COUNTERCULTURES, innovation, and Rebellion & Review

Crime plays a useful role in social evolution -Durkheim “Where crime exists, collective sentiments are sufficiently flexible to take on a new form, and crime sometimes helps determine the form they will take” Socrates’ crime, independence of thought, provided a service not only to humanity but to his country, preparing the ground for a new morality & faith in Athens, since traditions were no longer in harmony with current conditions his violation was a crime, but it was useful as a prelude to necessary reforms [Durkheim, “The Normal and the Pathological,” reader, p. 93]

Crime may be a prelude to necessary reform It would never have been possible to establish the freedom of thought we now enjoy if the regulations prohibiting it had not been violated before being solemnly abrogated. At that time, however, the violation was a crime, since it was an offense against sentiments still very keen in the average conscience. And yet this crime was useful as a prelude to reforms which daily became more necessary. (Durkheim, p. 93)

decriminalization Decriminalization is the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts, perhaps retroactively, though perhaps regulated permits or fines might still apply. The reverse process is criminalization. Decriminalization reflects changing social and moral views. A society may come to the view that an act is not harmful, should no longer be criminalized, or is otherwise not a matter to be addressed by the criminal justice system. Examples of subject matter which have been the subject of changing views on criminality over time in various societies and countries include: abortion breastfeeding in public drug possession, and recreational drug use euthanasia homosexuality prostitution public nudity steroid use in sport While decriminalized acts are no longer crimes, they may still be the subject of penalties; for example a monetary fine in place of a criminal charge for the possession of a decriminalized drug. This should be contrasted with legalization, which removes all or most legal detriments from a previously illegal act.

Subcultures & COUNTERCULTUREs “Subculture” refers to a subgroup or subset of a larger “culture” that shares a distinctive set of norms and values “Subcultural theory” emerged in the work of the Chicago School, which focused on urban social problems like crime and violence “Culture of poverty” theory is an example of a subcultural theory Such theories have been applied to all kinds of deviance A counterculture is kind of subculture, but one whose norms and values consciously run counter to the main culture, or at least aspire to Tom Frank (Why Johnny Can’t Dissent?) suggests that counterculture in the US is trapped in a 1960s style of dissent, forever resisting a 1950s model of conformity, which pretty much renders it impotent and irrelevant

innovative forms of political activism “citizen journalism,” independent, grassroots media that avoid corporate control (blogging, posting videos on youtube) culture jamming, brand bombing, and other media-savvy tactics of the anticonsumerist movement hacktivism using information/communication technology to promote and support whistleblowing in new ways

hacktivism hacktivism: the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends promoting a political agenda by hacking, especially by defacing or disabling websites hacktivists use the same tools and techniques as hackers, but do so in order to disrupt services and bring attention to a political or social cause e.g., “Anonymous,” which employs DDoS attacks distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack: attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DDoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts of individuals to prevent an internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely.

whistleblowing whistleblower: a person who tells the public or s/o in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in an organization (gov’t or corporation) alleged misconduct may be classified as a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest, such as fraud, health/safety violations, and corruption Daniel Ellsberg, US military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 (an act credited with turning public sentiment against the Vietnam War), is now widely praised for whistleblowing, tho he was called “the most dangerous man in America” at the time US PFC Bradley Manning, who allegedly leaked classified gov’t docs to WikiLeaks, is considered a whistleblower by his supporters Interestingly, prior to CableGate the NYT described WikiLeaks as a “whistle-blowing Web site” (as did most major news outlets); but they no longer use that description.

Pandemonium! Apple Store's Opening In Grand Central Terminal (12/9/11)

“Are you a mac person or a pc person?” Brand = Product + Identity In a marketplace where it's so easy to produce products, you need to have something else: added value the added value is the identity, the idea behind your brand So brands started selling a kind of pseudo-spirituality -- a sense of belonging, a community Brands started filling a gap that citizens, not just consumers, used to get elsewhere, from religion or from a sense of belonging in their community

Brand bombing Brand bombing is a kind of culture jam focused specifically on attack brand image Brands add value, but depend on image & reputation for success – making them vulnerable to brand bombing A satirical tweet on MasterCard’s promo line appearing in response to MasterCard’s refusal to process transactions for WikiLeaks: “Freedom of speech? Priceless. For everything else, there’s MasterCard”

“Why Johnny Can’t Dissent,” (T. Frank, 1997) The Baffler The nation has entered a new hyperconsumerism ever-accelerating style and attitude fuel ever more rapidly churning cycles of obsolescence the mall has long since replaced the office or the factory at the center of American life citizens are referred to as consumers buying things is now believed to provide the sort of existential satisfaction that things like, say, going to church once did consumerism: a social and economic order based on fostering a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts in the belief that it promotes satisfaction

Commodification of dissent Business culture has taken over American culture…and now maybe global culture Business has assumed near-absolute cultural power Consumerism is no longer about “conformity” but about “difference” It’s absorbed the “countercultural idea,” which has become the official aesthetic of consumer society “The imperative of endless difference, not dreaded conformity, is the genius at the heart of American capitalism, the eternal fleeing from ‘sameness’ that gives us a thirst for the New” and satisfies it with infinite brands

“DISSENT COMMODIFIED” (t. Frank, 8/19/2009) On 40th anniversary of Woodstock: “Perhaps this coming together of peace, love and accumulation brought a curse to the lips of Woodstock's earnest memorialists. For me, it was a reminder of how seamlessly counterculture and business culture have meshed; how neatly '60s cultural radicalism fit into structures it was supposedly against.” “The reason our advertising people and management theorists love it is because it was in many ways so utterly superficial.” “After all, if the essential problem with our civilization is conformity, it is an easy problem to solve. It merely requires that new and more authentic products appear all the time and that old products to be showered with scorn, cultural operations that consumer society performs incredibly well.”

Broken windows The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior Posits that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism as well as an escalation into more serious crime Introduced in a 1982 article by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling Subject to great debate Theory has motivated several reforms in criminal policy, e.g., “zero tolerance” policing

Moral hazard moral hazard: lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected from its consequences, e.g., by insurance by bail-outs and/or expectations of bail-outs moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not suffer the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore tends to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions, e.g., a person with insurance against car theft may be less cautious about locking his or her car, because the negative consequences of vehicle theft are (partially) the responsibility of the insurance company

Labeling theory labeling theory assumes that the public labeling, or branding, as deviant, has adverse consequences for further social participation and self-image the most important drastic change is in public identity, which is a crucial step towards building a long-term deviant career the criminal process itself encourages criminal careers, as contact with the system, results in a deviant label, which is then internalized and acted out