ABSTRACT
In modern societies, the most fundamental groups are the social classes, and the major cultural configurations will be, in a fundamental though often mediated way, 'class cultures'. This chapter discusses some of the broad shifts in class relations over the period as a whole, before coming to the specific question of the sub-cultures. It aims to move from the most phenomenal aspects of youth sub-cultures to the deeper meanings, in three stages. The chapter deals with the most immediate aspect – the qualitative novelty of Youth Culture. Then, with the most visible aspects of social change which were variously held to be responsible for its emergence. Finally, the chapter looks at the wider debate, to which the debate about Youth Culture was an important, though subsidiary appendage. Many of these institutions preserve the corporate culture of the subordinate class, but also negotiate its relations with the dominant culture. These are the 'negotiated' aspects of a subordinate class culture.
