Did the ‘raver’ subculture in Britain, from the late 1980s to early 1990s, lead to social change in British culture and politics or was it merely a community of ecstasy infused ‘party people’? Jasmin Harbord
British youth subcultures are something of relevantly new classification. Birthed during the affluent times of post-war regeneration, teenagers and young adults suddenly found themselves bridging the gap from children to adulthood with more disposable income than their parents had ever had. “The increased importance of the market, consumption, and the growth of ‘Youth-oriented’ leisure industries” (Hall et Al, 1979, pg. 18) alongside the progression of education, ensured a new market was opened. Furthermore, there was less of a demand to go straight from school to work. Subsequently, ‘youth’ was born. “’Youth’ appeared as an emergent category in post-war Britain, one the most striking and visible manifestations of social change in the period” (Hall Et Al, 1976, pg.9) and with this new found independence, the youth of Britain sought out to define itself separate from its predeceasing generations. A rise in national communication, via the mid-1950s onwards, wide distribution of the television saw the beginnings of a youth ‘mainstream’. “For many youthful imaginations the mainstream is a powerful way to put themselves in the bigger picture, imagine their social world, assert their cultural worth, and claim their subcultural capital (S Thornton, 1995, pg. 115). This notion of subculture and wanting to fight back against the imposed, stemmed largely from working class backgrounds. Arguably, “it was felt that the breakdown in family life, caused by absent fathers, led to increased levels of youth delinquency.” (J Hocking, pg. 2). From the 1950s onwards, British youth subculture has seen many differing discourses; evolving, growing and transforming to fit their social, cultural, political and historical environments. Following this, the argument can be made that during the late 1980s to early 1990s, the ‘ravers’, a British subculture group influenced social change in Britain. Rave culture came to fruition at the start of the early 1980’s with “the illegal warehouse party scene in London” (H Evans, 1992, pg. 2) due to what could arguably be considered two main reasons. Firstly, the decline in manufacturing and rise in working class unemployment under the Thatcher regime, combined with the introduction and mass distribution of the illegal drug: ecstasy (Fig. 1). These two factors increasing in strength lead to the late 1980s to early 1990s nation-wide spread of the ‘club culture’, throwing the supposed ‘underground subculture’ into the mainstream consensus. Tabloid exploitation of this community raged; but it’s hard to determine how much of the conservative antirave propaganda was true. Perhaps, this community was indeed just a group of “spaced out” and “drug crazy” (The Sun, 1998, Fig.2) youngsters partying. Alternatively, the rave movement may have provided more in the longevity of British social change. An argument that deprived the rave movement of any significant social authority, was the idea that they gathered through the use of recreational drugs. Simultaneously, listening to techno and similar subgenres of music. The lack of a strong social or political standpoint at the start of the rave movement made it seem too many, a subculture lacking in ‘authenticity’. In her book ‘Club Cultures’, Sarah Thornton states (pg. 116) that “The idea that authentic culture is somehow outside media and commerce is a resilient one. In its full-blown romantic form, the belief suggests that grassroots cultures resist and struggle with a colonizing mass-mediated corporate world.” To take into account this viewpoint, it could be argued that the rave movement did not resist or struggle against the “massmediated corporate world” but instead transformed to incorporate it. With the introduction of the Entertainment Act in 1990, a large portion of the rave scene moved to a more commercial outlet in the form of clubs. In ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ Helen Evans (1992, pg.2) states in regards to the ‘ravers’