The post-subcultural turn: some reflections 10 years on

Abstract

This article investigates and evaluates the key tenets of the post-subcultural turn as this has informed discussion and debate among youth culture researchers during the last 10 years. While the post-subcultural turn has produced a wealth of new analytical tools and conceptual approaches, as well as providing a basis for several anthologies, it has also given rise to a series of critical concerns regarding the viability of post-subculture as an alternative approach to the study of youth. A key, and perhaps predictable, criticism of post-subcultural theory is that it adopts a naïve, and essentially celebratory, stance regarding the role of the cultural industries in shaping the identities and lifestyles of youth. Similarly, it has been argued that, despite the claims of post-subcultural theory regarding the emergence of new, individualised and reflexive youth identities, one does not need to look very far to see evidence of the on-going role played by structural inequalities in shaping the life chances, and cultural affiliations, of youth. Where then, does this leave youth cultural studies? What, if any, are the insights, theoretical and methodological, that can be drawn from post-subcultural turn? In view of the critical debates inspired by the post-subcultural turn, what should be the key criteria for youth cultural studies over the coming decade?