Defining Subculture

‘Community’ is perhaps the label whose referent is closest to subculture ... . Nevertheless, there are subtle disparities between the two concepts, which affect when and why one or the other is applied in any given case. ‘Community’ tends to suggest a more permanent population, often aligned to a neighborhood, of which the family is the key constituent part. Kinship would seem to be one of the main building blocks of community. By contrast, those groups identified as ‘subcultures’ have tended to be studied apart from their families and in states of relative transience. It is also often assumed that there is something innately oppositional in the word ‘subculture’. While struggles over territory, place and space are core issues, subcultures would appear to bring a little disorder to the security of the neighborhood. Subcultures are more often characterized as appropriating parts of the city for their street (rather than domestic) culture. These are some of the reasons why one hears frequently of ‘youth subcultures’, but seldom of ‘youth communities’. Youth attempt to define their culture against the parental home. ‘Subcultures’ (as they have been written about over the past three-quarters of a century) have come to designate social groups which are perceived to deviate from the normative ideas of adult communities. (2)

The defining attribute of ‘subcultures’, then, lies with the way the accent is put on the distinction between a particular cultural/social group and the larger culture/society. The emphasis is on variance from a larger collectivity who are invariably, but not unproblematically, positioned as normal, average and dominant. Subcultures, in other words, are condemned to and/or enjoy a consciousness of ‘otherness’ or difference. (5)

Thornton, Sarah. “General Introduction.” The Subcultures Reader. eds. K. Gelder and S. Thornton. NY: Routledge, 1997: 1-10.

What is Culture

Culture and Learned Behavior

Social Organization

Values and Belief

Subculture: Simple Definition

Youth Subculture

Subculture: The Meaning of Style

Subcultures: Listing of Different Types

Internet Subcultures and Political Activism

Goth Subculture Terms

Cyberpunk as a Subculture

Listing of Different Subcultures

Subculture and the Meaning of Style

Internet Subcultures and Political Activism

Goth Subculture Terms

Cyberpunk as a Subculture

Listing of Different Subcultures

Trio, the all pop culture cable station, is doing a series on fan culture/style/attitudes in the parking lots of pop culture events. It has to be seen to be believed!

Parking Lot Shows