The feral subculture is a counter-cultural

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

originating in the latter part of the 20th century, mainly centred in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The movement reached its heyday in the mid 1990s, in parallel with other similar movements in Europe and elsewhere. In common with those movements, the feral phenomenon can be seen as part of the wider

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. In Australia, the ferals are often seen as an amalgam of the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

subcultures, with a radical environmental philosophy. The movement, during the 1990s, was the subject of national attention,Murray ibid; and W Gibbs, "Feral Aussie families: they live in trees and eat wattle seeds", ''Woman’s Day'', 13 February 1995, pp 12-13. and as a phenomenon has been the subject of anthropological attention as a characteristically Australian "

alternative lifestyle An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle perceived to be outside the norm for a given culture. The phrase "alternative lifestyle" is often used pejoratively. Description of a related set of activities as alternative is a defining aspect of certain ...

". ''Going Tribal'', a documentary by Light Source Films, examined the subculture in 1995. The feral movement is strongly associated with

radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...

and a communal lifestyle, with many members residing on multiple occupancy properties. In common with the

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

before them, many members of the feral movement rely on a system of crash pads,

squats Squat, squatter or squatting may refer to: Body position * Squatting position, a sitting position where one's knees are folded with heels touching one's buttocks or back of the thighs * Squat (exercise), a lower-body exercise in strength and co ...

, and extended networks of "friends of friends" throughout Australia to travel with a minimum of financial outlay. Although the itinerant lifestyle and environmental beliefs most associated with the feral movement are akin to those of the earlier hippie movement, the ferals adopted a confrontational, politically charged style of dress, music, and philosophy more often associated with the punk movement.

References

External links

St John, G Dr. 2000, ''Alternative Cultural Heterotopia:ConFest as Australia's Marginal Centre'', School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

St John, G. 1999. Ferality: A Life of Grime. The UTS Review - Cultural Studies and New Writing, 5(2): 101-13.

St John G. ''Ferals: Terra-ism and Radical Ecologism in Australia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feral (Subculture) Pejorative terms for people Social class subcultures Counterculture Australian fringe and underground culture Australian English Communalism Australian youth culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links