Dr. Andrew Whelan

PhD Sociology (2007, Trinity College, Dublin); BA (Hons) Politics, Philosophy and Economics (2001, Somerville College, Oxford); Dip HE Sociology (1997, Ruskin College, Oxford)

Office: 19:2010
Phone: 61 2 4221 4819
Email: awhelan@uow.edu.au

Teaching

SOC 104 Communication, Media and Society
SOC 203 Introduction to Social Theory
SOC 206 Youth Cultures
SOC 250 Everyday Interaction
SOC 345 Scenes, Subcultures and Neo-Tribes

Research Profile

Searchable RIS Publications database >>

Research Areas

Music subcultures (electronic musics, death metal, noise), youth subcultures and language practices, online interaction, ethnomethodology, social theory.

Current research project

Negotiating subcultural identities 

This URC Small project looks at the histories of a number of independent Australian music scenes (such as electronic dance music and heavy metal) with the aim of exploring how participants negotiate identity both within the subculture and in relation to broader categories such as gender, age, sexuality and ethnicity.  

Recent publications

• Whelan, Andrew. 2010. “Free music and trash culture: the reconfiguration of musical value online.” What’s It Worth?: ‘Value’ and Popular Music, edited by Kirsten Zemke and Shelley Brunt.
• Whelan, Andrew. 2010. “‘Extreme’ music and graphic representation online.” Pp. 466-474 in Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society: Social Implications of Emerging Technologies, edited by Katina Michael.
• Whelan, Andrew. 2010. “Leeching Bataille: peer-to-peer Potlatch and the Acephalic Response.” In Juan Martín Prada, Antonio Lafuente, and Joaquín Borrego (eds.), 4th Inclusiva-net Meeting: P2P Networks and Processes. Madrid: Medialab Prado.
• Whelan, Andrew. 2009. “The ‘Amen’ Breakbeat as Fratriarchal Totem.” In Dichotonies: Essays on Gender and Music, edited by Beate Neumeier. Heidelberg: Winter Verlag.
• De Tona, Carla, and Andrew Whelan. 2009. “‘Re-mediating’ the ruptures of migration: the use of internet and mobile phones in migrant women’s organizations in Ireland.” Translocations 5 (http://www.translocations.ie/volume_5_issue_1/Vol_5_Issue_1_e.pdf).
• Whelan, Andrew. 2008. Breakcore: Identity and Interaction on Peer-to-Peer. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars.
• Whelan, Andrew. 2006. “Do U Produce?: Subcultural Capital and Amateur Musicianship in Peer-to-Peer Networks.” Pp. 57-81 in Cybersounds: Essays on Virtual Music Culture, edited by Michael Ayers. New York: Peter Lang.