"March of the Mods":

A lot of academic writing on Mod culture has focused on the Mods' emergence in London in the late 1950s and their cultural practices. And it has also dealt with the role of the tabloid papers in creating an unprecedented hysteria, when Mods and Rockers attacked each other at English seaside resorts on Easter and Whitsun 1964. The participants' opinions, however, have rarely been included. Since 1978/79 several countries have seen a Mod revival. It is therefore astonishing that only few more recent academic work has been interested in how the culture is lived today. Whereas these authors mainly concentrate on the description of local scenes, "March of the Mods" is different: it sheds light on what Mod means to its participants. Not only in its mother country, but also in other parts of Europe, the US and Japan as well as in some Asian and Latin American countries. It is the first study of its kind to show how the image of Mod has changed in the media throughout the last forty years. And how Mods make use of the media themselves - especially the Internet. "March of the Mods" is the result of Christiane Deibel's extensive research between 2005 and 2009 and is attached to the areas of English, cultural and media studies as well as computer mediated communication. Despite her insider status, the author manages to make a differentiated yet inspiring contribution to the discussion of subcultural formations in this highly readable book.

Illustrations

I Introduction

II The Emergence of Mod Culture

III Approach

1 Theoretical Approach

1.1 Alternatives to Subculture: A New Feather on the Same Old Hat?

2 Methodological Approach

2.1 Online Interaction

2.1.1 The Questionnaire

2.1.2 World Wide Contacts

2.1.3 My Personal Website

2.2 Personal Participation and Participant Observation

2.3 Analysis of the Media

2.4 Respect for my Informants

2.4.1 Protection of Personal Data

2.4.2 Language Barriers and Academic Conventions

IV Identity: Can You See the Real Me?

1 Identity Formation and the Question of Youth

2 Subcultural Identity: What's My Scene?

2.1 Collective Expressions of Individualism: I'm not Like Everybody Else

2.2 Status and Subcultural Capital: I'm the Face, Baby, Is that Clear?

2.2.1 Consumerism: I Take What I Want

2.2.2 Commitment and Subcultural Careers: I Was a Mod Before You Was a Mod

2.2.3 Authenticity: Punks in Parkas

2.3 Attitude

2.3.1 Themes and Values

2.3.2 Gender and Mod: Peacocks and Ugly Ducklings

2.4 Style

2.4.1 The Question of Style

2.4.2 Argot

2.4.3 Appearance/Looks

2.4.4 Music

2.4.5 Means of Transport: You Need Wheels

V A very British Phenomenon? Worldwide Mod: Internationalisation of a Subculture

1 On the Trail of the International Mod Scenes

2 It's a Mod Mod World

2.1 Great Britain

2.2 Ireland

2.3 Germany

2.4 Austria

2.5 Switzerland

2.6 France

2.7 Belgium

2.8 The Netherlands

2.9 Italy

2.10 Spain

2.11 Portugal

2.12 Greece

2.13 Denmark

2.14 Sweden

2.15 Norway

2.16 Finland

2.17 Poland

2.18 Russia and Belarus

2.19 United States

2.20 Canada

2.21 Mexico

2.22 Costa Rica

2.23 Colombia

2.24 Brazil

2.25 Argentine Republic

2.26 Chile

2.27 Australia

2.28 Indonesia

2.29 Malaysia

2.30 Republic of Singapore

2.31 Republic of the Philippines

2.32 Japan

3 The International Mod Scenes: Brit-Mod Clones?

3.1 Worldwide Mod Revisited

VI The Media

1 The Media on Mod

1.1 The 1960s

1.2 The 1980s

1.3 The 1990s

1.4 The 2000s

2 The Mods' Media

2.1 Print

2.1.1 Fanzines

2.1.2 Flyers

2.2 The World Wide Web

2.2.1 Social Network Services (SNS)

2.2.2 Forums

2.2.3 Blogs

2.2.4 Video Sharing Platforms

2.2.5 Radio On!

VII Conclusion

VIII Appendix

Appendix A

1 Survey Questions

Appendix B: Pictures

1 Photos

2 Flyers

3 Examples of Adapted Targets

4 Further Illustrations

Appendix C: Summary in German

IX Bibliography