'Northern Soul' in a Western Australian migrant community: Construction of meaning, identity and cultural literacy

This qualitative study of British migrants in the Northern Soul (NS) scene, based on 1960s/70s blackamerican music, involved participant observation and semi-structured interviews in Western Australia (WA) over four years. Findings were that agency and culture dialectically constitute each other and stability, flexibility, mobility, adaptability and lability exist within the scene. Practices allow cultural literacy to develop through secure cultural identity and group solidarity. Implications are that informal, convivial activities can underpin personal growth and cultural literacy; simultaneously stable and dynamic identities reduce multicultural tensions; and cultural practices can be researched through narrative, dramaturgical and thematic analysis.