Thursday, 23 November 2017

The Mods: Rocking All Over he Country.

Born out of the smoke of the East End of London the Mods, short for modernists, were a largely working-class subculture who emerged in seaside towns mainly in the southeast of England. Known for their dress sense, derived from Italian and French influences, their love of jazz and soul music and their iconic Vespa scooters, this youth movement was made even more famous for there ferocious, amphetamine fueled, clashes with the “Rockers” a juxtaposing subculture, in seaside towns such as Brighton and Margate.

The Mod’s were hugely constructed by the era they were born from. The post war economic boom and easy access to credit allowed these young people to purchase expensive continental clothing and scooters, of which generations prior would most definitely not be able to afford.


This new identify allowed these working class subcultures to escape the harsh realities of the lives they lived. The more liberal attitude of the sixties gave these young people the ability to explore who they were, unlike their parents who more then likely was taking up war time responsibilities and conforming to the social norms of society.  They were able to express themselves, not only as individuals but as a social movement of people. It allowed for the breakaway from the “boring” lives they experienced in London, to become celebrities due to the mass media attention many of the Mods received as a result of their fights with the Rockers[2].

The “Mod epidemic” fit the description of Stanley Cohen’s idea of a moral panic. The fighting depicted by the mass media of which described the Mods as “Scum, hoodlums and vermin”[3] created huge resentment by the public towards them. The fighting, drug taking and unconventional fashion caused huge anxiety and fear with wider society, of who’s highly conservative attitudes towards young people, mainly as a result of their upbringing during World War II, would have created direct hostility towards the actions of these now deemed “folk devils”.

Were the Mod’s really that bad? Arguably, fighting in front of families whilst high on amphetamines is not the best way to create a positive view on yourself as a group of people. However, that was the beauty of this subculture, they simply didn’t want to conform. They wanted to break away from convention and join those from a likeminded background, who also wanted to an end to the monotonous life of a working class Londoner.







[1] https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/130/590x/17f32mods1-476488.jpg
[2] Jobling, Paul and David Crowley, Graphic Design: Reproduction and Representation Since 1800(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996) ISBN 0-7190-4467-7ISBN 978-0-7190-4467-0, p. 213
[3] Cohen, Stanley (2002). Folk devils and moral panics: the creation of the Mods and Rockers. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415267120.

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