coolness

Can You Dig It?
Some Reflections on the Sociological Problems Associated with Being Uncool
David Beer
University of York

Coolness is an elusive concept. This research note seeks to understand its place in the life of the sociologist. Reflecting on the recent experiences of the author, this piece focuses on the problems of studying music cultures where the interested researcher has become uncool. It begins by tracking this problem, with particular regard to the problems of identifying and studying the very aspects of culture that the researcher wishes to investigate, before suggesting how we might react where we think our uncoolness is a problem in our research. The note concludes with a discussion of the implications of these issues for sociology more generally.

Key Words: changing lifecourse • changing mediascapes • cool • cultural sociology • future of sociology • hipness • music culture

Sociology, Vol. 43, No. 6, 1151-1162 (2009)