Rave Culture: Individual And Collective Identity Theories

The aim of this paper was to apply individual and collective identity theories to the rave culture whilst discussing the meanings and values involved in this particular case study. I have found that many of the theories outlined are present in this subculture and that the formation of the self becomes vital in the development of collective cultures. Chapter one`s focus on the self set a stable ground for the analysis of collective identity and it became clear that the perspectives of socio-psychological theorists underlined many processes and patterns within subcultures. For instance, the TST undertaken by Kuhn and McPartland 1954 highlighted the importance the role of self-feelings play in individual identity and the way we perceive and describe ourselves, which determines subsequent behaviour. This was a large part of the underlying thought in delinquent subcultural work in the 50s. These ideas of delinquency formed the basis of later developing ideas of social resistance proposed by the CCCS and this pattern within collective identity formation became visible within rave culture. What this shows is that how we perceive ourselves and who we want to be is the determining factor behind what groups we become members of. Resistance of a dominant culture within rave was not as clear as other preceding subcultures such as punk, as the appearance of ravers did not stand out to the same extreme level and their behaviour was secondarily delinquent. The ways that they expressed themselves involved illegal activities, but they did not do this as a way of obvious and direct rebellion as they disagreed that what they were doing was truly wrong and often questioned why political figures and mainstream society did not just "join in" (Guest, 2009). This is one of many differences between rave and other post-world war II youth groups; the movement was underlined with love rather than anger. The remodelling of theories proposed by George Herbert Mead worked to explain a large part of rave whereby members of the culture searched for their identities through the creation of `other worlds`. The variation of Mead`s `generalised other` that I proposed in the `alternative other` demonstrated how members of rave culture seek and co-opt space as a way of producing alternative cultures and values that they can inculcate into their individual identity.

We briefly covered some postmodern explanations of rave culture, which prompts an opportunity for future research, as postmodernism and the ideas developing in this era have become crucial to various subjects, such as architecture, art and of course, identity. The problem postmodernism poses for identity is covered in-depth by James Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium in their book The Self We Live By, which was used as a main point of reference throughout chapter one. The post-subcultural theory outlined in chapter two, which is anchored in postmodern thought, demonstrated the complexity of drawing lines between subcultural identities, as it became clear that youth cultures have become fragmented, constantly changing, altering and combining new styles. As this paper focused on applying these theories to 1980s and early 1990s rave movements, postmodern ideas were not always relevant, however Maffesoli provided a fitting explanation for rave groups with his theory of neo-tribes. The culture most relevant to postmodern theories in relation to rave is club culture, which is today`s version of rave. As I very briefly mentioned, this commercialised alternative lacks the strong meanings and values presented in Spiral Tribe and Goa psy-trance and has been reduced to a `Who Is The Coolest` ethos proposed by Thornton`s subcultural capital and therefore exemplifies much of post-subcultural theory.

Although some of the work covered within this paper is outdated, it was important to understand the origins of identity theories, as, despite their archaic use and criticism by newer theories, they are still vital to understanding individual and collective identity in a contemporary framework. What this research can provide for the future is a bigger emphasis on the role of the self within subcultures as it has been underestimated in studies of collective groups. This paper has demonstrated that individual identity and self-perception is an important vehicle in the formation of collectives and these groups work to reaffirm who a person is and helps them to search for new meanings within themselves. We have also seen that rave is one of the most resilient subcultures to have existed, having survived the demise that often comes soon after commercialisation. Since this occurrence following the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, the people, lifestyle, locations and meanings of rave have altered significantly, but the culture has remained a strong and essential part of contemporary youth.