Youth Subcultures and their Cultural Contexts

Abstract

This article sets out to distinguish two specific types of youth subculture. In the process I argue for the importance of examining the cultural context when discussing youth subcultures. Historically we can differentiate two lines of argument concerning youth subcultures, the delinquency model which is predominantly American and the Marxist structuralist and semiotic models which are British in origin. This article suggests that this difference reflects the development of spectacular youth subcultures in Britain and commodity oriented youth subcultures in America. The acknowledgement of cultural specificity will enable researchers in the area of youth culture to gain a perspective on the spread of youth subcultures from one society to another.