The essay assignment requires students to choose a topic, conduct academic research and produce a research essay satisfying the requirements listed below.
Keywords: youth culture, folk devils and moral panics, subcultures, power,
popular culture, the mainstream, power, social conflict theory, branding,
nostalgia
Informally speaking, the bibliography often separates students who enjoy
the challenge of researching and producing a critical essay from students who see the course as “just an elective” and simply find whatever sources are
most easily located and use them once or twice. Be the former, spend a bit of time on university libraries and/or Google Scholar, or a similar academic research site and locate helpful sources: there is NO shortage of sources applicable to each topic listed. Lastly, I mark your essay objectively and optimistically: if you take the assignment seriously, ensure you follow every instruction, and produce a well-written essay that communicates to me critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, a competent use and inclusion of your bibliography, and finally, a desire to examine the topic while including course content, you will do just fine.
the topic of your choice from a sociological perspective in which you
examine the central issues you see as most pertinent. Avoid first-person,
flowery celebrations and the phrase “I think.”
You are writing a critical essay that examines the sociology of sport.
This reflection introduces the ideas and direction of my essay topic: The Evolution of ‘Mid-90s’ (2018) Youth Subcultures: From Folk Devils to Cultural Icons – A Social Conflict Theory Perspective.
Through the lens of social conflict theory, this essay will look at the development of marginalized subcultures like skateboarding, hip-hop, and alternative youth cultures as they are portrayed in the movie ‘Mid-90s’ (2018). More specifically, my essay on the transformation of these subcultures will look at the following aspects: the demonization of youth movements as folk devils, their subsequent romanticization and commodification into cultural icons in modern culture, and the underlying power dynamics and societal conflicts inherent in the construction and representation of popular culture. This is because social conflict theory views societal conflicts and power struggles as central to understanding cultural phenomena. Essentially, I will be delving into how, in the mid-1990s, as depicted in the 2018 film ‘Mid-90s’, rebellious adolescent subcultures were perceived as major threats to society. In the 1990s, the media and society were agitated, portraying these groups as troublemakers and deviants, causing widespread moral panics. However, fast forward to today and these same subcultures have become cultural icons of defiance and authenticity. They seem to have gone from being demonized to being praised. Using SCT to look into the power struggles and tensions that exist behind the scenes, I will explore why that shift happened, understand how society’s perceptions of these deviant subcultures have changed over time, and what that says about society as a whole.