club culture

Club culture encompasses the social world surrounding nightclubs, dance music, and late-night venues—the music, fashion, drugs, and rituals that define the scene.

It emerged prominently in the 1980s and 90s with house, techno, and rave movements: The book explores British club culture in the Thatcher era.

The term suggests something more cohesive than just going out dancing—a shared identity, aesthetic sensibility, and often a relationship with substances like MDMA.