Episode 15 takes an in-depth look at rave culture in Britain and its relevance to sociology. Ben from allsociology examines what 'rave' really means, charts how the culture developed (and explains why it's more than a youth subculture) and analyses how an act of law from 1994 changed everything.

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In studying rave from a sociological angle, Ben draws links between the movement and Durkheim's study on Totemism; postmodern ideas about globalisation and the networked society; and attempts to explain the more recent resurgence of rave in 'lockdown Britain' by adopting and adapting Merton's Strain Theory.

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After the podcast introduction the podcast is split into 5 main chapters:

1. Definitions of rave (06:30 - 15:00)

2. The history and development of rave culture (15:01 - 20:00)

3. Raves, the law and the Public Order and Criminal Justice Act (20:01 - 36:50)

4. A rave resurgence? (36:51 - 45:21)

5. Applying Strain Theory to raving in lockdown Britain (45:50 - 51:14)

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You can listen to the soundtrack to accompany this episode by going to bit.ly/allsociologygoesraving or by searching 'allsociology' on spotify.

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Edits and corrections: V1: I know I referred to the Rowland synthesiser as coming out in 1992. I meant to say 1982.

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