The Subculture of Male Unions as a Socio-Cultural Institution in Modern Societies

Abstract

At the present time, in the socio-cultural space, there are many communities and subcultural movements attractive to young people and aimed at young people. Subcultural diversity, which constitutes the integrity of society’s culture, acts as a space for the formation of identification models and an alternative to cultural unification, which is increasingly embracing the world.Diversity is a source of social development and, under the conditions of cardinal cultural and civilizational changes, requires scientific understanding to justify the instruments of its support, on the one hand. On the other hand, it needs the development of practical recommendations and a system of measures for effective interaction of the state with subcultural communities.Male unions have an important role and active development in the life of society and in the subcultural environment. Historically representing a fundamental socio-cultural element of social development, they occupied a social niche and began to play an essential role in society in the 21st century.It is relevant to study the role of male unions in modern society because of the following factors: 1) the institution of male unions of ancient tribes, with their initiation rites, has acquired a new form and content and still exists, 2) the experience of studying the role of male unions demonstrates that they are included in a complex system of social and spiritual ties and have made a significant contribution to the formation of certain structures of society, once becoming a prototype of the modern armed forces, 3) currently possessing a large network of interpersonal closed ties, including those at the international level, and a well-established collective identity, male unions influence the functioning of the social system and its cultural and spiritual content.The article aims to describe the subculture of male unions represented by motorcycle clubs, as well as to determine the methodological problems associated with the study of motorcycle subculture as a socio-cultural component of society.The novelty of the article is in the generalization of life regularities of modern male unions as traditional socio-cultural institutions. The emergence of such a phenomenon makes it important to study the possible prospects for male unions’ development, their role and place in society, and interaction with them.