as straightedge.com, posionfree.com,xsisterhoodx.com, and xstraightedgex.com have become beacons fordisseminating information about Straightedge music and its globalhistory. Although the Internet is not nearly as engrained in theStraightedge figuration as in the Rave scene, Straightedgers havefound in the Internet a useful platform for marketing local shows:

Without the Net, the music scene in this city would be damn small. Youhave to realize that Straightedge is really only starting to develop inCanada, and word of mouth only gets you so far. Now, people bumpinto Straightedge bands on-line, and come across postings for localshows all the time. I cant tell you how many kids show up just becausethey found us on-line. (Pete, age 28)

As a result, online communication about Straightedge music has al-tered the contextual flavor of the show scene in Canada and elsewhere.Some Straightedge bands have achieved widespread notoriety in Ca-nadian cities, as an outcome of online exposure on Web sites such asvancouverhardcore.com and davexxx.com. This has helped establishcertain urban centers such as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and St.Johns as Straightedge hotbeds. In other cases, the online promotionof Straightedge shows advertises the very existence of the musicscenes in particular locales. Here, the Internet is used as a device forbringing people together in real timeunlike the creation of virtualcommunities wherein participants rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face(Parks & Roberts, 1998; Pleace et al., 2000).

The Internet has also become central in the circulation of songs byindependent bands who do not possess the financial resources towidely distribute CDs. Instead, Straightedge music is transformedinto MP3 or MPEG audio files and placed on Web sites for free down-load. Rather than explicitly resisting technological advances similar



to their Cyberpunk cousins (Featherstone & Burrows, 1995),Straightedge practitioners integrate various music-related media plat-forms into their signifying practices. The age of free digital piracyhas seemingly helped to raise awareness about and interest in thelifestyle:

Realistically speaking, I know our band is not going to get a lot ofmainstream airtime [radio], and I could care less. I want people, whowant to listen my music, to come out and support us. When you have todig around in obscure places to find something, and then its free if youwant it, youll appreciate. Anyone down with the lifestyle [Straight-edge] can download from our [on-line] song list all they like. (Darren,age 23)

In Markhams (1999) terms, the utilization of CMC by individualssuch as Straightedgers facilitates a sense of subcultural control andagency through group signification processes. The broad use of theInternet to circulate independent music (and do-it-yourself fashion) isalso congruous with traditional antiestablishment and anticorpor-atism Punk philosophies, where autonomy in all phases of the musicdistribution process is celebrated.

Practitioners have also seized personal Web space as CMC to clar-ify popular cultural definitions of the lifestyle, and debunk popularmyths or misconceptions about Straightedge. For example, a host ofpersonal Straightedge Web pages have arisen in light of the Americanpolices official labeling of the group as a recognized gang, and risingconcerns in North American schools about Straightedges evolutioninto a violent and socially disintegrative youth movement. Such on-line counterlabeling activities by social outsiders are not unprece-dented. Durkin and Bryant (1999) noted how pedophiles (i.e., as agroup of stigmatized social actors) collectively utilize cyberspace inan attempt to neutralize negative definitions of their behaviors. OtherStraightedge Web pages form in response to unsympathetic peers la-beling of Straightedge as a movement for freaks, losers, or misfits.The creation of such personal Web pages, and the developmentof Straightedge message-boards, is a process of, as Cohen (1972)might describe, winning cultural space via online ideological dis-semination:



I go on-line to strike back, you know. I read a lot of shit about so-calledStraightedge kids in the U.S., and I feel like I have to get active on theNet to break media stereotypes. Wouldnt you rather know about thescene from somebody involved, rather than some bullshitting cop orreporter? (Rick, age 19)

In this instance, winning space means reclaiming the right to defineyour esoteric group through self-employed terms and categories, andto discursively reframe Straightedge as a lifestyle geared toward per-sonal empowerment and social/civic responsibility. Practitioners at-tempts are clearly orchestrated to negate the ideological dilution oftheir messages of resistance created by mainstream media sources.More important, when youth are able to secure space on a local areanetwork (LAN) or server, they may initiate a political claims-makingprocess of their own. Without such access, their philosophies of resis-tance may be further silenced, marginalized, or rearranged throughother preferred media frames (Hall, 1980).

In everyday interaction, then, Straightedgers tap into Internet me-dia as a means of engendering broader cultural knowledge of and tol-erance toward their collective lifestyles. As the Internet is a publicspace that can be easily politicized (Cresser et al. 2001; Wilhelm,1998), personal or group-oriented Web pages are fashioned into bill-boards for promulgating core tenets of the groups ideology and coun-teracting the labeling process initiated by more mainstream mediafrom which Straightedgers are excluded. By exploring the Internet asa more diverse CMC platform, and not simply a tool for promoting lo-cal shows, practitioners exploit the virtual world to underline the posi-tive social outcomes of strict personal responsibility and restraint. Notonly does their middle-class, relatively affluent, social standing pro-vide them with the resources to resist online, the hyper-middle-classnature of their corporeal philosophies is highlighted through CMC.For example, testimonials about personal recovery (i.e., from addic-tion), individual growth, and social bonding through Straightedge canbe readily posted in these virtual clubhouses. Encoded with decisivelymiddle-class ideologies of corporeal asceticism (White, Young, &Gillett, 1995), personal responsibility, and morality, their messages ofresistance are publicly clarified online:



To all the people out there who think addiction cant be beaten, yourewrong. Be straight and you will survive. This [Internet] space is for allof those who have been kicked by life and want to use their bodies tofight back. Total fucking purity and courage is what you need to suc-ceed. . . . If you discipline your mind, the body will follow. (posted on-line by an anonymous Straightedger)

Through the creation of stable, ongoing, and easily locatable virtualclubhouses wherein visitors may peer into Straightedge lifestyles,practitioners reach communities across the country (and indeed theworld). Web sites transform into spaces that normalize the groups be-lief systems, signifying the group as a cadre of hyper-normative(rather than excessively profane) social protestors.

A stark outcome in the production and consumption of Straight-edge communication online has been the proliferation of the lifestylein Canada. Quite simply, the creation of a vibrant and proactive onlineStraightedge network facilitates the development of more integratedoffline Straightedge scenes from coast to coast. The consolidation ofStraightedge scenes via CMC supports Katzs (1996) and Robins(1996) contentions that online interfacing between people altersoffline bonds and relationships. Micrological pockets of Straight-edgers are connected with others across the country (even those inrather remote locations), and communication between members en-hanced. Similar to empirical findings in Stubbs (1999) study of vir-tual social networks between diasporic Croatians, Straightedge can beorganized but not wholly experienced online. Yet such communica-tion tends to reinforce practitioners sensibilities about corporeal as-ceticism, underline the social importance of the lifestyle within thegroup, and help actively recruit various youth in crisis (Acland, 1995)who seek personally empowering subcultural solutions to an array ofstatus problems (i.e., within peer groups, educational circles, and fam-ilies) or chemical dependencies. As a result, then, the mass extensionof Straightedge into virtual space has stimulated a heightened sense offigurational communitas (Turner, 1969) among some Canadianpractitioners.

We must be mindful, however, that Straightedge is neither realizednor consolidated by individuals by simply participating online withother practitioners. As illustrated in the case of cybersex (Wiley,



1995), one does not fully realize a corporeal practice in the virtualworld. As noted above, Straightedge is a lifestyle that must be per-formed daily through physical experience. Even though individualsmay coalesce in cyberspace, Straightedge is principally doneamong groups of mutually-identified others in the here and now of ev-eryday life. Similar to Modern Primitives or Cyberpunks who resisttechno culture by testing the boundaries of the corporeal throughbodily ordeals (Atkinson, 2003b; Atkinson & Young, 2001;Featherstone & Burrows, 1995), some Straightedgers practice thelifestyle as a form of resistance to techno modes of living that they per-ceive to be characteristically detached from physical experience (un-like their Rave counterparts). Such practitioners reject the global es-cape into virtual worlds and prefer to explore/control the body as ameaningful social text of communication. Quite paradoxically,practitioners exploit virtual space to inspire consciousness about thelived body.

Yet online communication between Straightedgers across thecountry (and around the globe) has fuelled a splintering among them.Although most Straightedgers tacitly believe in similar orienting lifeprinciples, there is noticeable disagreement as to how stringently onemust believe in and practice corporeal edicts of restraint. Debatesabout the authentic nature of Straightedge have been exacerbatedwithin online chat rooms, and those with varied understandings aboutthe lifestyle now meet in virtual space to contest definitions they prac-tice. Such debates transcend cyberspace and are occasionally enactedthrough heated confrontation at shows or other public places. Follow-ing a trend in European football hooliganism, as evidenced at the 1998and 2002 World Cup events (Finn & Giulanotti, 2000), violent con-frontations at public spectacles between individuals are arranged inadvance through the Internet. Small, aggro-oriented or anti-hate-edge pockets have formed as a responsefrom hardcore practitio-ners who adopt a militant party line, to more liberal Straightedgerswho explicitly condemn the more radical factions of the movement.

Given the increased popularity of Straightedge among Canadianyouth and the genesis of antagonism among practitioners, Straight-edge styles (and other signifying practices) cannot be easily, or singu-larly, decoded. With the proliferation of Straightedge styles (includ-ing music, clothing, dance, argot, and tattoos), practitioners have



experienced an internal incorporation (Thornton, 1995) of the life-style. In other terms, Straightedge may be, as some members describeit, eating itself from within. Although Straightedge movements inNorth America have never constituted a homogeneous set of peers, weshould not overlook the contemporary diversification of the lifestylespawned by CMC, and the very real effects of group segmentation onthe physical practice of Straightedge in group contexts.

A number of hardline practitioners lament that there have been un-intended ideological and representational shifts within Straightedgestemming from online communication. Because anyone may ventureonline, learn about Straightedge, and mimic the lifestyle as popularfashion (in many cases, without fear of reprisal from committed prac-titioners), the practice is open to be poached by youth in search of chiccountercultural movements:

One of the main problems with the Internet is the anonymity factor.Anyone can get onto the Web and call themselves down for life. Orelse, you learn a bit of the jargon, and play the role. . . . Its when peoplesteal from our dialogue on-line, and pretend they have an understand-ing about what its really like that pisses me off. (Don, age 24)

Questions arise, then, regarding how deeply Straightedge philosophyhas been inserted into everyday physical regimen by some. Accordingto self-proclaimed devotees to Straightedge, certain posers barelyextend the virtual into the physical realm. This critique is most fre-quently directed at those middle-class youth in Canada who have ac-cess to high-powered computing systems and high-speed home con-nections to the Internet and dabble in Straightedge (i.e., through styleor participation at local shows) as a means of experimenting withsubcultural difference: To all the hypocritical losers out there in thesuburbs who think theyre Edge because they listen to Minor Threat,drop dead. Hardcore [Straightedge] is the only way to live, and unlessyoure hard now, you never were and never will be (posted online byself-termed Hate-Edger Stewart, age 21).

However, because the Straightedge figuration is somewhat closeknit in most urban areas in Canada, distinctions can be made readilybetween those who participate in Straightedge on a recreational basis,and those who possess a level of commitment to the lifestyle.



In sum, the community of Straightedge practitioners in Canada isperhaps best conceptualized as a moving figuration of mutually iden-tified and interdependent actors. As individuals collectively partici-pate (albeit to varying degrees) in the lifestyle, they are bound by rela-tionship chains that are forged online and offline. Because com-munication online brings people together and mediates understandingof what it means to be Straightedge, one may be inclined to refer to thegroup as an online community or subculture (cf., Porter, 1997;Shields, 1996; Smith & Kollack, 1999). To be sure, relevant informa-tion about Straightedge and ideological debate regarding the lifestyleare presented online. However Straightedge (as a corporeally drivenactivity) is chiefly practiced through physical regimen and thereby islived in real time. Practitioners do not differentiate between on- andoffline performance; to them, both are included as part of walking theStraight-edge.

REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

The cases of Rave and Straightedge provide a rich basis from whichto consider the positioning of the Internet in the lives of subculturemembers and, in turn, to reflect on the changing nature of subculturallife. The most striking themes that emerged in this analysis had to dowith relationships between these subcultures and mainstream culture.In broad terms, it appeared that there is a complex and contradictoryrelationship between youth who support Internet-related businesspractices that contribute to the incorporation of these subcultures (es-pecially in the case of Rave), and those dedicated to the online (as wellas offline) promotion of alternative communities and antimainstreamphilosophies and perspectives. Also relevant in this context is that theInternet provides subculture members with frequent and various op-portunities to be active media audiences/consumers and producersroles and identities that are also blurred and interconnected. For exam-ple, subculture members studied here used the Internet to promoteideologies, communities, events, and consumer products (in the caseof Rave), while at the same time responding to the sometimes-nega-tive mass-mediated mainstream portrayals of their subcultures and toattempts to incorporate their scenes. It is worth noting that the subcul-



ture-Internet relationship described in these case studies is akin toperspectives that are presently circulating among those who study theInternet, social movements, and political economy more generally.That is to say, current understandings of the Internet as an effectivetool for promoting and organizing social movement groups (Castells,1997; Wilson, 2002a) and as a medium for promoting commerce,consumption, and the global market (Schiller, 1999) mirror ourfinding that the Internet enables subcultural resistance and supportsincorporation practices.

This position is reinforced by our finding that Rave and Straight-edge are distinct subcultural entities who resist the cultural main-stream through media production in different ways and with variableintensities. Straightedge, a subculture that is philosophically opposedto the physical excesses promoted by mainstream culture industries, isunlike Rave (and especially Raves descendent, Club Culture) that inmany respects promotes weekend (often drug-related) excesses asforms of symbolic escape (McGuigan, 1992; Wilson, 2002b).Straightedges emphasis on self-restraint and its still overtly alterna-tive orientation has made the lifestyle less marketable as pop cultureand, in turn, somewhat less incorporated. That Straightedge is acloser-knit community than the increasingly diffuse Rave scene issimilarly important in that Straightedge posers are more recognizableand more easily discouraged from selling out because the market in-terests/attractions that influence Rave promoters are less a part of theStraightedge reality.

Conversely, the positioning of the Internet as a medium for promot-ing Rave and its DJs is seldom challenged by the protechnologyRavers, especially those who work in Rave-related occupations (suchas DJ or promoter) and those who recognize the legitimacy of theseoccupations. Although not explicitly described as an online-offlinerelationship, work by authors such as Smith and Maughan (1998) whohave studied dance musics emerging underground economy and thelinks between this economy and the rise of Internet communication/technology similarly demonstrates the extent of Raves (internal andexternal) incorporation. Straightedge is much more cynical about thecapitalist opportunities presented by the medium because the group isless dependant on the market/occupational side of the subcultural life.That is to say, walking the Straight-edge is more clearly anticorporate



than Rave, and for this reason, the Internet tends to be used in morecountercultural ways than the more apolitical and incorporated Raver/Clubber subculturalists. Understanding these complexities and differ-ences, our findings also provide some nuance to McRobbie andThorntons (1995) observations about the development of the rela-tionship between media and subcultures by describing how the philo-sophical orientations of Rave and Straightedge are intricately relatedto the groups perspectives on (alternative) media production andusage.

The insights derived from these cases also inform our understand-ings of the impact of the Internet on the structure of youth subculturalformations. For example, it is clear that global subcultural networking(through Internet communication) has been enabled in unprecedentedways, and that this is at least somewhat related to the emergence of aloosely defined global level of involvement for Raver and Straight-edge youth. As above, though, the differences between Rave andStraightedge in this context are substantial and significant. In essence,for Rave, the conflict between the capitalist motives underlying thedistribution of the culture (especially in the form of items such astechno music and Rave clothing styles) around the world and thosethat oppose the incorporation of the culture has played out on a globalstage, precisely because of the political and economic influences thatare part of Rave culture (and especially its descendant club culture).Straightedge, which has more effectively rejected the advances of themainstream, largely because this kind of rejection is the philosophicalraison detre for the group, is less of a global culture at present.

The Rave and Straightedge cases are also intriguing departurepoints from which to consider how the Internet might enhance socialcohesion among youth by facilitating offline meetings and events, andproviding an online forum for support and discussion. That is to say,youth culture in the age of the Internet could be viewed not only asmore fragmented, diffuse, and neo-tribal than traditional subculturesdescribed in classic British works in the area (e.g., Hall & Jefferson,1976; Hebdige, 1979) but also as more cohesive in the sense that vir-tual connections can enhance local relationships while allowing forglobal cultural/support networks (Wilson, 2002a). Having said this, itis worth emphasizing that media developments such as the Internet arestill utilized and made sense of on a local and intrasubcultural level, or



as Ekholm-Freidman and Friedman (1995) stated, While all socialsystems are complex, everyday life tends to reduce this complexity toschemes of meaning and action that are significantly simplified(p. 134).

In following the work of Bennett (1999, 2000) and Malbon (1998),who adopted Maffesolis (1995) notion of neo-tribes as a concept forunderstanding the transient aspects of youth cultures, our examinationof online and offline cultures points to transience and movementwithin communities, scenes, worlds, and figurations. Through thestudy of Rave, Straightedge, and other youth formations, we havecome to learn about the permeability and fluidity of subcultures in anincreasingly global and cyberage, and to consider how the Internet hasaffected young peopleabilities to maneuver between different leisureor lifestyle activities. Here, however, we also see a pressing imperativeto examine the extent to which local subcultural ties are disrupted andchallenged by the Internet, because the continuity between online andoffline life evident in these two groups might not be applicable to allyouth peer groups/cultures, especially youth who tend not to identifywith a specific subcultural group. It is our overarching aim, then, toempirically ascertain how youth actually interpret a variety of infor-mation available on the Internet, and how alternative media produc-tion and interpretation are linked for youth subculturalists. In this way,the task of enhancing sociological understandings of how youthsubcultural communities relate to media in an age of Internet technol-ogy may be addressed, and widespread claims about the impacts of anincreasingly global and cyberculture empirically critiqued.

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