About

I work as a sociologist, researcher, writer and music critic. I am an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck College, an associate lecturer for the Open University and the convenor of New Jewish Thought.

I’ve written on a variety of topics, including: Judaism; music scenes; heavy metal; transgression; Israel; communities; dialogue; religion; ethnicity; political discourse; denial.

I am available for freelance writing assignments and for research [...]

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Books

Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge

Berg Publishers, December 2006

Extreme Metal Cover

Extreme metal–one step beyond heavy metal–can appear bizarre or terrifying to the uninitiated. Extreme metal musicians have developed an often impenetrable sound that teeters on the edge of screaming, incomprehensible noise. Extreme metal circulates on the edge of mainstream culture within the confines of an obscure ’scene’, in which members explore dangerous themes such as death, war and the occult, sometimes embracing violence, neo-fascism and Satanism.

In the first book-length study of extreme metal, Keith Kahn-Harris draws on first-hand research to explore the global extreme metal scene. He shows how the scene is a space in which members creatively explore destructive themes, but also a space in which members experience the everyday pleasures of community and friendship.

Including interviews with band members and fans, from countries ranging from the UK and US to Israel and Sweden, Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge demonstrates the power and subtlety of an often surprising and misunderstood musical form.

Reviews of ‘Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge’

[NB: if you know of any more then please get in touch]

Circle of Destruction, February 2009

Journal of Popular Music Studies, Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 194–207

Popular Music,Volume 27, Issue 2, May 2008, Pages 338-9

Nordicum- Mediterraneum, Vol 3, No 1, March 2008

Xtrememusic.org 2008

Zombiegirlsonline 2008

Metal Injection 11th July 2007

Decibel Magazine (US) July 2007

Times Higher Education Supplement March 16th 2007

Copyright Volume! 5/2 2006 [in French]

After Subculture: Critical Studies in Contemporary Youth Culture

Edited by Andy Bennett and Keith Kahn-Harris
Palgrave Macmillan, May 2004
After Subculture cover
The concept of ’subculture’ has long been of significant importance in research on youth, style, deviance and popular culture. Although in more recent years subculture has been the subject of sustained critique, it still provides a valuable point of reference for study and research. This text offers students an up-to-date and wide-ranging account of new developments in youth culture research that reject, refine or reinvent the concept of subculture. Bringing together key theoretical statements with illuminating analyzes of particular aspects of youth culture – popular music, clubbing, body modification, the internet, etc. – this is an ideal introduction to a diverse and wide-ranging field.

New Voices in Jewish Thought: Volume 2

Edited by Keith Harris (my maiden name!)
Limmud Publications, 1999
new voices in jewish thought
The five essays in this book represent highly creative attempts to deal with the problematics of contemporary diaspora Jewish identity, including the need to deepen an understanding of new trends in Israeli society. – Dr Jonathan Webber