When you think of skinhead gangs in London, it is impossible not to conjure up images of shaved heads and heavy Doc Martin boots that accompany a particularly racist form of violence without respect for the authoritarian structures of the state. However, did these gangs begin with such a clear idea of ​​their purpose? Were they aware that their daily activities would become a “subculture” alongside the Mods and Rockers? In his essay entitled “The Skinheads and the Magical Recovery of Community”, John Clarke argues that skinheadism is about the recovery of a community in working-class neighborhoods where this feeling had been lost due to various changes in socio-economic conditions. He says that their feeling of exclusion "produced a return to a heightened consciousness of 'We-Them'" (Clarke, 99). Although the realization of this distinction plays an important role in the formation of any subculture, the Us-Them discourse turns out to be much more complicated in the case of skinhead gangs, and the space that these groups occupy in relation to the outside world changes. not have such clear boundaries. Looking at three different representations of Skinhead culture: the novel A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess, the non-fiction work The Paint House (1972) by the Collinwood gang, and the film Scum (1979) directed by Alan Clarke, the evolution of this space over time becomes clear. This change occurs both in how gangs define themselves and see themselves, and in how mainstream society deals with the problem of violence in “Modern Youth” (Burgess, 41). Ironically, the skinhead style began as a way for these working-class youth to feel dignified and was in direct opposition to the trend of other youth, such as hippies, ... middle of paper ... yes, "The people who will read it will be these student Marxists and the like who will contact us to join them in the fight against the establishment” (110) There is certainly an ambivalence in giving mainstream society literary access to the space occupied by skinheads another way in which the boundary between Us and Them is violated. Perhaps the sheer violence, language and overall controversial nature of these works are in themselves a kind of boundary maintenance, only letting in those who feel a certain affinity with their World Works Cited Clarke, John. “Skinheads and the Magical Recovery of Community.” Ed. by Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson. The Paint House: by and East End Gang. Middlesex, English: Penguin, 1972.Scum. Dir. Alan Clarke. GTO, 1979.