ABSTRACT
In tandem, considering the cultural level, the subculture stands out from both the mass and the public. The distinction between subculture understood as a social group and subculture understood as a framework of cultural elements is not quite clear; nor is it quite clear whether it is a pre-existing group of people who create a framework of shared cultural elements or vice versa. Based on the elements which have emerged hitherto, there seem to be two fundamental aspects which need to be taken into account in the perspective of elaborating a new sociology of lifestyles. Thematic nuclei around which the new proposals distance themselves from the Birmingham model: that of distinction and that of resistance. The idea is to identify specific cultural profiles and then to look for the social characteristics which distinguish them from the rest of the population. Wherever it is possible to identify actually distinctive profiles connected with specific socio-demographic variables, there one may talk about subcultures.