Rockin’ the Borders: Rock Music and Social, Cultural and Political Change

Rock music challenges hegemonic orders based on class, gender, nation, ethnicity/race or generation. This volume investigates how rock has played an integral part in the formation of identities and life-styles since the 1950"s. Rock music is used as a wide concept, including different genres, e.g. rock "n" roll, pop, punk, hip hop and blues.

Unlike most other books on rock music, this volume focuses on how rock music becomes a part of everyday life and the formation of identities in a variety of European states such as England, Finland, Sweden and Wales, the USA, and also states that used to be on the other side of the Iron Curtain—such as GDR and Czechoslovakia. Thus, it includes a comparative perspective based on temporal as well as spatial aspects that further deepen the understanding of how rock music and society are intertwined.

Rockin" the Borders is an interdisciplinary volume; the authors represent a variety of backgrounds: History, Ethnology, Folklore, Sociology and Sociology of Music, thus presenting us with an interesting mix of theoretical perspectives and methods.