Tiffany Nguyen
Instructor: David J. Estrada
English 100
22 October 2013
First Draft
Theory has traditionally been approached from an objective orientation. We can trace a progression however throughout the 19th and 20th century in the apparent evolution of social scientific theory from objective through to more subjective approaches. The question remains though, does the theory accurately reflect change in society or does the 'perspective' of theory and theoretical approach of the researcher only tease out particular aspects of a social phenomenon. By holding the topic of subculture constant, social scientific theory can be put into question. This essay examines subcultures from the 1950's to the present in order to revisit assumptions about theory. The Punk subculture is examined specifically through semiotic analysis within a broader Sociological framework in order to find out what a more subjective approach to theory over this time period can reveal. In the past, subcultural theory described subcultures as fairly uniform and static. Theorists referred to the 1960's and 1970's within a Modern paradigm which objectivist in nature understood subculture as a problem to be fixed. Subcultural delinquency was seen as noise and as unnatural. More recent subcultural theory describes subcultures as transient, informal and hybrid. But subcultures have always been about’ youth, about times of economic uncertainty, employment pressures and reliant on class distinction (Van Krieken et al. 2006, pp517-518). Meanwhile, in Postmodern society we see the so called 'disappearance' of subcultures which have become dispersed and commoditized by a youth distracted by consumerism and media images (Muggleton2000, pp48-50). Subcultures are defined as subordinate to the dominant culture and as having alternate beliefs. The groups that rebel are often referred to as reflective