From Subcultures to Solidarities and Back to Subcultures? Debates on Terms and the Ethnography of Youth Sociality

Abstract

The article discusses the aspects of the key theoretical constructs of social youth that are relevant to contemporary academic discussion. The emphasis is placed on the significance of the term solidarity as the most adequate way of describing the different types of youth formations in the 21st century – temporary and permanent, real and imagined, existing off- and online. Such formations differ in a number of dimensions: gender, style, subculture. Of particular importance in consolidating the solidarity formations are inter- and intra-group communication, as well as shared values and norms of the groups.