Subcultures

Crawford, G

Abstract

The term ‘subculture’ is often used to refer to any loosely identifiable, most often youth, group that appears to share some kind of common culture, such as music or pop culture tastes or fashion choices, which is in some way different to what would commonly be deemed ‘mainstream’ culture. However, its meaning in academic theory has, at least originally, much more specific origins and meanings, which most commonly see subcultures as a working class (and most commonly youth) reaction to their disempowerment. This is a concept, which in recent years, many theorists have attempted to move beyond, arguing that this no longer adequately described the more fluid nature of contemporary social groupings. However, equally, some have argued that some contemporary cultural groupings still demonstrate the relatively stability and ‘substance’ of subcultures, and that therefore this still remains a useful and valid concept.

Citation

Crawford, G. (2017). Subcultures. In B. Turner (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Social Theory. London: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118430873.est0767

• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2017
• Publication Date: Dec 4, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2016
• Book Title: The Encyclopedia of Social Theory
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118430873.est0767
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781118430873.est0767
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781118430873