Pit of Equality: Syracuse Hardcore

Those of you who read York Staters regularly know that a few months ago, I published a post entitled "315 Hardcore-- Westcott Style," which detailed the prevalence of an underground music scene called 'hardcore' that thrives in Syracuse and across Upstate. What most readers did not know was that it was a compilation of my thoughts on my ongoing ethnographic research on the Syracuse Hardcore Scene (I'm a graduate student in anthropology at SU). Well, the first phases of the research are done and have been submitted to the proper authorities. In the meantime, however, I believe firmly in the sharing of academic research, both with the 'studied' people and with the public in general. Thus, as part of that duty to give back, I have placed my entire paper up for perusal and discussion by the general public.

Even if you're not an academic anthropologist (which I assume most of you aren't), it might be interesting to explore some of the underground music that boils all about you. I've tried to keep the theory and methodology to a minimum to keep it interesting and readable. Hopefully I've been able to do so without losing any of the research's explanatory ability. Please note that while this is a final copy of my research to date, it is only a primary look into this phenomenon that desrves far more time and attention. Well without further ado, here is

"Pit of Equality": The Framing of Oppositional Consciousness in the Syracuse Hardcore Music Scene

-by Jesse