YOUTH CULTURES AND CONSUMPTION IN EASTERN AND WESTERN-EUROPE - AN OVERVIEW

Whereas in the past youth cultures were analyzed in terms of their rel ationship to divisions such as social class, the tendency now is to se e youth as submerged in general consumer culture and to analyze this i n terms of cultural codes and symbols. In this article, the authors ar gue that there are important differences in the way in which young peo ple are situated in relation to consumer culture and that this differs according to the different state systems that have existed in differe nt parts of Europe and the new lines of stratification that are emergi ng. The former Communist regimes along with their recent transformatio ns are particularly interesting in this respect. Through an analysis o f the development and significance of youth cultures and subcultures i n Eastern and Western Europe, the article argues that such cultures ar e important in forging generational consciousness and defining generat ions.