Graffiti Subculture

This book is the most extensive contribution to our understanding of the graffiti subculture to date. Using insights from ethnographic research conducted in London and New York, this book explores the varying ways young men use graffiti to construct masculinity, claim power, and establish independence from the institutions which define, and often limit, them as young people. Forging a link between subcultural practice and identity construction, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in new understandings of youth and their subcultures.

The writing is on the wall. Not many read it. Fewer try and understand it. But when you do it tells an important story. Important because it makes what is usually seen as senseless and mindless meaningful. Important because it tells us something different about society s favourite folk devil - the adolescent male. And important because it stops people judging the book by its cover. This is a book about graffiti, but it is really a story about the (male) young and the nameless and their search for respect, status and masculine identity at a time in life when this is often hard to find. Using insights from ethnographic research with illegal graffiti writers in London and New York, this book provides essential reading for anyone interested in new understandings of youth and their subcultures.

'Subcultures may come and go, but graffiti has stuck around with no sell-by date in sight. In its lifecourse it has rarely been subjected to an analysis that is not only academically persuasive, but also wrapped in the walking, talking, painting actions of graffiti coda. This book offers a fascinating portal into the mind of the graffiti writer.' (Ephraim Webber, Editor of Graphotism Magazine

Nancy Macdonald has lived and worked in London and New York. She currently resides in London where she works as a youth consultant in a brand development company. This book is based on her PhD thesis, which she completed at Brunel University.