Straight Edge: Clean-Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, And Social Change [Paperback]

Ross Haenfler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2006

"In this, the first major scholarly study of the Straight Edge phenomenon, Ross Haenfler puts forth a richly compelling and very personal narrative, expertly applying his sociological training as he moves effortlessly between insider and outsider perspectives." Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology, SUNY at Stony Brook, and author of Manhood in America: A Cultural History

"Haenfler's well-grounded study of straight edgers uncovers the complexities and contradictions of a fascinating lifestyle movement and renders them understandable to all." Rob Benford, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Straight edge is a clean living youth movement that emerged from the punk rock subculture in the early 1980s. Its basic tenets promote a drug-free, tobacco-free, and sexually responsible lifestyle tenets that, on the surface, seem counter to those typical of teenage rebellion. For many straight-edge kids, however, being clean and sober was (and still is) the ultimate expression of resistance - resistance to the consumerist and self-indulgent ethos that defines mainstream U.S. culture.

In this first in-depth sociological analysis of the movement, Ross Haenfler follows the lives of dozens of straight-edge youths, showing how for these young men and women, and thousands of others worldwide, the adoption of the straight-edge doctrine as a way to better themselves evolved into a broader mission to improve the world in which they live. Although the original definition of straight edge focused only on the rejection of mind-altering substances and promiscuous sex, modern interpretations include a vegetarian (or vegan) diet and an increasing involvement in environmental and political issues.

The narrative moves seamlessly between the author's personal experiences and theoretical concerns, including how members of subcultures define 'resistance', the role of collective identity in social movements, how young men experience multiple masculinities in their quest to redefine manhood, and how young women establish their roles in subcultures. More than a unique window into one youth movement, this book provides fresh perspectives on the meaning of resistance and identity in any subculture.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

…This text successfully captures the contradictions within straight-edge and provides an invaluable addition to current debates on youth subcultures and movements. Highly recommended. --Choice

About the Author

Ross Haenfler is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (June 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813538521
• ISBN-13: 978-0813538525
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly intelligent ethnography, November 1, 2006

By 

Molly (Mill Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight Edge: Clean-Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, And Social Change (Paperback)

I just finished reading this and I want to convey how impressed I am with this author. Not only does he talk about straight edge from a personal/biographical viewpoint, he incorporates direct quotes from other individuals in the scene, especially the Denver sXe scene, into his very well organized book. Moreover, he doesn't just leave his findings un-analyzed. Haenfler looks at the inherent contradictions in straight edge in light of gender roles, militant vs. positive straight edgers, and more. He really looks at straight edge in relation to what other ethographers and sociologists have said about subcultures and other non-mainstream movements, including punk, teeny-boppers, and skin heads, to name a few of the comparisons. As I said in the title of this review, this is truly an intelligent and complete ethnography; Haenfler looks at straight edge from so many social and cultural angles, really getting to the core of the movement, while still exploring the implications of the widespread variation amongst straight edgers. I'm really hoping to be able to use this book for a writing seminar I'm in at the moment...how cool would that be?

On a more personal note, this book solidified my pledge to being straight edge and really made me feel proud of that decision. Haenfler mostly discusses straight edgers in the hardcore music scenes in Denver, NY, and Boston, but I've never been a member of any real straight edge "scene." It's got to be easier for straight edge kids who have a support group to keep them on track, but I've never really had that. Reading this book made me realize that I've come to the same sort of progressive conclusions about life, society, and politics that other scene-straight edgers have, but all on my own. So in that sense, this book really connected me to the global straight edge movement.

Haenfler also provides a good historical analysis of straight edge as well by discussing in relative detail the music that was and is so essential to the scene. He gives a well-balanced and well-intermingled look at straight edge hardcore music as well as the other social implications of straight edge. He clearly knows a lot about the music too.

Thanks to Ross Haenfler for writing this book. Seriously, it is so frickin good. And it made me feel so good about the world. Sweet deal.

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No Thanks (not just a UC song anymore!), October 31, 2007

By 

Fruit Punch (an ivory tower) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight Edge: Clean-Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, And Social Change (Paperback)

I was stoked on this book when I first heard about it, but having read it over the summer I can safely say that I'd not recommend it to anyone. It fails both in its depiction of the straight edge scene and as an academic text.

If you want to read a book that attempts to analyze straight edge by trying to fit it into the contours of some pretty dubious social theory be my guest, but since the author doesn't offer ANY ARGUMENTS for the social theory (which is basically just cribbed from standard sources...Judith Butler...seriously?...this is the kind of thing that makes Choke cry) part I have no reason to believe any of it is true.

The author makes large scale social constructivist assumptions about masculinity/femininity but doesn't really attempt to justify or provide reasons for his theoretical apparatus, he just lists some sources.

Maybe they don't demand rigorous argumentation in sociology departments or maybe there's something I'm missing, but it seems like the author's expectation was that readers would share some common set of theoretical underpinnings thus making the need to argue for his theoretical apparatus beside the point.

The end result of all this is this: we learn that straight edge boys are generally "progressive" young men who need to be a little nicer to the girls. If we just made more "protected space" for them at shows they'd be there in droves waiting in line to join us in a rousing chorus of cumbayah.

On the more general SEHC history/exegesis, dude basically shows his true colors. He grew up in South Dakota and didn't go to many shows. He didn't really get involved in HC on a serious level until after he was in grad school in the mid 90s. Even then it was in Colorado, which we all know is not exactly a paradigmatic representation of what's generally been a very coastal phenomena. So we get a history lesson from a dude who spent his formative years listening to STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART and the rest of his time in a relatively small, isolated, young scene.

Beyond that, there's a lot of quotations culled from an interview with officially retired homosexual activist Duncan Barlow (the names are changed but it's pretty clear who's who in some cases) who manages to make clear in print just how much of a pretentious prick he can be. Anyone who has doubts about whether he should have been punched by Marc Porter should peruse some of the pedantic b.s. Duncan cooks up for this interview.

All of this suggests that he may not've been in the best position to offer insight into straight edge as a general phenomena. Imagine a guy attempting to write a social history of baseball who grew up in Japan and visited the US for a week a few years ago. I think you'd get a similar effect.


As both a straight edge kid and an academic this book struck me as a disaster.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pass on this one, March 14, 2008

By 

Aurora (new jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Straight Edge: Clean-Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, And Social Change (Paperback)

I can't tell you how disappointed I was in this book. Being straightedge for 11 years, I was initially excited that someone had finally written an academic book on the subject. This book however, not only falls terribly short of anything that could remotely be called academic (not well written at all), it also fails to really look at straightedge in an in depth way. From discussing fashion trends to dancing/moshing styles, the book strays into irrelevancy over and over again. I would have loved to read some intelligent quotes from "scenesters" as well instead of the usual "how can I trust a sellout" and "true till death" stuff you can hear at any hardcore show.

As a woman, I especially found the chapter on women within straightedge to be awful. Instead of attempting to examine the role of women in shaping the local/national scene or discussing those women who've been in the forefront, the author talks about "coatracks" and girls attending shows just to find favor with the men.

Thumbs down.