The Mainstream and the Others: A comparative study of the identification of Dutch youth groups in modern youth culture [1985-2018]

Abstract

Youth culture has lost its appeal to Dutch researchers since the rebellious subcultures 'disappeared' in the 2000s. They claim that youth culture is dead, murdered by the neoliberal society. I will research if youth culture is indeed 'dead'. By focusing on the processes of group formation between 1985-1995 and the contemporary youth culture, I will try to find out if the formation of youth groups did change throughout time. In this research, the Mainstream is an important part of youth culture- a group that is in most inquires overlooked. By using symbols (cultural artefacts, cultural behaviour and place-making) I tried to analyze how subgroups formed group boundaries for themselves and others through othering. The first part of the comparison analyses the youth culture in 1985-1995. By using ego documents, I tried to understand the thinking processes of the adolescents and why certain symbols were used as an identification tool. The subgroups that are emphasized are: 1) the Mainstream, 2) the Misfits, 3) the Punks, and 4) the Skaters. The symbols were mostly used by (especially) the Punks and Skaters to distance themselves from the Mainstream. In the second part of the comparison, the contemporary youth culture is analyzed. Through fieldwork on a high-school, I was able to research the 1) Mainstream, 2) Butjes, 3) Tokkies and 4) Gamers. Now, the Mainstream uses the symbols to distance themselves from the other groups.