Hebdige's 1979 book "" was written between 1977 and 1978 amid the unfolding of punk in the United Kingdom. Hebdige, in his mid-twenties at the time, had just graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Birmingham University’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS). At this time, the domain of cultural studies was just emerging. "Subculture" was commissioned by University of Cardiff English professor and editor, Terence Hawkes, as part of a series published by Methuen called "New Accents" (aimed at introducing theoretical and interpretive approaches to English literature students). The commission was an opportunity for Hebdige to continue graduate work on developing a contextual, culturalist model of youth culture and consumption. Specifically, linking the concerns of youth culture, consumption, and the politics of insubordination to debates within aesthetics, semiotics, and poststructuralism. Hebdige states that “the aspiration was to blur the line between specialized, discipline-embedded academic and intellectually curious subcultural, non-academic readerships.” The book serves as a mirror of bricolage subculture, with “do-it-yourself bricolaged theory for do-it-yourself bricolaged subculture.”