YOUTH SUBCULTURES

Cultural critics often focus on the significance of class in the study of subcultures.

Some concepts related to the formation of youth subcultures are as follows: Identity Commitment Distinctiveness Autonomy

Organic movements (relatively permanent) Conjunctural (transitory)

Cultures are differently ranked, and stand in opposition to one another, in relations of domination and subordination – cultural power. The culture that has material power has ideological power (Gramsci).

Sub-cultures are sub-sets – smaller, more localised and differentiated structures, within one or another of the larger cultural networks. The culture from which the subculture originates is called the «parent» culture. The middle class is the parent culture of the bohemian subculture.

Youth subcultures have a significant place in cultural life. Youth subcultures possess some features of their parent class culture, but they tend to rebel against the values, norms, etc. of both their parent culture and the dominant culture.

TEDDY BOYS

Ted is short for Edward. Teddy Boys emerged in the early 1950s. the Teddy Boy in the early 1950s coincided with the expansion of employment and a general rise in affluence but Teddy Boys were excluded from this. Their clothing style of the middle class Edwardian ‘Dandy’ jacket was an attempt to show their contempt for the class system by copying the style of their so-called ‘superiors’.

MODS AND ROCKERS The two main youth subcultures in the mid-60s. Mods – short for modern. Rejection of the old-fashioned British culture Rockers – rebellious, aggressive

HIPPIES AND SKINHEADS Hippies – were influenced by the American beat poets in New York (Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac). They were against war. They were environmentalists. They were generally from middle classes.

Skinhead culture was created by the working class community Skinhead culture was created by the working class community. Influenced by the subcultures of West Indian (Jamaican) rude boys, the first skinheads emerged in the 1960s. They lived in economically depressed areas. They were identified with their shaved heads, tattos, high boots, and Ben Sherman shirts. The movement was initially non-political. The old skinheads were keen on music, but the 70s skinheads showed an aggressive resistance to elements (such as immigrants) that were considered a threat to the working class identity.

The skinheads in the 70s became associated with violence and racism.