Date and Time
Wed, July 17, 2019
6:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Pub On The Park
19 Martello Street
London
E8 3PE
Was the cultural commentator, Jacques Peretti correct when he accused retro obsessed ‘cultural necrophiliacs’ of vampirically draining subcultures of their youthful vitality? In enduring the nostalgic proclamations of these middle-aged reactionaries as they assert ownership of a self-proclaimed legacy of radical politics, what does it mean to witness yet another launch event for an institutionalised celebration of an ‘underground’, ‘edgy’ youth tribe? Conversely, how can current dispossessed youth acquire an authorial voice when its public value is limited to news fodder for a rabid right-wing press cynically seeking scapegoats in austerity Britain? Who would want to be young now?
This latest Cultural Engine Research Group event, chaired by Dr
Andrew Branch (CERG, UEL), will address these questions by focusing on
the challenges and opportunities facing curators of British youth
subcultures and how we might usefully define the concept itself. Invited
speakers will debate how curatorial bodies can reflexively engage with
academics whose work documents the politics of youth subcultural
practice, past and present, and why these legacies matter.
Speakers
Iain Aitch
Iain Aitch is an author, journalist and artist whose
work looks at the social history of the working class. He is a Director
of Rendezvous Projects and is currently working on a book and exhibition
about beauty queens. Of particular relevance for this event, Iain has
been artist and writer in residence at Turner Contemporary, Margate,
producing a photographic show about subcultures as a} result of working
with those living in the town and identifying with its subversive
heritage. This work was shown alongside work by Banksy, Bowie and
Warhol.
Dr Andrew Calcutt
Since graduating 40 years ago, Andrew Calcutt
has been a record producer (praised by radio djs John Peel and Charlie
Gillett), magazine journalist (his byline appeared in Arena, Blueprint,
Living Marxism and The Modern Review, to name but a few), broadcaster
(from BBC Radio Four’s Moral Maze to Channel 4’s Zeitgeist), digital
pioneer (commissioning editor for Channel Cyberia and award-winning
Cscape), and prolific author of a host of books on culture and society,
including Fictitious Capital: London After recession, White Noise, Cult
Fiction, BritCult, and his own ‘cult classic’ from the 1990s, Arrested
Development: pop culture and the erosion of adulthood, which has just
been reissued by Bloomsbury. Andrew teaches at all levels of the
University of East London’s BA Journalism programme. His research
interests include the regeneration of East London and the remaking of
journalism. Twenty years ago he coined the term ‘hackademic’ to describe
his own transition from journalism to academia.
Dr William Henry
Born in Lewisham of Jamaican parentage, William
Henry DJs as British Reggae icon Lezlee Lyrix, as well as being a
writer, poet and community activist. Lez’s experience of formal
education has taken him from access course student to teaching and
researching at the University of West London in his current role as
Associate Professor of sociology and anthropology. He is what Gramsci
would have identified as an organic intellectual. Lez also has a passion
for karate, which reminds us of Pierre Bourdieu’s definition of
sociology as a martial art: a tool used by the dominated to defend
themselves against the dominant.
Dr Sarah Raine
Sarah Raine is a Research Fellow at the Birmingham
Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR). Having completed a
funded PhD at BCU on the contemporary northern soul scene, she is now an
AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellow, working in partnership with
Cheltenham Jazz Festival on their Keychange (PRS Foundation) initiative
pledge. Sarah is a founding member and co-manages Riffs, a journal run
by the staff and students of the BCMCR. She is also the Review Editor
for Popular Music History.
Prof Matt Worley
Author of numerous highly-rated journal articles
and books, Matt Worley’s (Reading University) interests lie in the field
of subcultural histories, and how British youth practice has responded
to the divergent political discourse shaping post-war Britain. His most
recent book is No future: punk, politics and British youth culture,
1976-1984. Matt has also worked regularly outside of the academy,
collaborating recently with the artist, Scott King on the project,
Crash! Nostalgia for the Jet Age. His current project is curating the
complex histories of British fanzine cultures during and beyond
first-wave punk.
Music and visuals on the night. Food avaliable to order, with private outdoor space and bar open until 12am.
Community Engagement Initiative 