ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on the long-term football hooligan memoirs research project which demonstrated that both subcultural and post-subcultural studies are outdated and flawed. It shows how a new perspective, based on a critical use of the work of theorists like Paul Virilio and Jean Baudrillard as well as Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek, key components of what the author calls as 'theoretical times', can rectify these problems, and create a more appropriate approach for the claustropolitan future. The mid-1970s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) 'Birmingham school' work on subcultures spawned a global cultural industry, including the author's own 'Manchester school' at the Manchester Institute for Popular Culture (MIPC) which the author co-created in the 1990s with the CCCS template in mind. In the last few years, the term 'physical cultural studies' (PCS) has begun to be used for areas once designated as the sociology of sport and leisure studies.
