Marginalization from Within: Expanding Co-cultural Theory Through the Experience of the Afro Punk

Abstract

Co-cultural theory serves as an analytical framework that looks at culture as an uneven site of communicative relations. One of its central assumptions is that societies are structured in hierarchical terms. This creates a dominant position for certain cultural groups while other groups are marginalized. In this article, the author examines the possibility of applying co-cultural theory to co-cultural groups that are marginalized in a larger co-cultural context. The author uses the documentary Afro Punk as a case study that underlines the importance of examining the multi-leveled power determinations that complicate our understanding of co-cultural communication.