While primarily making use of participant observation, much of my
data and analysis also come from in-depth, semi-structured interviews
(n=20). In an effort to diversify my sample, I included a number of
subjects outside of the immediate “idioculture” in which I was embedded.
I contacted members of local punk bands, individuals discussing punk-
related topics on a local internet forum, and individuals whom I met at
concerts and informal outings. Interviewees ranged in age from 19 to 27.
Fourteen of the interviewees were male, and six were female.^10 While they
came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and held diverse politi-
cal and religious beliefs, only two were non-white (a Middle-Eastern male
and a Latino male).
I used content analysis as a final compliment to my analytic strategy.
Several participants had penned personal reflections and diary entries
about their subcultural participation, experiences at concerts, and their
engagement with punk media. These individuals provided me with their
writings and reflections and gave me permission to analyze them (n=4).
I used these to flesh out my field notes and interview testimony with regard
to concert-going. I also used them as a reliability check against emic cate-
gories as they emerged from my grounded theory approach to data analysis
(Charmaz, 1994).
At the end of my study, I attempted to extrapolate more general expla-
nations regarding how young people recenter identity in the postmodern
milieu by collating the findings that have emerged from similar micro-level
studies. FollowingBurawoy (1998),I utilized the “extended case method,”
which allows researchers to explore broad historical patterns and macro-
structures while relinquishing neither the artfulness and understanding of
ethnography nor the analytical rigor of science. By linking my conclusions
about the identity formation processes of punks to those found in similar
youth subcultures, I attempted to gain insight into the broader ways in
which post-modernization has affected youth identity work.
FINDINGS: ECSTATIC RITUAL AS NEW
IDENTITY WORK
Dampening Self-Reflexivity Through the “Flow” of the ConcertIn the course of embedding myself in Southeastern City’s punk scene, I
found that my subjects constructed and confirmed their identities by
172 PHILIP LEWIN