Piia Varis

The 21st-century hipster: On micro-populations in times of superdiversity

Through a critical review of existing literature on hipsters, and an analysis of online data, this article provides a description of ‘hipster culture’. To this end, we examine the reoccurring markers of hipster identity and, crucially, the accompanying identity discourses on hipsters. As a result, a picture of hipster culture emerges as a translocal and layered phenomenon with contextually specific claims to authenticity, and certain material infrastructures and effects emerge with the culture. Finally, we will propose the concept of ‘micro-population’ as a tool for making sense not only of hipsters, but identity in general in times of superdiversity.

Culture as accent: The cultural logic of hijabistas

Abstract This paper shows how we manufacture authenticity by blending a variety of semiotic resources, some of which are sufficient (“enough”) to produce a particular targeted authentic identity, and consequently enable others to identify us as “authentic” members of social groups within different “micro-hegemonies.” In contexts of rapid sociocultural change (for instance in the case of migration in the present-day superdiverse conjuncture), we can expect enoughness to gain increasing importance as a critical tool for identity work. We propose the framework outlined here will enable us to engage with the complexities of contemporary identity practices and the complex field of authenticity.

Homing blogs as ambivalent spaces for feminine agency

Abstract This article discusses a form of lifestyle blogging where women blog about their homes and everyday lives. In these homing blogs, self-representations are characteristically spatially demarcated within the private sphere of the home. As these repeated representations of women in their homes take place in the public space of the internet, homing blogs work towards naturalizing the home as a women’s sphere. Written and commented on mostly by other women, homing blogs represent a feminine form of self-expression and communication that functions as a discursive expression of ongoing social, economic, and cultural changes in affluent Western societies. In this article, Finnish versions of these homing blogs are analysed in the cultural and political context of contemporary Finland, and discussed as a form of intimate publics that reverses the gender politics of other historical, semi-public spaces for the exercise of women’s agency, such as the salon.