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Ideal Homes? Social Change and Domestic Life
IDEAL HOMES? Until now, the ‘home’ as a space within which domestic lives are lived out has been largely ignored by sociologists. Yet the ‘home’ as idea, place and object consumes a large proportion of individuals’ incomes, and occupies their dreams and their leisure time while the absence of a physical home presents a major threat to both society and the homeless themselves. This edited collection provides for the first time an analysis of the space of the ‘home’ and the experiences of home life by writers from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, criminology, psychology, social policy and anthropology. It covers a range of subjects, including gender roles, different generations’ relationships to home, the changing nature of the family, transition, risk and alternative visions of home. Ideal Homes? provides a fascinating analysis which reveals how both popular images and experiences of home life can produce vital clues as to how society’s members produce and respond to social change. Tony Chapman is Head of Sociology at the University of Teesside. Jenny Hockey is Senior Lecturer in the School of Comparative and Applied Social Sciences, University of Hull. IDEAL HOMES? Social change and domestic life Edited by Tony Chapman and Jenny Hockey London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 1999 Selection and editorial matter Tony Chapman and Jenny Hockey; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. -
Neotrance and the Psychedelic Festival DC
Neotrance and the Psychedelic Festival GRAHAM ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OF REGINA, UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND Abstract !is article explores the religio-spiritual characteristics of psytrance (psychedelic trance), attending speci"cally to the characteristics of what I call neotrance apparent within the contemporary trance event, the countercultural inheritance of the “tribal” psytrance festival, and the dramatizing of participants’ “ultimate concerns” within the festival framework. An exploration of the psychedelic festival offers insights on ecstatic (self- transcendent), performative (self-expressive) and re!exive (conscious alternative) trajectories within psytrance music culture. I address this dynamic with reference to Portugal’s Boom Festival. Keywords psytrance, neotrance, psychedelic festival, trance states, religion, new spirituality, liminality, neotribe Figure 1: Main Floor, Boom Festival 2008, Portugal – Photo by jakob kolar www.jacomedia.net As electronic dance music cultures (EDMCs) flourish in the global present, their relig- ious and/or spiritual character have become common subjects of exploration for scholars of religion, music and culture.1 This article addresses the religio-spiritual Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture 1(1) 2009, 35-64 + Dancecult ISSN 1947-5403 ©2009 Dancecult http://www.dancecult.net/ DC Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture – DOI 10.12801/1947-5403.2009.01.01.03 + D DC –C 36 Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture • vol 1 no 1 characteristics of psytrance (psychedelic trance), attending specifically to the charac- teristics of the contemporary trance event which I call neotrance, the countercultural inheritance of the “tribal” psytrance festival, and the dramatizing of participants’ “ul- timate concerns” within the framework of the “visionary” music festival. -
21St Century Exclusion: Roma and Gypsy-Travellers in European
Angus Bancroft (2005) Roma and Gypsy-Travellers in Europe: Modernity, Race, Space and Exclusion, Aldershot: Ashgate. Contents Chapter 1 Europe and its Internal Outsiders Chapter 2 Modernity, Space and the Outsider Chapter 3 The Gypsies Metamorphosed: Race, Racialization and Racial Action in Europe Chapter 4 Segregation of Roma and Gypsy-Travellers Chapter 5 The Law of the Land Chapter 6 A Panic in Perspective Chapter 7 Closed Spaces, Restricted Places Chapter 8 A ‘21st Century Racism’? Bibliography Index Chapter 1 Europe and its Internal Outsiders Introduction From the ‘forgotten Holocaust’ in the concentration camps of Nazi controlled Europe to the upsurge of racist violence that followed the fall of Communism and the naked hostility displayed towards them across the continent in the 21st Century, Europe has been a dangerous place for Roma and Gypsy-Travellers (‘Gypsies’). There are Roma and Gypsy-Travellers living in every country of Europe. They have been the object of persecution, and the subject of misrepresentation, for most of their history. They are amongst the most marginalized groups in European society, historically being on the receiving end of severe racism, social and economic disadvantage, and forced population displacement. Anti-Gypsy sentiment is present throughout Europe, in post-Communist countries such as Romania, in social democracies like Finland, in Britain, in France and so on. Opinion polls consistently show that they are held in lower esteem than other ethnic groups. Examples of these sentiments in action range from mob violence in Croatia to ‘no Travellers’ signs in pubs in Scotland. This book will examine the exclusion of Roma and Gypsy-Travellers in Europe. -
Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past BLAIN, J
Sacred sites, contested rites/rights: contemporary pagan engagements with the past BLAIN, J. and WALLIS, R. J. Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/58/ This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version BLAIN, J. and WALLIS, R. J. (2004). Sacred sites, contested rites/rights: contemporary pagan engagements with the past. Journal of material culture, 9 (3), 237-261. Copyright and re-use policy See http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive http://shura.shu.ac.uk Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past Dr Jenny Blain Dr Robert J Wallis Keywords: Sacred Sites, Paganism, Heritage, New Indigenes, Contested spaces Published 2004 Journal of Material Culture as Blain, J. and R.J. Wallis 2004 Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past. Journal of Material Culture 9.3: 237-261. Abstract Our Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights project ( www.sacredsites.org.uk ) examines physical, spiritual and interpretative engagements of today’s Pagans with sacred sites, theorises ‘sacredness’, and explores the implications of pagan engagements with sites for heritage management and archaeology more generally, in terms of ‘preservation ethic’ vis a vis active engagement. In this paper, we explore ways in which ‘sacred sites’ --- both the term and the sites --- are negotiated by different -
DEFINING the NEW AGE George D. Chryssides
DEFINING THE NEW AGE George D. Chryssides “Always start by defi ning your terms,” students are often told. Dictionary defi nitions are seldom attention-grabbing, and the meaning of one’s key terms may already be obvious to the reader. Indeed, any reader who purchases a volume about New Age must plainly have a working knowledge of what the term means—so why bother to defi ne it? There are a number of important reasons to start with defi nitions. First, as Socrates, whose life’s work consisted largely of attempts to formulate defi nitions of key concepts, ably demonstrated, there is a world of difference between knowing what a concept means and being able to articulate a defi nition. Second, there is a difference between a dictionary defi nition and the defi ning characteristics that emerge through scholarly discussion: key concepts in a fi eld of knowledge are usually more complex and subtle than can be summarised in a few dictionary phrases. Third, attempting a defi nition—in this case of ‘New Age’—enables us to bring out the various salient features of the move- ment, and to help ensure that key aspects are not neglected. Fourth, there are important comparisons and contrasts to be made between New Age, alternative spirituality, New Religious Movements (NRMs) and New Social Movements (NSMs), and hence an attempt to defi ne one’s subject matter is a useful exercise in conceptual mapping, enabling us to draw conclusions about what belongs to the fi eld of New Age studies and what lies outside. Finally, discussing defi nitions is important where a term’s meaning is contested: as will become apparent, the expression ‘New Age’ admits of different meanings, and indeed some writers have suggested that the concept is not a useful one, since it lacks any clear meaning whatsoever. -
Doctor of Philosophy
A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences University of Western Sydney March 2007 ii CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................ VIII LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... VIII LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS ............................................................................ IX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................. X STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................. XI PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH............................................................... XII SUMMARY ..................................................................................................XIV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING MUSIC FESTIVALS AS POSTMODERN SITES OF CONSUMPTION.............................................................................1 1.1 The Aim of the Research ................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 Consumer Society............................................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Consuming ‘Youth’........................................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Defining Youth .............................................................................................................................. -
Millicent Williamson Goldsmiths College University of London
WOMEN AND VAMPIRE FICTION: TEXTs, FANDOM AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY Millicent Williamson Goldsmiths College University of London Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD ABSTRACT This thesis examines what vampire fiction and vampire fandom offer to women and uses as a case study the accounts offered by women fans in New Orleans and Britain. Textual approaches to vampire fiction and femininity have largely proposed that just as the woman is punished by being positioned as passive and masochistic in the texts of Dracula, so too is the female viewer or reader of the texts. This thesis argues that such approaches are inadequate because they impose a singular ('Dracularesque') structure of meaning which both underestimates the variety of vampire fiction available and ignores the process of reading that women interested in the vampire figure engage in. It is argued, based on the women vampire fan's own textual interpretations, that the vampire can be read as a figure of pathos who elicits the fans' sympathy because of its predicament. It is further argued that this approach to the vampire appeals to the women because it brings into play a melodramatic structure which resonates with certain problematic experiences of feminine identity that are often suppressed in our culture and thus difficult to articulate. The figure of the vampire offers women fans both a channel for their creativity and a means of rebelling against the imposed norms of femininity. It is a well-rehearsed position in theories of fandom that the activity that fans engage in is a form of rebellion or resistance. -
Psychosis Or Spiritual Emergence? - Consideration of the Transpersonal Perspective Within Psychiatry'
'Psychosis or Spiritual Emergence? - Consideration of the Transpersonal Perspective within Psychiatry' Dr. Nicki Crowley * ‘Fool's gold exists because there is real gold’ Rumi As we progress into the 21st century, psychiatry is broadening its repertoire to further understand the problem of madness. Psychosis as an altered state of consciousness (ASC) Our deepening understanding of brain, mind and consciousness leaves us no option but to expand the neurobiology of psychosis to incorporate the concept of consciousness; its nature, levels, dimensions and dynamics, and the impact this function plays in the development of challenging, abnormal states of mind. Psychosis has been defined as ‘any one of several altered states of consciousness, transient or persistent, that prevent integration of sensory or extrasensory information into reality models accepted by the broad consensus of society, and that lead to maladaptive behaviour and social sanctions.1 Psychotic phenomena such as delusions and hallucinations, described and classified in ICD10 2 and DSM VI 3, follow clinical observations, which in western society are understood as symptoms of illness. This is based on the assumption that we understand the nature of ‘reality’, and that there is a narrow band of ‘normal’ perception, outside of which there is little useful potential. That certain dramatic experiences and unusual states of mind could be more than part of a purely pathological mental state, and hold some potential for personal growth and transformation is the subject of this paper. -
Mad Thoughts on Mushrooms
OC1802_05 11/21/07 12:12 PM Page 74 Mad Thoughts on Mushrooms: Discourse and Power in the Study of Psychedelic Consciousness1 andy letcher Andy Letcher is a freelance writer, researcher, and lecturer based in Oxford, UK. [email protected] abstract This paper addresses the question of what happens to consciousness under the influence of psychedelic drugs—specifically of psilocybin, or “magic” mushrooms— and performs a Foucauldian discourse analysis upon the answers that have been variously proposed. Predominant societally legitimated answers (the pathological, psychological, and prohibition discourses) are those that, in Foucault’s sense, are imposed from the outside as “scientific classifications,” that is, they are based upon observations of the effects of mushrooms on others. By contrast, a series of resistive discourses (the recreational, psychedelic, entheogenic, and animistic discourses) have been constructed in opposition, as a means of making sense of the subjective experience of taking mushrooms. When critiqued, only the animistic discourse— the belief that mushrooms occasion encounters with discarnate spirit entities, or animaphany—transgresses a fundamental societal boundary. In the West, to believe in the existence of spirits is to risk being labeled “mad,” and as such the phenomenon of mushroom-induced animaphany goes largely ignored. It nevertheless remains a phenomenon in need of further scholarly research. keywords: magic mushrooms, consciousness, Foucault, animaphany introduction What happens to consciousness under the influence of a psychedelic drug? Given the importance of psychoactives in both indigenous and modern cultures (whether culturally legitimated or not), this is a question that anthropologists are 74 OC1802_05 10/22/07 9:47 M Page 75 mad thoughts on mushrooms 75 increasingly being forced to confront. -
The Spiritual and the Revolutionary Alternative
This article was downloaded by: [HEAL-Link Consortium] On: 7 October 2008 Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 772811123] Publisher Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Culture and Religion Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713694811 The Spiritual and the Revolutionary: Alternative Spirituality, British Free Festivals, and the Emergence of Rave Culture Christopher Partridge Online Publication Date: 01 March 2006 To cite this Article Partridge, Christopher(2006)'The Spiritual and the Revolutionary: Alternative Spirituality, British Free Festivals, and the Emergence of Rave Culture',Culture and Religion,7:1,41 — 60 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/01438300600625408 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01438300600625408 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. -
Technoshamanism, Conservatism and Pagan Politics
David Green1 Прегледни рад University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. UDK 32(420):316.7»198/199» 299.572(420) TRANCE-GRESSION: TECHNOSHAMANISM, CONSERVATISM AND PAGAN POLITICS Abstract This article looks at the politics of successive Conservative governments in Britain in the 1980s and ‘90s through the lens of the increasing politicisation of Paganisms in that period. A wave of moral panics in the late ‘80’s and early ‘90s concerning marginal communities – such as Ravers, New Age travellers and anti-road protesters – and their ‘riotous assemblies’, culminated in the Conservative Government of John Major enact- ing The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994. This was seen by these commu- nities as legislation against alternative lifestyles and, in some respects, an infringement of spiritual freedom. Using the case study of technoshamanism – a Pagan meeting of ‘rave’ culture and neo-shamanism – I wish to examine how the political and Pagan religious landscapes of ‘80s and ‘90s Britain intersected and led to politically engaged forms of Pagan practice often centred around grassroots lifestyle and environmental politics. This will be explored with especial reference to the politicisation of The Spiral Tribe, a technoshamanic collective of the early ‘90s, and their increasing involvement in resisting the 1994 Act and promotion of campaigns such as Reclaim the Streets. Key words: Conservatism, Criminal Justice Act, Moral Panic, Paganism, Spiral Tribe, Technoshamanism. The Thatcherite Agenda Much has been written about how the election of Margaret Thatcher as UK Prime Minister in 1979, and the subsequent Conservative governments of the 1980s and ‘90s, marked a turning point in British culture, politics and society (e.g. -
NEW AGE TRAVELLERS Strangers in a Strange Fabric of British Society
CJM CRMMJIOTEMMIS NEW AGE TRAVELLERS Strangers in a strange fabric of British society. This prevented anyone resembling (or The mechanisms they used had al- even vaguely resembling) a traveller from land ready been deployed on others such as the coming within five miles of Stonehenge. In what follows my aim will be to present miners. First, they refused to concede that This extraordinary tactic, despite the threat a sort of unofficial history of the new age the travellers had a legitimate culture or it posed to liberal notions of freedom and travellers and their troubled relationship voice at all. Second, they ignored any liberty, was not really that new. Essen- with the British state. By unofficial, I attempt by the travellers to counter this tially it amounted to a further extension of mean an account presented from the stand- distortion. Third, they imposed their own measures which had already been de- point of the marginalised in opposition to stereotypes. It is within this context that ployed against the miners the previous official accounts; accounts, that is, which the stories which subsequently appeared year. typically represent the interests of the The strategy of exclusion was not all status quo. It does not begin by presuming that was borrowed. For, in the context of that the travellers are inherently guilty of They call themselves new the fearful threat posed by the travellers the crimes of which they are accused. Nor age travellers, Madam the local constabulary were substantially does it accept that British society has been Speaker. In Gloucester- reinforced by personnel from other local threatened by the travellers in any tangi- shire we call them new age forces, many of whom had been 'blooded' ble way.