CROSSROADS IN CULTURAL STUDIES
Fourth International Conference
June 29 - July 2, 2002, Tampere, Finland
Arctic Youth Research - Challenges and Visions
Organisers: Anne Tuhkunen and Veli-Matti Ulvinen
O´Hagan, Ciaran (South Bank University, United Kingdom) DIVISIONS IN YOUNG
PEOPLE'S CONSUMPTION OF DANCE MUSIC AND DRUGS
This presentation aims to reveal
new insight into the development of dance culture by exploring the relation
young people have with particular genres of dance music. It will examine how
young people's participation in particular dance scenes, such as UK Garage and
Underground Trance and Techno interacts with their drug consumption practices.
Such developments present a wide range of challenges to youth culture and drugs
education professionals and this paper will address several of these key factors
and attempt to provide some direction for future strategies within this complex
area. Themes to be covered will include on overview of the concept of scene
fragmentation within dance culture, an assessment of genre specific drug use and
an examination of the processes of communication central to each scene.
Allaste, Airi-Alina (Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, STAKES, Finland)
CANNABIS USERS' SUBCULTURE - "WE" ARE SOPHISTICATED AND
"THEY" ARE STUPID
The paper explores the meaning of drug use,
behavioral norms and attitudes of cannabis users related to club-culture. The
empirical part of the paper relays on participant observation and in-depth
interviews with young adults. Respondents share similar norms and attitudes and
are related to each other with vague boundaries. They separate themselves not
only from the people who use other drugs in other circumstances, but also from
people who use cannabis with other purpose. Since they use cannabis to broaden
their perception, they condemn people who use drugs, including cannabis, only in
order to get stoned. According to their opinion, the most important feature in
cannabis use is how they acknowledge the reason for the use. The paper explains
different steps on the way of changing from user to dealer - consuming,
possessing, sharing and selling cannabis. Some people never buy cannabis
although they use it often - several times a week. Heavy users tend to buy
cannabis in bigger quantities to get it cheaper. When person is known as always
possessing drugs, (s)he is often asked for it and sometimes (s)he sells it. Some
people start to make profit from selling cannabis. When someone is already known
as a dealer, he is not considered as one of "us" any more. People who
don't use drugs in accepted way or become dealers are considered deviant not
only by the dominant culture, but by the youth subculture itself. Cannabis users
use different control mechanisms to avoid marginalization. This paper explains
how common values in above-mentioned subculture support and at the same time
regulate drug-use.
Hilden-Paajanen, Tarja (University of Joensuu, Finland) SKINHEADS - A CULTURE
DEFENDING LABOUR VALUES OR A GANG DEFENDING OWN TERRITORIAL BASE?
The aim of
this presentation is to observe skinheads both as a sub-culture of young
presenting and maintaining labour style and values, and as gang of young (males)
maintaining and defending certain ideology. In the 1960's the British
researchers have presented skinheads as young men defending and maintaining
labour values. The style of skinheads with extreme short hair (or bald), jeans,
bomber's jacket and boots has been interpreted as maintaining and declaring
labour values. The action with violence directed to refugees, other foreigners
and sexual minorities has been seen as protecting 'good old' (British) labour
values. American gang researchers have observed skinheads as both global and
local gang of young males. This means the skinheads are seen coexistently as
worldwide spread gang with well-organized networks - and as local youth gang
with own territorial base, leaders and hierarchical order. These conceptions of
British and American researchers will be compared and examined in relation to
concepts of 'sub-culture' and 'gang'.
Shvets, Larissa and Ilyina, Natalia (Karelian State Pedagogical University,
Russia) KARELIAN YOUTH: NEW TENDENCIES IN LIVING CONDITIONS, VALUES AND FUTURE
PLANS IN THE CHANGING SOCIETY
The presentation is based on some results of the
project "Everyday Life and Future Expectations of the Youth, residing in
the Republic of Karelia" that was started in February 2001 and is still
carried out. For the comparison we have also used the data collected in
1995-1997 when the Russian-Finnish project "Youth in a Changing
Karelia" had been realized. Different methods were used in the project. The
study data has been collected by questionnaire and written stories. The authors
wanted to represent what kinds of changes in the living conditions, values and
future plans of Karelian youth have happened for the last five years. They also
wanted to compare the living conditions, values and future plans of the urban
and rural youth, to show gender differences in the values and future plans.
Zhizhko, Elena (Krasnoyarsk State University, Russia) THE VALUE OF LABOUR OF
THE YOUTH AND MARKET REFORM IN MODERN RUSSIA
The Russian economy's road from a
centralized, planned economy to a market economy displays a number of problems.
One of the causes for this can be specific character of values of labour of the
youth in contemporary Russia. The social institutes of modern Russia and Russia
of near past: religion (orthodox church), ideology (soviet and post-soviet),
culture (literature and folklore) do not demonstrate the positive images of hard
work, self-control and intelligent use of time and money as the important
ingredient of business and social success. Accumulated data of survey 1987-2001
(methods: in-home interview, in-depth interview - multistage sample about 900
for every survey, age parameter 16-22) shows the main values of modern youth are
material welfare, emphasizing living standards, entertainment and relaxation.
Young Russians want to live in civilization characterized by entertainment, not
by work.
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