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-- So, I have written a major research paper on the rave subculture

So, I have written a major research paper on the rave subculture

I debated for a while about whether I would inform you guys that I had written this paper, but in the end I have decided that posting the essay on TA is a desirable choice because I believe that some of you will be interested in the topic that it investigates. Furthermore, I would like to see what individuals who take the time to critically read my essay think about the arguments I make, the distinctions I highlight, and so on.

For my third-year Young Offenders class the students are required to write a major research paper on a topic of one's choice. I elected to examine the rave subculture. There are two basic domains with which the essay is concerned: 1) raves and moral panic theory; and 2) raves and subcultural explanations of youth deviance. The paper looks not only at raves in general but also at the rave-related social and political changes that occurred in Toronto during the winter of 1999 to the summer of 2000 (most notably where then Mayor Lastman succeeded in having raves on city-property banned through a city council vote). Because of the commercialization of the rave scene over the past few years, the essay is primarily focussed upon what I may call the 'real' / 'original' / 'true' rave scene--the paper highlights the fact that 'raves' as such have given way to the 'rave-nightclub' phenomenon.

For those of you who may be interested in reading this paper (and presenting me with your review), I have uploaded the MS word document to the following link: http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.p...7DA55494477AC4C

I should also note that this is principally an academic paper: insofar as I present a number of arguments, the paper is indeed argumentative; but insofar as the essay examines the issue through the eyes of criminologists, sociologists, and scholars in various other disciplines, it is not a survey into my beliefs or anybody else's particular beliefs concerning the rave experience.

I will end this post by pasting a copy of the essay's introduction for those who are unsure as to whether reading the paper is truly worth your time.

I look forward to any comments on the paper--whether you agree with what you will read is independent of my belief that many of you will enjoy an examination of the culture with which we are all so intimately enmeshed.

P.S. I'm not really concerned with being told about grammatical errors, e.g. that a particular word is spelled wrong--I will review the essay once more tomorrow before I submit it

Nick



INTRODUCTION
This paper will be concerned with an investigation of the 'rave' phenomenon; in particular, it will focus upon the following two points. First, via the standpoint of a moral panic discourse, the essay will examine raves (in general) as well as the changes in societal attitudes toward Toronto's rave culture that arose following three rave-related deaths of Ontario youths in 1999 and which culminated in the May 2000 temporary ban on raves conducted on city-owned property . A basic awareness of the dynamics of moral panic theory will be assumed in order to allow the essay to explicate how the actions of the media and certain key agents of social control exemplify three key tenets of moral panic theory as originally conceived by Stanley Cohen: during times of moral panic a) the deviant, particularly when he/she is not perceived as a member of an outside group, is seen as posing a significant threat to the social order because he/she has unacceptably 'stepped over a boundary'; b) the media and agents of social control assign the deviant a specific kind of label or social type and manage to carry out a process of symbolization in which members of society begin to automatically identify the deviant and his/her activities with negative images; and c) the media and individuals in positions of power, e.g. the police, engage in processes of exaggeration of the supposed threat posed by the problem and prediction of the inevitable recurrence of similarly dangerous events. Second, the paper will argue that the rave subculture--a primarily youth/adolescent-based community--has yet to be adequately 'explained' by group-deviance-causation theories. More specifically, the rave subculture is still somewhat opaque to criminologists in two ways: 1) neither can the American nor the British-based traditional subcultural theories of youth deviance satisfactorily elucidate the meaning of the rave phenomenon; and 2) the effectiveness of more recent, updated subcultural theories is limited insofar as research (including recent Canadian research) reveals that ravers themselves tend not to express homogeneous reasons for their involvement in the culture, and this results in the relative 'unknowability' of the rave realm.

good stuff nik.. i tried doing something on this as well last year.. something similar..

this thread needs more glowsticks

quote:

Originally posted by jon jon this thread needs more glowsticks

And more red lazers.

Good Luck on your paper Nick

"rave" subculture? what is this? 1999?

quote:

Originally posted by El Kay Dee "rave" subculture? what is this? 1999?

quote:

Originally posted by Nicolas Oliver The paper looks not only at raves in general but also at the rave-related social and political changes that occurred in Toronto during the winter of 1999 to the summer of 2000 (most notably where then Mayor Lastman succeeded in having raves on city-property banned through a city council vote).

quote:

Originally posted by cenik

fuck take a joke

quote:

Originally posted by jon jon this thread needs more glowsticks

quote:

Originally posted by El Kay Dee fuck take a joke

no need to get testy liam

ps. i'll read it this week nick. just getting a little behind in classes

Link blocked at work, but will read it later at home. Been interested in creating a website/writing piece regarding similar themes...so really looking forwards to reading yours.

quote:

Originally posted by spitty i'll read it this week nick. just getting a little behind in classes

Thank you Andrea: classes are crazy right now, I know! So whenever you get a chance and are interested, give it a read

quote:

Originally posted by zokissima Link blocked at work, but will read it later at home. Been interested in creating a website/writing piece regarding similar themes...so really looking forwards to reading yours.

Sounds good: looking forward to seeing what you think!

I'll keep an eye on the link to make sure it keeps functioning.

I love when profs let you write papers about a subject you're interested in. I had the benefit of doing so twice last year for the same professor...writing about different topics regarding electronic music and the EDM subculture. When I went to discuss my topic with my prof the first time around, turns out he was a big raver himself (he's a young guy) and we spent an hour or so exchanging stories. Our tastes in music differ a bit, but it was pretty interesting to meet a teacher that knew where I was coming from when I talked about a love of EDM.

Good luck on your paper Nick.

Excuse this old American, but what is a '3rd year Young Offenders class'? Sounds like a juvie-hall reference.

quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* I love when profs let you write papers about a subject you're interested in. I had the benefit of doing so twice last year for the same professor...writing about different topics regarding electronic music and the EDM subculture. When I went to discuss my topic with my prof the first time around, turns out he was a big raver himself (he's a young guy) and we spent an hour or so exchanging stories. Our tastes in music differ a bit, but it was pretty interesting to meet a teacher that knew where I was coming from when I talked about a love of EDM.

Definitely! University profs are, generally, quite flexible; it's very encouraging as a student.

quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* Good luck on your paper Nick.

Thanks Lis, I appreciate the kindness (You too Jenn, Kat!).

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Originally posted by tatgirl Excuse this old American, but what is a '3rd year Young Offenders class'? Sounds like a juvie-hall reference.

The class studies the topic of 'young offenders'. The topic covers matters such as ways of measuring youth crime, the media's influence on youth crime, theories explain youth crime causation, differences between female and male young offenders, crime committed by marginalized youth, and so on.

Thanks for the explanation. I was once a criminal justice major, and we never had a class by that name, so I was thoroughly confused.

Wow, I was this [ ] close to not being permitted to submit this paper on Monday night: the paper exceeded the page limit and after a talk with the Prof it was decided that he, instead of the TA, will mark my essay--I don't know if this will turn out to be a good or bad thing

The link is still good btw

new link added by request (link in original post)

quote:

Originally posted by cenik ... it was decided that he, instead of the TA, will mark my essay...

lol

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Originally posted by Sasha lol

hehe I just noticed that............TA as in teaching assistant lol

Haven't read your paper yet, but you could have gotten excellent critique other ways. For the record, if this is an good paper my conscience wouldn't have any problem pawning it off as my own. There are others like me out there with no problems in that department...

Guess you are not worried about plagiarism???

quote:

Originally posted by Fir3start3r

OMG THIS IS GOLD.....GOLD JERRY GOLD!!!

quote:

Originally posted by PressPLay Haven't read your paper yet, but you could have gotten excellent critique other ways. For the record, if this is an good paper my conscience wouldn't have any problem pawning it off as my own. There are others like me out there with no problems in that department... Guess you are not worried about plagiarism???

Hey

I wasn't really looking for critiques: rather I was interested in seeing how the very people whom this paper is written about would react to what is being argued about them.

I'm not worried about plagiarism: I can't stop someone from taking this paper and passing it off as their own but a) I know it's my work so that's good enough for me, and b) it would be pretty low for a fellow TA to do something like that to me!

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