A forgotten best-seller of the mid-1950s sheds light on youth culture and the potential of creative youth work. Continue reading
Category Archives: History
Remembering the Troubles: Documentary, History and Truth
Three documentaries about the conflict in Northern Ireland raise some interesting questions about how we represent history: I, Dolours (dir. Maurice Sweeney, 2018); The Miami Showband Massacre (Stuart Sender, 2019); and The Ballymurphy Precedent (Callum Macrae, 2018).
The sixties started here: revisiting ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’
The relationship between pop music, youth culture and television has often been an uneasy one. Here’s a critical look back at one of the most fondly-remembered British pop shows, sixty years since it first appeared.
Education policy and the ‘war on woke’
In the past few years, education has become one of the key fronts in the so-called ‘culture wars’. It’s a development that is likely to prove extremely damaging for teachers and students.
A suburban scene: youth and music in sixties London
In the late 1950s and 1960s, the south-west London suburbs of Richmond and Twickenham were a hotbed for innovation in popular music. What can the history of this very local music scene tell us about youth culture more broadly?
Teaching Culture: The Missionary Position
The attempt to civilize the uncultured masses is coming back into style. I look back to the Leavisite approach to popular culture, and its place in the history of English teaching.
Revisiting ‘Popular Culture and Personal Responsibility’
Revisiting a key moment in the early history of media education in the UK, and its legacy in print..
Decolonising the curriculum… again?
The call to ‘decolonise the curriculum’ isn’t new. But why does it seem that so little progress been made?
Revisiting youth subcultures
Looking back at Dick Hebdige’s classic book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, on the anniversary of its first publication forty years ago.
Introducing ‘Growing Up Modern’
Announcing my new writing project Growing Up Modern: Childhood, Youth and Popular Culture Since 1945.
David Buckingham 