UK Rave Culture and the Thatcherite Hegemony, 1988–94

During the late Eighties and early Nineties a youth movement swept the United Kingdom, asserting an ethos of communalism, unity and hedonism radically different to the ‘New Right’ paradigm of the times. Whilst postmodernists have rejected the role of subculture in symbolically both mapping and resisting the machinations of the dominant culture, rave culture's ability to alternately contest and mimic Thatcherite ideology suggests that this dismissal may be unmerited. By employing Foucauldian theory regarding ‘heterotopias’ this paper seeks to demonstrate that youth movements and subcultures should remain in consideration as symbolic challenges and explorations of the hegemonic state ideology.