Youth Theory: Marx or Foucault (From Youth Subcultures: Theory, History and the Australian Experience, P 7-10, 1993, Rob White, ed. -- See NCJ-162536)

• NCJ Number: 162538
• Author(s): H Sercombe
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Reprinted from Youth Studies Australia, V 11, N 3 (1992)

Annotation

Various theories have been applied to facilitate the understanding of youth subcultures in Australia, and two such theories are those advanced by Marx and Foucault.

Abstract

The author contends that Foucault theory is more contemporarily relevant than Marx theory in explaining youth subcultures and that differences between youth subcultures are significant. He also highlights the importance of acknowledging "reality" in understanding how particular ideologies shape the world. Young people absorb, are grouped into, and generate a range of often fragmentary ideologies with which they attempt to organize their lives. Some of these ideologies come from the school setting, parents, government institutions, the media, and physical and social aspects of the living environment. The relevance of Marx and Foucault theories to social relationships of young people and the impact of political power on these relationships are discussed. 8 references