Welcome to the new CIRCLE website

Belgium: Els BAETEN
Vlaams Theatre Institut

Trends
Youth culture is not a homogeneous concept. In the 1980’s and 90’s the importance of subcultures was frequently underlined. However, nowadays the notion of subculture is regarded as too rigid and narrow for grasping the complex mix of contemporary culture. Research on gabber culture in Belgium leads us to the conclusion that subculture as a concept is not entirely dead. It is a viable way to comprehend the category of die-hard fans. Nevertheless, these tend to constitute the smaller groups.

Only a small minority of younger people really belong to one subculture or another (skaters, snobs, Johnny’s and Marina’s, gabbers, goths, alterno’s, punks). By the age of 12-14 a small number move into a subculture in order to belong to a group. Later on (16+) the need to be part of a group becomes less important, with individual characteristics becoming more important than group norms. In general, youngsters don’t like to be ‘labelled’ and describe themselves as ‘normal’ or someone ‘between two styles’. They pick and choose. They also recycle elements of former youth cultures.

One of the main current characteristics is the pursuit of authenticity, as a reaction against the ‘fake’ of the 80’s. Fake is considered wrong and outmoded. The most important thing seems to be the search for their own identity, their own profile. (Generation M: Me, Myself and I)

Authenticity is also a counterweight to commercialisation (see point 4). Younger people are extremely critical of marketing ploys.

Recent youth research confirms the great influence of gender, education and age. Differences in values and preferences are mainly linked with differences in educational level. Education is much the stronger influencing factor, as compared with age. In addition, the education of young people is strongly related to the educational levels and professions of their parents.

Preferences are influenced by friends, youth leaders, and the media, but in the first place these derive from the preferences of the parents.

Recent research based upon a current survey on preferences in music, radio, television, newspapers, magazines and film, discovered some strikingly close correlations. They found five patterns or orientations:

1. ‘Cultural correctness’: a mixture of ‘good’ entertainment and information. They watch public TV – news and information, debates, political and social films…- and listen to public radio stations. They prefer classic music, folk, world music, jazz, blues…

2. ‘Amusement or fun orientation’: they listen to commercial radio and watch commercial TV channels, especially quiz shows, soaps etc…

3. ‘Macho or virile cultural orientation’: they like action films, science fiction, crime movies, reality television and sports programmes… Their preference is for techno and gabber.

4. ‘Roots dimension’: they like R&B, funk, reggae, rap, raï, world music, folk, but also classical music, French chansons… romantic films, social and psychological films.

5. ‘Alternative orientation’: they listen to rock, grunge, alternative guitar music, punk, hard rock … They prefer cult films, psychological, social and political films… ‘Authenticity’ is important for them.

This research also shows that there is a high correlation between the media and music preferences of the youngsters and those of their parents.

The majority of young people have a mobile phone, especially from the age of 15 onwards:

The Internet is becoming an important aspect of youth activities, especially from the age 11+:

Use of the internet is rapidly increasing: in the period 2001-2003: from 17% to 43 % (9-11 years) and from 50% to 72 % (19-25 years)

Communication on the net:
e-mail is not particularly widespread amongst younger people. They prefer to chat on popular youth sites. Forums are very popular till the age of 15, but interest drops off thereafter.

Up to the age of 12: 44 %, mainly for games and entertainment (often promoted by TV-stations)

Younger people (8-18 years) spend 9.5 hours a week average playing computer games.

Downloading: about 25 % up to the age of 18, increasing to 49 % (19-25 years): chiefly for games, music and videos or tunes and logos for mobiles.

2.2. Some general observations
Growing up in a digital society is a key characteristic underlying youth culture today. Younger people are early adopters and it is easier for them to take new technologies in their stride. Through the new media, youth cultures are emerging and being distributed very fast.

The Internet gives rise to online communities. Since these are cross-border communities, there is an opportunity for gathering lots of information, which would not be the case without the internet.

The internet opens up an opportunity to new ways of creativity, e.g. creating your own website, making records, promoting and selling them….

Whilst the new technologies are more intensively used by younger people, they are not the exclusive domain of youngsters.

70 % of young people use the internet, compared with 37 % of adults. Less frequent users – such as older or unskilled people - are slowly but surely now gaining ground.

Games are not the exclusive domain of younger people, since over one third of users are older than 36 years.

With regard to the question, in what measure is new youth culture being market driven or not? The answer is twofold:

Of course the market is a big influence. There is an overwhelming availability of offers and in general this is a comparatively rich generation. Many media-based programmes are part of the growing world trade and merchandising through different networks. Marketeers are using youth-observers in order to identify new trends, to see what’s cool at any given moment. These ‘cool hunters’ are looking for trendsetters, who are often member of a subgroup. Some elements of their style are picked up by the market and distributed in a less extreme form.

Younger people from their part, sample elements of the overwhelming offer –often focusing upon some less obvious details. Or they switch from one style to another, without really adopting the values and norms behind this style (‘wannabe’).

At the same time, more and more, younger people who belong to subcultures are focusing on attitudes rather than on outward appearance, since the latter is there for all to see on the catwalk.

It is evident that the new communication technologies help to globalise youth culture: internationalisation of media programmes, marketing strategies, the market itself… And the internet helps to create digital communities.

At the same time, there is a contrary movement going on. There is a tendency to create local variants. For instance:
- local youth TV channels, with a substantial focus on Flemish songs;
- self-production of recordings;
- a mushrooming of small-scale festivals featuring local talent, quite distinct from the larger festivals – which are more and more dominated by international interests.

Impact on society
With regard to what extent do the main trends of youth culture - particularly network culture - seem long-lasting, the answer is twofold as well:

On the one hand, there is a rapidly changing impression, especially because of the market which is always searching for new elements. Trends appear and disappear in rapid succession - as do subcultures.

On the other hand, there is a wave-like movement in youth culture(s). For instance, the revival of guitar music and rock and roll, folk music, world music….

Older and unskilled people are noticeably smaller users of the internet, although there seems to be a slight upturn in this trend. There is a lack of research on new technologies and immigrants.

Little is known about any European dimension in the process of integration, enlargement. The more global, international dimension appears to be more relevant.

Policy issues
Reflection on youth policy received a real impetus only in 2002. It is therefore really too early to gauge any real impact right now, other than that a broader concept of culture has been introduced – e.g. support for pop culture.

In 2002 the Flemish government ordered a study entitled ‘Policy related to youth culture’. The results were published at the end of 2003.

First, an inventory was made of policy documents from the Flemish government, provinces and a selected number of local authorities.

In order to analyse these documents some younger people, experts, public servants and politicians were asked to discuss criteria for analysis.

- youth culture (and its tendency towards individualisation) and the important impact of social factors on attitudes, preferences and leisure activities;

- youth culture and those who have responsibility for youth (youth leaders, teachers etc.). This is the tension between younger people trying to define their own culture and agencies trying to regularise matters;

In the first Plan for a Youth Policy of the Flemish government (2002) the lack of research and the lack of coordination of research was indicated as a factor to be remedied. To this end, a Platform was set up between several universities (Leuven, Ghent and Brussels) and money has been made available.

Sources
Devos, F., (2004) Over jongeren, cultuur en communicatie. CultuurNet Vlaanderen, CJP, CANON Cultuurcel
Elchardus, M., Glorieux, I. (ed.) (2002) De symbolische Samenleving. Lannoo, Tielt
Hartmann, M. (2004). Young People=’Young’ Users? Questioning The ‘Key Generation’. In Carpentier,N., Pauwels, C., Van Oost,, O. (eds) Het on(be)grijpbare publiek. (pp. 355-375). Brussels: VUBPRESS
Palmaerts, T. Jongeren van nu. Collega’s van morgen. Gent: De Verbeelding & Spirit vzw.
Smits, W. (2004). Maatschappelijke participatie van jongeren. Bewegen in de sociale, vrijetijds- en culturele ruimte. TOR-VUB
Stevens, F. Geklemd tussen competentie en participatie. Het verschil tussen ‘cultuur voor jongeren’ en ‘cultuur van jongeren’. TOR-VUB
Van Mullem, P., De Schrijver, V., Versluys, F., Van Bouchaute, B., Onderzoek ‘beleid inzake jeugdcultuur’. Arteveldehogeschool. Gent

Bulgaria: Lidia VARBANOVA and Biliana TOMOVA
(with kind contribution from Tatiana Stoichkova and Galia Dimitrova)

Trends
There is no comprehensive study in Bulgaria about the main trends of youth culture, although they are considerably influenced by the new cultural, political and economic processes both inside the country and at pan-European level. Young people are certainly adopting more liberal and individualistic behaviour, a high level of autonomy, and intensive use of all types of electronic communication.

The statistical indicators do not provide updated and relevant information about how youth spends its leisure time. The current survey shows that the following main branches of the entertainment industries account for most of the free time of young people in Bulgaria:

Young people use traditional media (TV, radio and press) much less frequently than the older segment of the population. An exception is listening to music on the radio, which is very popular, especially in smaller cities and towns. The number of radio stations has increased significantly, and many of them are specialised in relation to listener interests and profiles.

Many young people in Bulgaria, especially between the ages of 10-18 gather in internet clubs, playing computer games in networks. The percentage of people who use e-mail on a regular (daily) basis aged 18-35 years is around 8-10%. The “SMS-culture” is increasing significantly, and usage of mobile phones among young people is also growing rapidly, especially during the past year – 24% of mobile phone owners are aged between 15-17, 14.7% between 18-19.

Going out, eating and drinking, meeting each other in restaurants, dance clubs and cafés is the preferred way of spending time during weekends for a vast majority of the Bulgarian population between the ages of 15 and 25. This model of behaviour is also a reflection of the need for this age group to spend time with like-minded groups of friends.

Participation of young people in cultural activity can not be given as percentages, since cultural organizations in Bulgaria do not conduct regular marketing surveys about attendance. Such data does not exist either at the national statistical level. Nevertheless, informal surveys show that participation of young people in performing arts events (theatre, opera, dance, etc.) is relatively high in the capital and larger cities (Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv). The long-established traditions of cultural participation of young people in such artistic forms are an important factor here.

Below is an audience survey conducted in 2002 by the management team of the “Theatre 199” in Sofia. The table shows that the leading factor is not income, but education and individual taste/preference towards theatre art forms. The majority of the audience are young people aged 16-25 years.

* Table 1: Structure of the audience interviewed, based on monthly average individual incomes for 2001

A serious problem among young people, which is also an important topic in the media and public debates, is drug abuse. The organization “Free Youth Bulgaria” (formerly named “Anti-drugs”) is one of several important non-profit organisations in the country aiming to help young people to fight against all types of addiction and pursue a drugs-free lifestyle.

- Young people, involved with the Internet, ICT and new media related activities

The overall proportion of people using the Internet in Bulgaria is still rather small (11,6% as of October 2003). The reasons for this are given as: “very expensive”, “no spare time for that”, “not high speed or good quality”. However the current year has seen a significant increase in both the number of Internet users, and the frequency of usage. Nevertheless, the dynamic of increasing usage of Internet among the Bulgarian population is very high – nearly double in the last 4 years.

The Internet has become a virtual space for a huge percentage of Bulgarian youth. They indicate use of the Internet for a variety of purposes, but mainly for: music, games, chatting, entertainment, information, humour, school-related activities, educational purposes, etc. Listening to music and watching films through the Internet has become a very popular way for young people to spend their free time. Portals and search engines are the most frequently visited Internet sites by the young.

Multimedia and new media are not very popular in the daily life of conventional cultural and artistic organisations (especially state and regional ones), although several flexible small young organisations have been established during the past few years. These are increasingly emphasising the relationship between the arts and media in their programming schemes.

An excellent example is the InterSpace organisation – a media arts centre, found in 1998 in Sofia as a non-profit organization of professional artists, informatics engineers and do-it-yourself media makers. InterSpace works for the establishment of a social attitude to new media art forms, through the development of alternative means and possibilities for artistic expression through new media technologies. The centre aims to concentrate intellectual, creative and technological potential in working out an adequate structure and working conditions for production and popularisation of new media art projects.

The centre’s activities include: creation and presentation of multimedia arts production and documentation; organisation of forums, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, vocational training courses, multimedia shows; and development of CULT.BG - Server for Arts and Culture. The InterSpace media lab provides Bulgarian artists, working in the field of new media and interdisciplinary projects, an open access to technologies, technical equipment and professional assistance.

There are numerous non-profit organisations in Bulgaria, putting emphasis in their mission statements on the integration of young people to the values and trends in European culture, helping them to better understand the need for and consequences of the process of Bulgaria’s acceptance as a member of the European Union. For example, the European Youth Movement was set up in 1997 to unite young people between the ages of 18 and 35 throughout the country, expressing an interest in European integration issues.

Due to the absence of dedicated surveys or statistics, it is hard to say what percentage of the young Bulgarian population is involved in international and national cultural networking.

Community networking, especially orientated around spending evening leisure time in discos, local pubs and restaurants, is very popular in small towns and villages throughout Bulgaria. There have recently been determined efforts at both the national and regional levels to revitalize the old tradition of involving young people in the cultural and educational programmes of the lively and important former Cultural and Community Centres (“Chitalishta”) spread around the country. These centres are gradually once more becoming an essential focal point for “amateur art and community-based youth culture” in Bulgaria. In 2000 there was a very interesting feasibility study into possible transformation of the Chitalishta into Internet centres, connected in a virtual network. So far no specific actions have been taken in this direction.

The local “computer game rooms” are a national phenomenon, having now existed for more than four years. The feasibility study on Internet Chitalishta shows that that all towns in Bulgaria have such game rooms in many neighbourhoods and that they are very well used by young people (regardless of the town’s economic condition). Many of them are called “Internet centres”, but they are mainly for computer games, and only half of them offer Internet services as well. In many cases the quality of Internet services is still poor and the price is relatively high in relation to the standard of living in Bulgaria.

Different types of media are preferred by different age groups. Internet, ICT, TV (especially cable channels), video, cinema are the preferred media choices for the younger population (aged 15-40). More conventional media (radio, TV, newspapers) are more used by the older generation (45 and over).

Hi-tech devices are still unpopular among Bulgarians in general - less than 7% of the population own MP3 and DVD players.

Group age seems to be a less important factor than educational levels and geographical position when talking about using Internet and communication technologies, as the statistics shows that these exert a massive influence on users’ behavior. Additionally, not knowing a foreign language well or at all (especially English) is a barrier for the age group above 45 in Bulgaria in making use of the Internet.[2] Older groups of the population who live in the larger cities are more likely to exhibit some aspects of “networking culture” than those in the smaller towns. These differences have a social and economic nature, as low living standards and poverty affect a great part of Bulgarian society in the regions, especially those who are isolated and remote.

Gender is also significant. For example, there is a notable difference in Internet chat behavior according to gender. Females from the young and middle-aged groups tend to stay and communicate online longer. Not surprisingly, the so-called “serial chatters” are concentrated in the 15-17 age band. Players of computer games are primarily young kids (7-12 years old), whereas teenagers (16-18) prefer the Internet and many of them use it increasingly as an information and educational resource.

Youth culture in 21^st century is inevitably market driven, and young people grow up with a tendency to be market orientated, following the daily invasion of advertising through the media, in the shops and on the streets. Fashionable brand names are a key conversation topic among youngsters. In the Bulgarian situation with its drastic social and economic differences between families and individuals (in terms of living standards and incomes), negative attitudes (in some cases even displaying as aggression) appear between those young people who live at subsistence level and those who can afford to benefit from the market driven material world (constantly buying more and better goods)

E-commerce is not popular at all among the Bulgarian population, which obviously includes young people. The reasons for this are: absence of adequate and reliable infrastructure for e-shopping; slow penetration of credit cards in the country, lack of trust in e-money, traditional approach and behaviour of the majority of Bulgarians so far as shopping is concerned.

No empirical data or statistics could be found about the relationship between youth culture and globalisation factors in Bulgaria. Resources (articles, books, web sites, research) about Bulgaria in the globalising world primarily stress the impact of globalisation on the economy and financial markets.
The issue of globalisation is not yet very pertinent to youth culture in Bulgaria for several reasons:

- Continuing poor access to the Internet and international ICT for young people in Bulgaria (in comparison with other European countries).

- Financial inability for the majority of young people to travel and explore foreign countries;

- Bulgarian traditions of the past of living in local communities and neighbourhoods (especially in small villages and towns), where physical contact and personal relations play a vital role.

- Language barriers (the statistics show that not more than 8% of the Bulgarian population can use the English language).

On the other hand, contemporary entertainment products, based on computer games and the Internet are global and go beyond any national cultural characteristics. Irrespective of the fact that the computer games market is highly differentiated (hundreds of thousands of types exist), it functions as an oligopoly, as it is divided between a limited number of powerful software companies - meaning that the young play almost one and the same computer games (which are fashionable for a certain time), regardless of their geographical location.

The concept of “internationalism” creates a sense of dynamics, encourages exchanges and comparisons of good practice, and the creation of cross-border youth social programs. Here are two small examples:

MAR - Bulgarian Youth Alliance for Development is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organisation, runs international youth short-term volunteer projects (work camps) in Bulgaria and welcomes hundreds of young volunteers each year from all over the world. Most of the work camps last about 2 weeks and take place in summer (June-July-August).

Student Computer Art Society /SCAS/, Bulgaria is a national non-profit NGO focusing on: modern media and communications; youth information processing and delivery, training and counselling of young people and NGOs on ICT and modern media, career development, project management etc. SCAS is managing two main centres:

o National Student Information Centres network – information and counselling centers for young people in seven towns in Bulgaria

o Computer Arts Center – supporting youth projects in the field of modern media and computer arts.

Unfortunately, no relevant data are found in Internet about the current functioning and programs of the society.

Impact on society
No prediction or clear view can be expressed on this, as there is a need for much deeper research into the main trends of youth culture in Bulgaria before assessing the extent to which these trends might be long-lasting. The general expectation is that network culture will expand and increase very rapidly in the country in the next few years due to the forecast for economic stabiliation and forthcoming EU accession.

No data are found in the existing sources about the influence of network culture on various marginal and ethnic groups of young people in Bulgaria. Certainly isolated and peripheral communities, and minority groups (especially the Roma people) benefit less (or not at all) from global and international networks.

A serious negative factor influencing network culture is the inadequacy of computer equipment in schools (in 2003 there was a total of 10,833 computers in the 3,270 primary and secondary schools in Bulgaria), as well as limited access to the Internet in Bulgarian schools – only around 60% of them are connected, and in many cases the quality of access to the Internet is poor.

The European enlargement process and the plan to include Bulgaria in the large European family from 2007 certainly has implications for the processes of integrating young people into European values and European culture. There is inequality and imbalances among different organizations dealing with young people in Bulgaria in terms of their ability to understand and interpret EU programmes, quite apart from applying for funding or to monitor European projects. Only very few of them have much experience in obtaining European funding and have proved themselves quite successful in their fundraising campaigns (mainly long-standing NGOs in the big cities), while others do not have the relevant knowledge and skills to work at European level. The training courses and seminars for young leaders (on the national and regional levels), organised by various European bodies in Bulgaria, are very popular and well spread around the country in recent years. They stress the importance of leadership and management skills, lobbying, communication etc.

The real impact of the EU funding for the development of network youth culture in Bulgaria has not been evaluated. No recent scientific research or social survey seems to exist which might show if the young people of Bulgaria feel “European” (or integrated to Europe), as well as indicating what are the factors, obstacles and trends, influencing this process.

A survey among student youth in Bulgaria was conducted in December 1998. The sample comprises 167 cases of students from three higher educational establishment in Plovdiv, almost equally represented by first-, second-, third – and fourth-year students (studying for a B.A) in technical, philological and pedagogical subjects.

The survey data reveal that Bulgarian young people identify foremost with their country (36,9%) and with their native town or village (33,7%). Less frequent are references ‘to trans-national communities – 12% define the world as a source of their own identity and 4,7 % point out Europe. ( Mitev )

When asked directly about their European identity the majority of the young people replied that it had not yet been formed . Only about a quarter believed they had a firm identity as Europeans. In the mind of students in Bulgaria, being European implies above all sharing European values and styles of behaviour, and leading a European way of life, defined by the students as ‘rich’ in its economic and cultural aspects.

They also define Europe as ‘a centre of culture’ much more than ‘ economic integration’, or ‘as a political organisation’.

Bulgarian students envisage themselves mentally in a light which is favourable to Bulgarian accession to the EU: 43% of the respondents define the relationship of EU member-countries as a basis for mutual assistance; 40% as a basis for economic co-operation.

Young people in Bulgaria show a high emigration potential. Fewer than 1 out of 15 students say they have never considered emigrating and do not want to leave. A very high proportion of the respondents (85%) are willing ‘to live abroad for a while”, and another 9% admit that they have not considered emigrating only because they have not yet had the opportunity. (Mitev. 1999 :57)

Policy issues
The strong and vast Komsomol organisation (it existed until 1989, officially called the Communist Youth League of Bulgaria, with a peak membership of 1.5 million in 1987) aimed at ensuring proper socialist values to pass onto the next generation and supplying new members to the Communist Party. Immediately after the overthrow of Zhivkov, alternative youth groups began to form (one such group was the Federation of Independent Students' Unions). Meanwhile, Komsomol acknowledged past failures, changed its name to the Bulgarian Democratic Youth, and began issuing policy statements on student rights and broader social issues. The organisation was decentralized by giving local affiliates substantial autonomy, and democratised by limiting the terms of office for officials.

The bitter past of the compulsory “group organisation” of young people has led to a situation during the last 10 years in which individualistic behaviour prevails, rejecting any kind of community or group involvement and accompanied by passive political behaviour by many young people.

The Ministry of Youth and Sport in Bulgaria is the most active amongst the government bodies in terms of dealing with the problems of young people. There is a special Department for Youth (“Direkcia Mladez”) within the Ministry, and a programme for financing youth activities and NGOs working with young people for the year 2004-2005. The priorities of the programme are as follows:

- establishment of specialised spaces for young people (clubs, information centres, etc);

- social inclusion of young people and improving of their professionalism and skills;

The Ministry of Education and Science in Bulgaria does not publicly demonstrate clear evidence that it recognises the importance of youth affairs through creating a sub-body, or an organization at the national level to deal with the problems of young people, and by implication with network youth culture as well. Specific youth-related policies are not articulated in the strategic documents, action plans and reports of the Ministry of Culture either, with the exception of some funding programmes for professional artistic debuts (provided by the national fund “Culture”). In some cases, municipalities around the country have ad-hoc youth-related programmes, especially dealing with festivals, concerts, folk celebrations, artistic, or social and educational events in a specific town or city.

The information, coordination and promotion of youth culture definitely requires more careful attention from national and regional government bodies. Initiating and supporting research on young peoples’ culture, behaviour, habits, and activities is still not well represented in the agendas of universities and research institutions around the country. Some sociological agencies, centres and non-profit organisations have done research especially about the negative trends among the Bulgarian youth-drug abuse, alcoholism, criminality, and migration trends.

Youth culture could (and in some cases should) be integrated with the policies of many other areas (media, communication, external and internal affairs, public administration system, labour and social security, health care, etc.).

Canada: M. Sharon JEANNOTTE
International Comparative Research, Strategic Research and Analysis Directorate
Department of Canadian Heritage

* The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Canadian Heritage or the Government of Canada.

Introduction
This short paper was developed in response to a questionnaire prepared by CIRCLE (Cultural Information and Research Centres Liaison in Europe) for its 2004 Round Table in Barcelona, Spain. The purpose of the questionnaire was to identify the main trends in youth culture today and to determine whether youth culture differs more from mainstream culture than in earlier generations. The central research question to be explored was whether a new type of culture, network culture – characterized by the predominance of virtual rather than face-to-face relationships – was emerging.

Trends
The first challenge in discussing trends in youth culture is to define “youth”. In Canada, while there is no standard definition of youth, it is generally acknowledged that this cohort represents a significant, though shrinking portion of the total population. In 2004, about 19% of the Canadian population was under the age of 15. However, in some contexts, it is customary to count anyone over the age of 10 and under the age of 30 as belonging to “youth” (particularly within the marketing world). If the latter definition of youth is used, then about 27% of Canadians can be considered as “youth”, representing some 8.6 million individuals out of a total population of just under 32 million.[3]

One of the main trends is a prolongation of the pre-adult period for the majority of Canadian youth. Partially as a result of a sluggish economy, many young people who came of age during the 1990s continued to pursue their education, rather than enter the job market. Many also often continued to live in the parental home. Their generally higher level of education and familiarity with information and communications technologies has led them to be more at ease with change and complexity than is the case with their elders. Michael Adams, a prominent Canadian pollster who has spent a lifetime studying the evolution of Canadian values, has stated that:

Young Canadians eagerly embrace a number of egalitarian and pluralistic values, including flexible definitions of family, a permissive attitude regarding sex, a desire for egalitarian relationships with others, including their seniors, and the pursuit of happiness over devotion to duty.[4]

In the post-9/11 environment, there is some evidence to suggest that youth are seeking a more humanistic approach to life, one that is less reliant on technology.[5] A recent survey indicated that in 2004 almost 90% of Canadian youth had access to the Internet, a slight drop from 2003 and that young people spent almost one hour less a week on line, compared to 2003.[6] Nevertheless, another national survey of Canadian youth between the ages of 13 and 29 conducted in April 2004 showed that young people spent an average of over 11 hours per week online for work and study purposes and over 10 hours for communication purposes. This compares to about 9.5 hours spent watching television and just under 7.0 hours spent listening to radio.[7] Part of the high figure for Internet communication may be attributable to the growing use of text messaging on cell (mobile) phones by young people. While there are no reliable figures on the number of hours spent sending text messages, one source suggests that 60% of young people aged 12 to 24 now own a cell (mobile) phone, so it can be assumed that a fairly high proportion of them are making use of this feature.[8]

While Canadian youth are undoubtedly in the vanguard of Internet users, it should be noted that their elders are not far behind. A survey of Internet usage conducted in Spring 2004 indicated that about 87% of Canadian adults between the ages of 35 and 54 had access to the Internet and that Internet access among adults over 55 years of age was now at an all-time high of 57%.[9] A poll conducted in 2000 by Northstar Research Partners for Youth Culture Inc. (a media and research firm) compared and contrasted how teens and their parents used the Internet (see Table 1). The figures suggest that both youth and adults are using the Internet for similar purposes, but that young people are considerably more active in using the Net for cultural purposes.

In Canada, as in other post-industrial economies, a portion of youth culture is certainly global and market-driven. As Naomi Klein observed in her widely-quoted book, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, “Cool, alternative, young, hip – whatever you want to call it – was the perfect identity for product-driven companies looking to become image-based brands.” [11] The result, as another researcher has noted, is that “Despite different cultures, middle-class youth all over the world seem to live their lives as if in a parallel universe. They get up in the morning, put on their Levi’s and Nikes, grab their caps, backpacks and Sony personal CD players, and head for school.” [12]

Yet, in Canada, there seems to be another side to youth culture. In 2000, the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, administered by Statistics Canada, a federal government agency, found that 29% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 were volunteers, which is not all that different from the 30% volunteer rate among adults aged 35 to 54. Most of this youth volunteering took place in three types of organizations -- education and research (19% of youth volunteer hours), social services (22% of youth volunteer hours) and arts, culture and recreation (18% of youth volunteer hours).[13]

A study conducted in early 2004 for the Department of Canadian Heritage suggested that young people (between the ages of 15 to 24) were even more likely than adults (25 years and over) to be involved in artistic activity – 79% as compared to 61%. In fact, in some areas, youth involvement far surpassed that of their elders. For example, 47% of youth had acting, dancing, singing or musical involvement, compared to 21% of adults.[14] Another recent study attempted to gauge the frequency of youth attendance at arts and cultural activities and found that 25% attended an event at least once a month, while a further 17% attended less than once a month, but still regularly.[15] Nor does consumption of more traditional media forms seem to be diminishing among the young. Another recent survey indicated that youth between the ages of 13 and 24 saw an average of 1.6 films per month in a cinema and rented an average of 3.2 films per month to view at home.[16]

Impact on Society
In some senses, youth may have moved beyond adult fixations about network culture. There is growing evidence to suggest that the young consider the Internet and new media simply as new tools for expression and communication. They use these tools much as youth have always done – to “stretch the envelope” of adult-dominated culture. It is important to make this distinction between network culture as a “new thing” and network culture as a means of accomplishing or renovating “old things”, as policy interventions that miss this significant point could cause more harm than good.

For young Canadians network culture, as indicated above, might quite simply mean doing research to find out what is happening in traditional culture. A recent survey discovered that “A majority of young Canadians say that they would be likely to use the Internet to look up cultural topics such as music (84%), art/sports/leisure (82%), interactive games and tools (70%), science and technology (65%), history (63%)”. [17] Many young Canadians consume traditional cultural products primarily through the Internet. For example, Say Magazine, a Canadian lifestyle magazine for Aboriginal youth, distributes only 50,000 printed copies per month, but averages over 100,000 hits per month on its website.[18]

The key difference that networked information technologies have introduced is the ability to practice “do-it-yourself” culture in a much more sophisticated and far-reaching manner. For example, another Canadian on-line magazine called Spank! Youth Culture Online bills itself as “youth culture defined by youth”. In existence since October 1995, it provides youth news and youth forums where young people can exchange information and views. It is run by a combination of peer volunteer moderators from around the world, supported by a small core group of people in Calgary, Alberta “who keep this place supported with technology and time”.[19]

Often, however, the sophistication of the technology remains embedded in communal experience at the local level and serves primarily as a way for youth to reappropriate forms of cultural expression that have long been dominated by large corporate interests. For example, a gallery in Ottawa, Ontario recently hosted an interdisciplinary art event to showcase “young, amateur, subversive, refreshing, and innovative art forms of all kinds”. One of the featured film makers at this event made his films at home on his computer, and counselled other young film makers to “…ignore high production values, beautiful people, and glamorous Hollywood nonsense” since “anyone can make a film”.

This linking of “high tech” and “high touch” hints at one of the central paradoxes of youth network culture. It can be both a solitary activity, practised in isolation in virtual space, but also a catalyst for communal sharing, often in real time and real space. Far from being a “virtual” event the screening described above, according to a local arts magazine, “…began with a packed room and an alarming lack of breathable air. The intimacy was electrifying”.[20]

In Canada, there is some evidence to suggest that the digital divide, at least among the young, has closed. A recent survey of Internet use among young Canadians indicated that those living in households with incomes below C$20,000 per year use the Internet over three hours more per week than those who are university-educated.[21] This does not mean, however, that social exclusion and marginalization do not exist among the young in Canada. Rather it suggests that the marginalized are socially embedded in a broader environment, cut off from multiple forms of capital – economic, social and cultural. In the case of deprived youth, recent Canadian research suggests that removing barriers to participation in traditional artistic endeavours and offering high quality instruction may lead to increased confidence, improved interpersonal skills and improved conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.[22] At this point, however, little evidence exists regarding the social effects of network culture on youth (although there is considerable concern about “cyber-stalking” and pornography).

Policy issues
Canadian governments at all levels, as well as non-profit organizations, provide a variety of cultural programmes for youth, and many of them are moving towards a greater recognition and accommodation of youth network culture.

At the federal government level, a number of major cultural Internet portals exist. The Canadian Culture Online Branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage administers a number of policies and programs to help bring the country’s cultural content to Canadians and the world. Through its Culture.ca portal, a public space developed in partnership with the private sector, it provides links to a wide variety of cultural websites, including some that are youth-oriented.[23] The Department of Canadian Heritage also hosts Culturescope.ca, the website of the Canadian Cultural Observatory, which aims at fostering cultural research, connecting cultural policy decision makers and encouraging informed decision making.[24]

The National Advisory Board of the Culture.ca portal has underlined the need to focus on the digital cultural activities of youth. Its current business plan indicates that it will develop an interim CultureJunior section of Culture.ca as a precursor to the development of a full-fledged Culture.ca YouthZone channel. Culture.ca also intends to conduct a literature review of qualitative and quantitative studies to better understand the type of online service that should be provided for youth.[25]

That said, however, Canadian government support for youth networks is still very much a “hands-on” activity. For example, Exchanges Canada, a programme of the Department of Canadian Heritage, provides funding to support two-way exchange visits between young Canadians aged 11 to 18 years. Another Canadian Heritage programme, the Urban Multipurpose Aboriginal Youth Centre initiative, provides support for a network of urban youth centres to provide accessible, culturally relevant programs, services and counselling for urban Aboriginal youth.[26] It is likely that youth network culture initiatives will supplement, rather than replace, this type of intervention.

As mentioned above, the impact on children and young people of online violence, pornography and hatred is an emerging concern in public policy. Recently, the Government of Canada introduced draft legislation to protect children from sexual exploitation, violence, abuse and neglect. While it is currently an offence in Canada to use the Internet to communicate with a young person for the purpose of committing a sexual offence against that child, the proposed legislation would broaden the definition of child pornography and narrow existing artistic and scientific defences for the production of such material.[27] In the non-profit sector, the Media Awareness Network, an organization that provides information and tools on its website to help young people understand how the media work, has used network culture to educate both parents and youth about these issues.[28] Through its Be Web Aware public education program on Internet safety, it provides practical information to help parents teach their children about the potential risks of going online.[29]

Copyright is another potentially divisive public policy issue related to youth network culture. As a good portion of youth culture (including such widely networked forms as rap and hip-hop) consists of a bricolage of media content, it frequently puts young creators in conflict with more established forms of cultural production. As Naomi Klein observes:

In this context, telling video artists that they can’t use old car commercials, or musicians that they can’t sample or distort lyrics, is like banning the guitar or telling a painter he can’t use red. The underlying message is that culture is something that happens to you. You buy it at the Virgin Megastore or the Toys ‘R’ Us and rent it from Blockbuster Video. It is not something in which you participate, or to which you have the right to respond.[30]

During April 2004, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage studied a number of copyright issues, including Internet service providers’ liability, use of the Internet for educational purposes and technology-enhanced learning.[31] To date, however, Canadian copyright legislation has not addressed the wider issues of sampling and reproduction of audio and visual works.

An even thornier issue than creative copying is the downloading of content from the Internet by consumers. A recent survey indicated that 57% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 have downloaded a music file, although this figure is down from the previous year due to fears about lawsuits by record companies.[32] Ironically, while the recording industry in the United States does have the right to sue those who download music, the Federal Court of Canada ruled in early 2004 that file sharing on peer-to-peer networks is legal.[33] Whilst this ruling is currently subject to appeal, it does illustrate the legal ambiguities and complexities surrounding network culture, not the least of which is the apparent ability of legal rulings within one jurisdiction to cause a “chill” in another.

Finland: Ritva MITCHELL and Anna KANERVA
CUPORE – Foundation for Cultural Policy Research

Trends
The main components of Finnish youth culture seem to find their basis in rather traditional values, stressing family, health, good income and a stable job.[34] In Youth Barometer surveys, which have been conducted annually since 1994 [35] status-orientated lifestyle groups and self-development have been seen as main trends among young people. The following constitute some of the different youth lifestyle groups which have been identified: society- and status-orientated, critical, leisure-orientated, self-developers and information society-orientated. Young people are seen to have increasingly individual values and interests; there is no single or unified youth culture, but a variety of cultures and subcultures.

Connected directly as it is to status-orientation and self-development, education is strongly valued among young people. According to the Ministry of Education, over 90% of pupils choose to continue on to upper secondary school, or towards vocational education, after the nine-years of compulsory schooling. This also means that important social environments are formed especially around schooling.

Major ideologies have lost some of their significance for young people. Party politics, religion or other traditional associations do not seem to hold much interest for young Finns, who focus rather on different kinds of single issue projects, such as defending animal rights or environmental issues. This means more individual interests and choice of groups. Of Finnish sub- and counter-cultures, for example hip hoppers, heavy music diggers, skateboarders, different fan groups, and - partly acting in grey legal areas - “hard-line” animal rights activisist, motorcycle gangs and Satanists have been identified and studied in youth research conducted in the 1990s and thereafter . [36]

The lifestyles of young Finnish people have been described as essentially including ICT, mobile phones and consumerism. Instead of societal or political conditions, lifestyle seem to be the factor through which young Finns construct themselves as different from other generations. [37]

The importance of ICT is marked in Finland. Not simply a tool to young people, technology seems to be a channel for self-definition and identification. When asked to select a concept which best describes their generation, respondents in the Finnish Youth Barometer in 2004 [38] most frequently selected the alternatives “ICT Generation” and “Mobile Phone Generation”.[39] Interestingly, these choices vary clearly according to gender, with young men identifying themselves more often with technology, while for young women, mobile phones were more central in this respect. Researchers believe information and communication technology with its subcultures and internal codes will play an important role in the development of generational consciousness among young people. [40]

So far as use of time is concerned, socialising with friends and family and television viewing have been traditionally predominant among the young. New technology has also started to bring new dimensions into these patterns.

As a reaction and counterbalance to the accentuated individualisation of the last decade, Finnish young people emphasise a stronger value in different communities in the 21^st century. [41] Also as youth research subjects, social capital and youth identities have been strongly linked, as well as in relation to virtual networks. [42]

According to the Finnish Youth Barometer 2004, the most important social communities and networks are found among family, friends, in Finnish society at large and at school or at work. For young women, family and friends are clearly most important, while to young men leisure communities such as associations are also significant.

According to a survey made by the Advisory Council for Youth Affairs (2001)[43], more than half of young Finns between the ages 7 and 29 participate in youth organisations. The most popular organisations are sports clubs, pupil and student organisations and various hobby organisations. Only two percent of young Finns belong to political organisations. About 40 percent of the young Finns practising sport do so through sports clubs.

It has been observed that different net communities (e.g. games, chat, web pages) provide a way for young people to form and maintain relationships. In a study conducted in Finland on the use of computers and the internet, in the 13 to 15 and the 17 to 19 age groups, around 80% of boys and 85% of girls (in both age groups) used the net for e-mail. Among the younger age group, chat was even more popular with 85% of boys and 91% girls chatting regularly. Discussion groups were not quite as popular (around 65%), but it is noticeable that the younger age group was again more active in participation. [44]

As already mentioned, mobile phones are a vitally important part of communication and networking for young Finnish people. In the Eurobarometer statistics from 2001, Finnish young people between the ages 15 to 24 are the most active in use of mobile phones compared to young people in other European countries, with around 90 percent having used a mobile phone during the past week.

Information and communication technology and the concept of information society have become very important in Finland in the last decade, with most of the interest having been on the distribution of ICT and the development of society through technology. As a threat to the welfare of society as a whole and of competitiveness in particular, the promotion of access and “information society for all” has been a special focus of the Government. For the older generation however, this mostly means using computers as technology. In a study by Statistics Finland, in 1999 roughly 60% of the Finnish population (97% for the age group 15 and under) uses computers, while the number only shows a rapid decline in the 60+ age group. When it comes to internet use, the differences grow with only around 35% of the whole population having access to the internet, a proportion which (according to the study mentioned above) is around half as big among people under 19 years of age.

It can be said that ICT has produced both common and separate experiences for different generations. The use of computers, the internet, computer games and mobile phones has created new cultural codes especially for young people, in which older generations don’t take part. These codes tend to be more globalised by their very nature than the cultures of earlier generations. [45]

Materialistic values per se seem not to be prevalent among young Finns. With growing material prosperity, financial security no longer figures as highly in people’s values as was the case with previous generations. Young people increasingly stress self-expression and quality of life. Finnish youth researcher Helena Helve has noted in her follow-up study of young Finns’ values and attitudes that materialist values are giving way to post-materialist values, such as concern for the environment and other global issues. However, according to Helve, young people’s values are not particularly coherent or consistent. Instead they select their values from different value systems according to any given situation. Thus, a young person might for example be an individualist in some matters and humanist in others. [46]

When it comes to consumption and spending, the most important information sources for young people are the media and advertising. Parents and friends are also influential in this respect. [47]

General prosperity means that young people also have more money to spend on their leisure pursuits.

According to the 2001 Youth Barometer, 15% of respondents between the ages of 15 and 29 felt their leisure activities cost a lot of money. There is a difference in attitude to spending for leisure between men and women. 20 % of young men responded that they are in the habit of spending a lot of money on leisure activities, while only one in ten of the female respondents admitted the same.[48]

In the world of television, young people have started to gain more prominence as audiences in the past decade or so. There are several commercial stations in Finland that explicitly target their programming on young Finns (mainly TV4 and SubTV), which therefore also direct their advertising output at the younger age groups. When asked about the importance of a few select choices for their leisure time, young Finns felt television and its American programmes and movies were the most important, ahead of CDs and video , rock-concerts or Finnish television programmes and films. [49]

In the Finnish study on the use of computers among teenagers (see above), 85% of boys aged 13-15 and 76% of boys aged 17-19 downloaded music from the net, with the shares for girls in the same age groups being substantially lower - 42% and 38% respectively. [50]

Traditional student and youth group exchanges have been on the increase since Finland joined the EU. According to the Centre for International Mobility (an expert and service organisation subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Culture), around 20 percent of university students and 15 percent of students in polytechnics took part in mobility programmes in year 2003. This generation has already been called ‘the Erasmus generation’. Interest in mobility is, however, strongly connected to the level of education.

Usage of information networks is also an important part of this trend. Finnish young people have easy access to information networks especially in schools and public libraries. English is widely spoken among young people. According to the Finnish National Board of Education, by the end of the 1990s more than 85 percent of children chose to study English as their first foreign language. In much of youth research it has been claimed that technology-based youth cultures are increasingly global by nature. Still, it seems that most Finnish young people connect via the internet with the same friends they connect with in other local, social networks.

In the field of electronic music there is a vibrant male dominated sub-culture, which is globally well-connected. Koneisto - a festival of electronic music - with its DJs is one of the biggest in Europe attracting global audiences. Young professionals working in the field of new media and media art are also members of worldwide networks in the field.

Impact on society
The ongoing change around us is reflected in prevailing values, and in this young people are the forerunners. As has already been mentioned, the basic values of Finnish youngsters are traditional and as such reflect society at large. According to the Youth Barometer surveys, in the last ten years the values and attitudes of young people have not basically changed, and seem to do so only very slowly.

Still, according to the Youth Barometer, young people feel there are significant differences in values and attitudes between generations, especially concerning lifestyles. Lifestyles at the moment are strongly linked with ICT and consumerism. When it comes to technology-based cultural codes and lifestyles, it is clear they are in constant change. Technology changes, develops and offers new possibilities and new “ICT-generations” grow up, with the latest skills and able to develop their own new cultural codes and practices.

Compared to the indigenous population, the proportion of children and young people among the immigrant community is much higher in Finland, with 43% of immigrants aged 29 or under (the proportion is 36% in the native population). Recently, some traditional Finnish youth organisations have devised programmes specially aimed at encouraging immigrant participation, and in some Helsinki City Youth facilities, young immigrant users make up the majority. In addition, young immigrants have now started establishing organisations and clubs of their own, often to bring together a given ethnic group. [51]

It is possible to be excluded from ICT and mobile phone use, which form a core in the experiences of the young especially, without the skills or resources to use them. Some demographic, socio-economic and regional differences can furthermore be noted in Finland today and this also impacts strongly on immigrant young people. Finnish young people themselves believe social inequalities are becoming more marked in the information society.[52]

Some young Finns choose deliberately not to take part in the use of mobile phones or ICT out of personal lifestyle choices.

As mentioned above, increased mobility of young people in the EU framework and through its programmes has been a significant feature, especially among the highly educated young.

Policy issues
The main objectives of government youth policy are to enhance young people’s social empowerment and to support active citizenship. To this end, the policy of the Ministry of Education and Culture (the ministry also responsible for youth policy) focuses for example on the development of youth workshops (aimed at unemployed young people), supporting young people’s after-school activities, cultural activities and events and subsidising and developing young people’s web media.

Traditionally, the main responsibility for carrying out youth policies has been delegated to local authorities. In many cities there are either Youth Councils or combined Youth, Culture and Leisure Councils, which are responsible for supporting local youth activities. The allocation of grants to youth organisations and young people’s leisure activities usually are the main components of (cultural) youth policy delivery. These policies have been under constant change as regards their priorities in keeping with the changes in the life styles of young people. The latest policy shifts have been directed towards supporting new media and internet activities, and electronic music.

On the Finnish public agenda, the Government’s Policy Programmes cover the most important intersectoral subject matter in the Government Programme. The current Government has launched four policy programmes that are led and coordinated by a minister responsible for the programme. The programmes are as follows: Information Society Policy Programme (Prime Minister), Employment Policy Programme (Minister of Labour), Entrepreneurship Policy Programme (Minister of Trade and Industry) and Civil Participation Policy Programme (Minister of Justice). Youth policy is a feature in all these programmes.

As one of the sub sectors, the Information Society Programme aims at providing and promoting basic information technology skills for all citizens, media literacy, and the skills needed for using information technology services in accordance with their needs. The Civic Participation Programme, with its emphasis on groups whose participation and influence have remained low in the past, addresses young people in its objectives directly, with promotion of young people’s development into active and discerning citizenship. Technology plays an important part in this programme.

Copyright law is under revision in Finland at the moment and issues concerning copyright and its application do address the interests of young people (downloading music, content for mobile phones etc.). It has been noted that opinion groups, which advocate the abolition of copyright altogether, have started to emerge among the young, as well as other proposed alternatives to the present copyright system, the so called ‘creative commons’ ( creation of public space, for example for new media artists, who are all mostly young professionals).

Sources
Lähteenmaa, Jaana 2001. Myöhäismoderni nuorisokulttuuri. Tulkintoja ryhmistä ja ryhmiin kuulumisen ulottuvuuksista. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto.
Nuorisobarometri 2001 (Youth Barometer 2001). Pekka Saarela. Helsinki: Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta.
Nuorisobarometri 2000 (Youth Barometer 2000). Pekka Saarela. Helsinki: Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta.
Nuorisobarometri 2/1999 (Youth Barometer 2/1999). Pekka Saarela. Helsinki: Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta.
Oman elämänsä yrittäjät. Nuorisobarometri 2004 (Youth Barometer 2004). Terhi-Anna Wilska (ed.) Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, Nuorisoasian neuvottelukunta & Stakes.
Saarela, Pekka 2004. Nuorisobarometrit vuosina 1994-2004. In Oman elämänsä yrittäjät. Nuorisobarometri 2004 (Youth Barometer 2004). Terhi-Anna Wilska (ed.) Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, Nuoriosasiain neuvottelukunta & Stakes.
Suoninen, Annikka 2003. Tietokone taipuu moneksi – mutta mihin sitä käytetään? In Teknologisoituva nuoruus. Nuorten elinolot –vuosikirja 2003. Sonja Kangas and Tapio Kuure (eds.). Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta & Stakes.
Wilska, Terhi-Anna 2004. Nuorten kollektiivinen sukupolvitietoisuus Nuorisobarometrin valossa. In Oman elämänsä yrittäjät. Nuorisobarometri 2004 (Youth Barometer 2004). Terhi-Anna Wilska (ed.) Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, Nuorisoasiain neuvottelukunta & Stakes.
Youth in Finland. Anniina Kalliomaa, Sanna Puura & Piia Tasanko (eds.) 2004. Youth Policy Division, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland. [WWW-document.] <http://www.minedu.fi/minedu/youth/youth_finland/youth_finland.pdf>

Introduction
The very title is a crucial departure point for further refinement since the question ‘whose culture is it?’ suggests a double ambivalence with respect to ownership of culture and belonging to a culture. While the former primarily implies what can be done with the culture, the latter relates more to a feeling, or what can be derived from such a culture. There may very well also be generational differences as well as crucial distinctions within the same generation. If culture is taken as much more than a mere set of values expressed through certain attitudes, such as a major basis of critical reflection, then assuming that culture is part of personal or collective ownership already differs greatly from perceptions of it as potential enrichment of life.

A key question is whether or not young people remain passive in the face of major and dominant trends using culture. Does this actually only deepen consumption - a hedonistic way of seeking pleasure, or does it at significant moments stimulate a capacity to change passive recipients into active producers of and participants in culture (e.g. creating new musical groups or joining a cultural network bringing about an exchange of films or artists). The latter becomes more important when creating a new base for festivals such as the dance festival in Kalamata which has now been going for over seven years and become internationally famous, against the resistance of local and other politicians wishing to seize upon such a successful model. This suggests that success in culture goes hand in hand with integration and participation of all generations in order to keep the social structure open and flowing (in transmitting values and creating new spaces for still unknown possibilities).

The draw-back to such local success stories is that the audience stays the same. It consists of parents, friends and relatives who remain loyal to the performer irrespective of quality and thus omits a crucial development stage, the necessary open and critical debate about what is currently happening with these particular dancers or those performers. Insofar as culture is also often produced, for instance, by small theatre groups, there is an over supply of actors and numerous stages but not enough money to sustain high level performances in the long run. This creates an entire new set of problems which confront an indecisive official cultural policy with regards to these newer trends. Clearly the main task of culture is to provide some orientation and sense of proportionality with regards to the rest of the population. Although there is high proportion of young people in Greek society, the combined birth and death rates give rise to predictions about disproportionate developments:

“According to population estimates for 1993, the age group 20–24 (young adults) constitutes the largest age group of the population: 7,6% i.e. 788,656 out of 10,379,354 people. The age group 15–19 constitutes the third largest age group: 7,4% (771,012 people) of the total population. The age group 10–14 constitutes the fifth largest age group: 7% (726,586 people) of the total population. The female population is generally larger than the male, which holds true especially for people over 30. But in all of the three aforementioned age groups, male outnumber females.” [53]

Trends
Current trends in Greece increasingly identify culture as ‘our culture’. This, of course, is integral to a certain way of life. ‘Hellas’ has become the newly revived rallying point for a sort of friendly patriotic style of Nationalism. Young people have no hesitation in putting ‘Hellas’ on their T-shirts, or in painting the Greek flag on their arms or faces for high profile events like European football matches. In reality this may however be a silent cry for badly needed collective identity, and to escape the loneliness of individualism and exclusion.[54]

Nevertheless, a more sophisticated culture linked to popular music and dance goes through waves of decline and revitalisation. Efforts to profile cultural specificity by CD producer Lyra, exemplified by the singer Savinna Yannatou, have given rise to a revival in ethnologically-based songs around the Mediterranean and use of traditional instruments. Still, a musical bar like FONES in Athens which had cultivated circles for female voices, story telling, percussion and solos over a seven year period went out of business in 2004 since the effort in sustaining such a cultural investment proved just too demanding for the people involved. At the moment the trend is much more in the direction of simple Pop and Rock culture, sometimes mixed with folkloristic elements. It aims to recall some Greek national identity while growing ever closer to the same music being played throughout the rest of the world.

This music increasingly involves young Greeks in an active night life and style of expressions as exemplified during the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. The style of night life relies on prominent pop stars mixed with colorful elements such as gypsies bringing flowers and pots to people who actually just want to enjoy going out to eat. [55]

Behind such presentations still lurk the prevailing tourist slogans suggesting Greece means only sun and beach. However this differs from earlier clichés derived Zorba the Greek as the ever present modernity is really about high luxury images, fast cars, swimming pools, radiant beauties and a life devoid of hard work. This has captured the imagination of many young people who either tend to hang out at night in bars, cafés or night clubs (i.e. passive followers of this dominant trend) or else work quietly and individually on trying to understand and to articulate an alternative to this usual image of modern Greece. [56

Almost all of them tend to believe, however, that they understand the games that are being played and while letting them continue, think they have sufficient independence to be able to withstand the trend if they wish to.

Greece has gone through some very rapid changes with grandparents perhaps still living and working on some remote island while the third generation of young people may be growing up in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Iraklion, Volos etc. with an entirely urban based experience for the first time. Village life as the key determinant is obsolete, which means that new trends are setting in and taking young Greeks to fresh challenges as they grow up in a world of uncertainties, war and over consumption. The latter reveals itself in children and young people being affected by bad diets. Already at an early age they are experiencing serious health problems.

Cultural officials would nevertheless argue that there are indicators showing positive developments as compared with previous generations, as current youth attempts more seriously to bridge the gap between Greece’s ancient and / or traditional past and contemporary life in search of new outlets for their energies.

Certain trends in the media are reinforcing choices as to what can be responded to, when, and how. The impact can be seen in modish behaviour patterns: a clear copy of a certain type. It is gender specific and differentiates more between the sexes than it does between age groups. Models for growing up hardly exist. Instead the transition from childhood to adult life is made rather rapidly, so that borders between youth and adult existence are fluid.

The impact of the media can be seen above all in the trend towards treating culture as a commercial product. Consequently there is a strong tendency to separate Ancient Culture from the present in which the evidence everywhere is that culture is purely entertainment, a continual celebration of life. This view resounds in the songs and music being played while the characteristic experiences are really global monograms, such as ‘you are so fucking special’.

- mass sport and its accompanying fanaticism has led to hooliganism and violence at football games. This trend has only recently been reversed, following the success of the Greek national team at the European cup in Portugal with the players advocating spectatorship as more of a family event;

- the ideological tendency towards ‘Hellenic culture’ as being more pronounced as a defining identity compared with a modern or postmodern Greek culture;

- compulsory military service for young males with no alternative means that low morale and just getting past this ‘dead time’ reflects nihilistic or pragmatic adaptations to circumstances in which friendship counts for most. In the time of greater tension with Turkey (early 1980s) military service was considered to be a larger threat given the likelihood of conflict with Turkey. This has abated somewhat since 1999 following the earthquakes in both Turkey and Greece which brought the people together through mutual solidarity

- religious components and the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church upon the understanding of culture cannot be completely ignored since the Church now has its own effective media and marketing strategy.

All this and more led up to political change in March 2004 with the PASOK government being ousted by the Conservative Nea Democratia forces around Karamalis, who displays in public a populist affinity with mass sports like football. However, budgetary deficits are forcing the Conservative government to cut back all programmes (e.g. sport by 25%) so that many activities are in jeopardy due to lack of adequate funding. Developing consistency is crucial across public endeavours, but the very lack of continuity is continually undermining all efforts to make progress, especially in the educational and cultural fields. [57]

Not really, since Internet access is low mainly due to high costs and while the culture of networking has not yet gripped Greece. About 25% to 35% of Youth would be involved in this kind of socialisation and integration into global society. They tend to relate and depend much more on informal mechanisms and create smaller communities by means of immediate communication tools like mobile phones. This in turn reflects a weak civil society. In the absence of NGOs and other similar organisations which do rely on networking principles as a way of engaging with international co-operation and partnerships, sooner or later the insular cultural tendencies are countered by individuals either going abroad, or else by remaining exclusively orientated towards something specific and local. The main reason is a kind of exclusive national orientation based on language (‘they feel only comfortable when speaking Greek’) as a way of protect themselves against too much outside influence.

There is also a gender specific difference: while boys and young males tend to use the Internet much more frequently, girls and females tend to read, paint and play music while at home.

Young people in general show a clear preference for music and cinema. However, they seem not to follow any specific approaches in terms of social or cultural goals, with most of these activities remain at a level of passive response.

Are practices and behaviors attributed to network youth culture discernible in later age groups as well? What are these?

There are changes that relate to entry into employment. Communication is taken up internationally - but very cautiously. Formal and informal levels are confused, and are inconsistently used in communication as people are not in the habit of sustaining the practice of giving feedback and responding to others. Hence a lot of communication gaps arise, often because the response time exceeds any normal expectation, by which time things have moved on. It is not so much absent-mindedness that causes this but simply that practice in dialogue is not strong enough to be freestanding. This is a common feature in Greek behaviour and does not only affect the young. Naturally with increasing professionalisation at work, individuals do have to network at a more formal level, but the culture is still to neglect good practice in this area, which often makes Greek seem to be very unpredictable partners.

In what measure is new youth culture being market driven or not? Can you illustrate this with specific examples?

If culture as a way of life increasingly assumes a market driven presumption of privileged existence, then all what goes with it, including advertising, will increasingly determine youth culture as well. The trend in celebrating ever younger heroes from gymnastics to basketball to football stars – and even car commercials put ten year olds behind the wheel and let them spin through the streets as if a dream has become reality – induces new cultural premises. These would include:

- style identified as belonging to certain categories is also an identification with particular trends;

- relationship to older generations marked by ambivalent and often indifferent feelings if closeness might threaten the sense of freedom.

The market driven culture produces models that include a house, a car, high tech equipment at home, certain foods and above all a desirable beauty for everyone. One of the most popular TV programs is ‘FAME’, in which people are invited to sing a song or play a musical instrument as if already a famous pop star. The allusion is quite simple. There is no need for any serious work or studies in order to come to terms with this kind of world. Naturally the undercurrent has also to be fed with some kind of magic or outer space or new tech illusions. This is life supposedly presented at its most exciting. It begins and ends with a telephone call, which itself reflects the high usage of mobile phones.

Life is inevitably portrayed as something to be mastered by remote control. The message is clear: all the gadgets and deodorants along with fitness studios the market can offer belong to the category of necessities in order to get on with living. The implicit message is ‘otherwise you die’. The perfect product and image of that artificial life is the Jeep as a reminder of nature and the possibility to go anywhere anytime at free will. As if there is no saturation point in that direction, the ecological protest of the young people is rather muted, if it exists at all.

Unfortunately too many of them grow up in a world of alienation. By the time they arrive at primary school they already spend more hours in front of the television or in the car than playing outside. Mostly they stay indoors and have little if any experience of being in nature, in wild spaces, in unknown territories. Subsequently their imagination is much more directed by games, video clips of famous pop singers and other things to be found on the Internet, than by any real human experience. As if trapped, they no longer seem to know how to escape from this alienation. If anything, young people become part of the consumption trend even before they have earned themselves the money they need in order to sustain it.

Culture as something created by oneself is inconceivable. The market driven models that prevail suggest everything exists already - all you need to do is to find out where you can find it and buy it. As the slogan over a store in Chalandri, Athens has it: “you buy, you win”.

Impact on Society
According to the official characterisation of Greek youth, the specificities within Greece are linked to having an identity that belongs neither completely to the Western nor to the Eastern world, but at the same time not being part of the Southern world related to the Arabic world or Islam, nor to the Northern hemisphere:

“The main common elements of young people in general are believed to be dynamism, spontaneity, a tendency to revolt (these three factors are all based on instinct), novelty, change, and vitality. Greek youth does not always conform to these stereotypes, and it also has to cope with certain trends in society such as ethnocentrism. However, Greek youth are in a privileged position. On the one hand, their ethnocentrism does not strongly contrast with other Western cultures, and, on the other hand, it is more open to influences from Eastern cultures, since historically, Greece has always been at the cross-roads of the East and the West.”[58]

In Greece only a minority of young people move in international circles, in particular those educated in foreign schools (such as the American College). These children tend to study abroad and only return to Greece if they have a chance of finding a good job. The rest have fewer opportunities and, therefore, less inclination to be international.

However, in comparison with previous generations, they are much more open and willing to undertake the necessary steps to link up with the rest of the world. Nevertheless, even for undergraduate studies most students prefer to stay in Greece, close to family and friends. Given the way in which Greeks define their independence at home, they find it difficult to discover an equivalent sense of freedom abroad or within other cultures. They are very reluctant to take the risk of being alone while the parents or extended family is paying substantial money to sustain their studies abroad.

Above all the education received plays upon certain key images, and the market forces tend to reinforce a strongly national trend. This goes hand in hand with religious influences or semi-religious beliefs as the basis of national identity. The usual identity crisis experienced some time between the ages 12 to 25 is increasingly answered by turning away from multi-cultural identities and taking refuge much more in an assertion of single identity. This is paralleled not so much a refusal to learn and speak other languages, but with developing certain characteristics considered to show superiority over other cultures. These are bound up with presumptions as to what gives people a sense of freedom.

If they do open up to other languages and international contacts, then because they have found work at a functional level requiring openness (e.g. working in the tourism or banking sectors), when it comes to seeking one’s own identity, then in a clear and definite sense it is national. [59]

It is always surprising how quickly personal identity melts into a Greek national one. The young acknowledge very quickly that they are Greek. Enthusiasm for “Hellas, Hellas” erupts not merely at football games or in the celebration of Greek athletes, but in disputes at school as to who is allowed to carry the Greek flag at the yearly parade marking Independence Day. Repeatedly Albanian Greeks who may have earned the right to carry the flag through having achieved the highest grades in class have had to stand down following protests. These xenophobic tendencies are strongest in relation to Albanian Greeks.

Another way of describing this trend figures under cultural adaptation of international products being marketed in a special way to suit and fit into the Greek context. Apart from music and films being assimilated, it can be observed that there is increasing interest being shown by youth and other age groups in ‘comics’ as prime reading material, alongside magazines and other information sources linked to sport, computers, sailing boats etc.

To what extent do the main trends of youth culture – particularly network culture – seem long-lasting?

Every generation has some outstanding experiences which leave a mark. If this has cultural significance then it survives and in time achieves iconic status. A good example would be Theodorakis’ songs and music as a symbol of the student and Greek protest against the military dictatorship in Greece (1967 – 73). The closer the identification of song and music with popular sentiment, the greater the chances of their having a lasting impact. In previous generations there was a great deal of love for great poets like Elytis, Ritsos and Seferis, but this trend towards listening to the poetic voice could not be sustained. The poets are now less celebrated, and only few like Katerina Anghelaki Rooke with her natural philosophy and non-intellectual poetry manage to speak to all generations.

If something is able to serve as a bridge between the younger and older generations, and thereby promises some continuity in values, then there is always a chance of its lasting longer. This is the case is with Savina Yannatou who is establishing herself by building cultural bridges to different influences while reaching out and beyond a typical Greek audience. This trend has to do with ethnological experimentation with traditional instruments until improvisation becomes possible - an innovative style allowing voice, sound and text to take on a new texture. Listeners feel that this communicates directly to the soul in an un-commercial very authentic way. Although the more recent youth trend in listening to music is much closer to global pop and rock culture, there is still an important distinction made for a Greek band or pop-star emerging from one’s own society. This suggests that there is a stable market once someone has made his or her name in the Greek society. However, this specific long-life aspect cannot be considered to be a result of a network culture.

If the existence of an overall ‘network culture’ extremely hard to detect, and given the relative weakness of Greek civil society, the post-Byzantine cultural patterns linking family, political party in power and church on the one hand, and informal-formal business practice on the other will characteristically continue to dominate. The basis and workings of Greek society dictate that there are few social openings without these personal and family safeguards. Consequently anyone who does not accept this dominant pattern with all its practical ramifications is likely to be excluded.

Given the lack of any overall social contract to allow for the development of sufficient objectivity so that merit and performance become the means of advancement, then any recognition and reward of individual achievement has to be attained through other means – e.g. higher expenditure in education and training to attain a better than average grade and thereby be able to enter university in order to have still another competitive edge; use of family and other connections to link up with a specific job. It means that much has to be based on trust rather than on formal contracts, due to a high preponderance of informal agreements and sometimes chaotic way of organising things. This exposes people to the risk of being disappointed and even to possible social sanctions if not accepting this trust as a social benefit but with no guarantee of being rewarded.

This dilemma increases conflicts of interest and leads either to compromises in work performance, or else to bad choices and no real satisfaction from what one is doing. It also means that many more social skills are needed in order to survive in such a society than would be regarded as sufficient elsewhere, provided there is evidence of professional qualification and experience. Most Greeks who return from abroad are frustrated by the contrast in what they could achieve abroad compared with what they find almost impossible at home.

Policy issues
Do concepts related to Europe – integration, enlargement etc. – find reflection in the above described processes?

Not really – an initial enthusiasm for Europe has declined to the point of no longer caring much about what happens in Brussels.

Are the latest youth culture trends – and particularly network culture – reflected in the cultural policies in your country at the different levels (local, regional, state etc.)? If so, in what way?

Under the Ministry of Culture is the ‘Secretariat for Youth’. In the last two to four years, this section has played a decreasingly active role in advancing special policy measures relating to young people. During the Olympics, even such initiatives as Olympic Truce did not enjoy sufficient support in order to have any serious impact.

On a general level, there is a widely shared public concern that the young people stay out of trouble. They mean steering clear of drugs and not getting involved in any kind of mishap. Values are passed on that emphasise certain gender differences when it comes to furthering expectations of boys and girls at the level of policy. Although gender equality is advanced, in reality vast differences prevail at all levels of decision making. This is reflected in turn in how society tends to accept or reject certain modes of behaviour.

Education is the most crucial policy area directly to address youth. Here Greece continues to have a dual path: public schools with a reputation for low achievement and private schools for those who can afford them. In either case, education is expensive since ‘official’ schooling seems not to deliver adequate preparation for students to pass the final exams and therefore entry into university. There is a huge sector just to service these extra needs. This has led to another culture, namely that of the frondistrio – the educational institutes that complement the regular schools. This sub-culture is a dominant, equally complex form of mediation and means students no longer learn effectively in the class during regular hours but have to spend substantial time – sixteen hours a week – in these other places cramming to pass exams. This system deprives the children of a common social perspective and reduces learning to just memorising for exams.

A key conclusion to emerge from this is that although children and students don’t want to do it (but since everybody does) they drive up the grades and as a consequence you really have to enter the dual system to have any realistic chance of getting into higher education. Given this intense competition, the pure obsession with grades deprives the young of any investigative methodology, curiosity or critical awareness which is essential if ‘knowledge’ is not just to consist of memorising facts for exams. One way in which the education process can be perceived is therefore almost like an extension of the Kindergarten - simply to keep growing children under control, off the streets and occupied in something deemed necessary but not creative.

The fact that the Greek state fails to address and improve its educational deficiencies, whilst at the same time paying scant attention to art and cultural studies in the school context means that no effort is made to bring about any kind of youth movement rooted in culture. There are different levels at which this is addressed but the main interest remains strictly formal and at a tokenistic level of appearances only. In any concrete way there is little done to alleviate this neglect of culture in terms of contemporary realities.

Year	Total	0 – 14 years	15 – 64 years	65 and over years
1971	8.768.372	2.223.904	5.587.352	957.116
1981	9.739.589	2.307.297	6.192.751	1.239.541
1987	9.983.490	2.010.661	6.618.249	1.354.580
1988	10.004.401	1.980.491	6.658.374	1.365.536
1989	10.038.672	1.947.170	6.704.936	1.386.566
1990	10.088.700	1.911.800	6.761.100	1.415.800
1991	10.200.000	1.880.800	6.866.400	1.452.800

Source: Y. Yfantopoulos, “Demographic trends and Socio-Economic indicators in Greece and the EU”, in: History of Modern Greece, ed. George Douskas and Pericles Smerlas, Ministry of Press and Media, Athens 2001, p. 148

Trends
As an annex to this survey response, some findings have been extracted from a major survey on the cultural habits of Hungarian youth in 2003. It remains to be seen how much this sociological evidence corresponds to the cultural habits and behaviour of young people in other parts of Europe.

In the past few decades music has dominated not just youngsters’ cultural life but often life as such. For many teenagers this is what matters most, creating bonds or separating them from others. Various figures suggest that this passion is divided roughly 50/50 between Hungarian and imported music. This figure is quoted not to illustrate any particular level of musical autarchy, but rather as an illustration that it is around local groups that belonging can create real communities.

Young people go out of their way in Hungary, too, to produce distinctive styles not only through their musical tastes, but also in their fashions, slang and appearance. The trademark mobile phones, shoes or jeans are used for identification.

This dominance of music (and films, as we will see) is not however reflected in the responses to questions about the main concerns of Hungarian youth. During the survey Youth 2000 young people put these as follows: housing, unemployment, poverty, drugs, inequality etc.

Nearly 700,000 young people attend the largest youth festivals each year (the country’s population is only 10 million), including Sziget (Island), probably the largest in its kind on the continent.

Spending time in malls, plazas and multiplex cinemas is the natural and well-calculated result of the investment boom of the past ten years. However, whilst this way of life has its mass addiction, typical of working class youth, it seems to have passed its high water mark. (e.g. sales at multiplex cinemas have stopped growing.)

Traditional cultural activities are high during school age but then fall down to around 10%.

Young Hungarians are not among the best equipped with computers or the Internet, although this is a field where every figure becomes outdated by the time it is published. Still, numbers coming from both the Youth 2000 and the Culture 2003 national surveys imply that digitally managed network culture is by no means typical of our youth. Computers and the Internet are daily tools for teenagers and for highly educated young adults only (for a rather more detailed analysis of the use and role of IT see the annex).

This is not to dispute that network culture is shaping the future patterns of 21^st century culture of Europe. Nor does it mean that Hungary is being left behind in this trend. One must however understand that it is restricted to a minor segment of Hungarian youth: the cutting edge.

Browsing through the report Youth 2000 has led us to the following recognition. The researchers found that in 2000 38% of young Hungarians claimed that their parents’ life was an acceptable example for them, against 13% negative answers. This can be compared with the results of a similar survey in 1973 (in the middle of the “socialist” era) when 22,6% only identified themselves with their parents’ way of life and 36,5 rejected it. Unless something is wrong with either survey (or both), and assuming Hungary is not an isolated case, this means that the generation gap was much sharper in the 1970s than now. The multiple “revolutions” of the 1960s placed young people in 1973 in opposition to their parents. If, however, today there is more social harmony between the generations, it also implies that whatever cultural practices and behaviours are discernible during youth, the chances are good that they will also be taken up by the older generation.

The processes of becoming less serious, which began in the late 1950s have been going on ever since. The idealisation of youthfulness in clothing and way of life goes together with the frequently described phenomena of prolonged childhood and youth, and extended family dependence due to lengthy education and lack of employment. However, the rise of the informal, ephemeral and youthful is reflected in many other ways. Tabloids take lead over serious newspapers, television is dominated by reality shows, flying is low cost with a single sandwich, and culture is no more a sacred domain - being mostly consumed within the specific context of ‘events’ (festivals) etc.[60]

It appears therefore that no matter how much network culture is specific of today’s youth, and no matter how much it implies isolation from the immediate environment, the limited distance in the value systems of the different generations implies that if we enter into a new era, this will not produce similar schisms to those of the 1960-1970s. Parents will probably follow their children.

All the familiar signs of the huge purchasing power of youth are visible and being exploited in Hungary. What is unclear however is whether the expensive and popular road shows of the commercial media that attract so many people, and which clearly serve marketing aims, are as powerful in other countries, too. (For figures, see the annex.)

The basic orientation of Hungarian youth is towards the West, with the main vehicle of communication being English (even if the general level of competence is not all that high). The approximate 50/50 division in music was mentioned above. Over 80% of cinema tickets bought are to see American films.

There is no convincing reason to suggest that the current trends will stop, go into reverse or change significantly over, say, the next ten years.

Impact on society
The annex demonstrates that inequality (social exclusion) is a major concern in present Hungarian culture. It is probably an East-Central European characteristic that national deviations are larger than what we believe to be the case in the West. Governments have made efforts to lessen social divisions by means of various programmes to promote the use of computers and the Internet. High hopes are pinned on the capacities of IT to bridge various distances. This could succeed if IT penetration does actually help people to get jobs even in remoter depressed areas. Without income and a job, surfing the Internet offers little consolation.

Hungarians voted for integration in higher numbers than the average. “Europe” maintains its appeal, although there is a great amount of uncertainty about what to expect. The number of those, who have profited through finding grants, scholarships, even jobs in the West is growing. On the other hand, the previous ruling Party (now in opposition) - Fidesz - is popular among the young. This party is ‘Eurosceptic’, and somewhat nationalistic and conservative, including its cultural policy.

Policy issues
As was noted above the promotion of IT is part of government policy, especially within the Education Ministry. This is less strong in the Culture Ministry. Although there was a Ministry for Children, Youth and Sports (very recently reorganised as the Ministry for Youth and Equality Opportunities), it is difficult to identify anything which you might term a youth policy in Hungary.

Compulsory drafting for army service was abolished this autumn. A particular domain of youth culture is therefore gone forever.

Statistical annex:

Two sources were used, one major, one minor. The major source is the national survey Culture 2003 conducted by the Institute of Sociology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The survey was done in the autumn of 2003 with 3400 Hungarian citizens between the ages of 14-70. The sample was representative by age, gender and place of residence. The survey was geared to the cultural habits of Hungarians. Of the 3400 people, 1169 were between 14-30. Findings are now being published by Magyar Művelődési Intézet (Hungarian Institute for Culture) in a series of booklets: Vol. 1 on cultural centres, Vol. 2 on festivals and Vol. 3 on Budapest. Data on youth presented here may form part of a volume on the young.

The minor source is the volume Ifjúság 2000 (Youth 2000 in English) published by Nemzeti Ifjúságkutató Intézet, National Institute for Youth Research in 2002, which presented the findings of a survey focusing on the young and conducted in 2000 on the basis of a sample of 8325 young people between the ages of 14-29. The social and political situation of youth being the central line of enquiry, relatively little was asked about cultural habits.

Unless indicated otherwise, the following data come from Culture 2003, processed by Zsuzsanna Hunyadi, the sociologist in charge of the empirical survey.

Cultural Habits of Hungarian Youth in 2003.

The graph shows the percentage figures for those young people who declared that they had attended any of the cultural events or institutions specified.

Frequency of involvement is presented in the next graph, showing the number of instances of participation:

The data in the survey allows us to dig deeper into each category. For our purposes of searching for those kinds of activities which could qualify as relevant to the 21^st century, we will go into some specific areas.

The first graph breaks down the grouping of festivals, revealing that local events have attracted almost two thirds of young people in the past twelve months. Those forms that are liable to create “tribes”, above all rock festivals, were attended by smaller figures than is often supposed (14 – 22 – 14%).

As we can see, 67% – 59% – 47% of the three selected age groups had been to a cultural centre in the previous year. This institution is an important feature of the cultural scene in Hungary (as also in other parts of Europe). The people interviewed remembered what they did at the venues – they could name several activities, which explains why the totals are well above 100%. The percentages relate to the entire group. Example: we saw above that 59% of 19-24 year-old youths had been to a cultural centre, about half of them (30%) for a dance party, disco or ball.

Using a computer at a cultural centre applied to 11% – 4% – 3% in the respective age groups, falling with age at a rate that corresponds to the responses relating to the use of computers in general.

Why in cultural centres? Our other main source, the survey Youth 2000 found that three years earlier 27% of young people could use the computer at home. The researchers were struck by the differences by age groups: twice as many teenagers reported they were able to use a computer at home than 25-29 year old young adults. This was probably an interim point during the phase of rapid penetration, when parents were more able to afford to buy computers for themselves and/or their teenage children than young adults.

In the same year of 2000, 8% of young people were able to use the Internet at home. In this respect the differences by age were much smaller (9% teenage versus 7% aged 25-29).

By this, we have arrived at the use of computers and the Internet, something their parents were not exposed to, and thus represents a key distinguishing feature of this generation.

Usage of Computer and the Internet

The proportion of users of both the computer and the Internet is highest in the youngest age group, 83% in both cases. (Which means that 83% of 83% = 69% of the youngest age group uses the Internet.) Over 25 years of age both levels of usage drop significantly.

The next question is what young Hungarians use the Internet for. The following table shows the percentages of various uses of the Internet among those who reported regular using of the computer (at least twice a month).

1. We observed that Hungarian teenagers spend significantly more time with the computer and the Internet than those in their twenties. Within this, chatting – maybe the most typical form of forging cultural networks – is a predominantly teenage sport: it is important under 20, and then it drops sharply (47%, 29%, 17%);

3. Entertainment, listening and downloading music and the like are relatively stable across age groups, around 30%;

Social Distances

It would be a distortion of the main findings of the 2003 survey if we did not refer to the main aspects of structural differences in the cultural habits of Hungarian youth. The close correlation between education and certain cultural patterns was easily predictable. It was an unwelcome surprise, however, to discover that the other key determinant, place of residence, has increased its influence since the last similar survey. The gap between inhabitants (the young included) in the only Hungarian metropolis and all other locations has not decreased. Data were grouped as Budapest – large towns – small towns – other settlements, mainly villages.

This graph shows the rates between the greatest distances. With regard to education, those graduating from college (or higher education) are compared to people with no full secondary education. For example, five times as many members of the former group said they had been to a classical concert as compared with people with low levels of schooling. The difference in reading books is 1,3 only: 30% in favour of graduates.

Although the rates by place of residence are smaller, they are less easy to interpret and the trend causes some concern. Young people living in Budapest had 2,3 more opportunity to go to the theatre than someone from a village – or at least, availed themselves of this chance 2,3 times more often. Even reading books occurred 10% more often in young people in the capital city. The converse figures for visiting cultural centres is in line with expectation: they are not primarily meant to serve big city people.

Information technology versus more conventional ways

How does the use of computers and the Internet fit into the value systems of Hungarian youth? The survey asked the respondents to mark between 1-5 what they like to do – or do not like to do.

These responses do not seem to support the idea of any massive dominance of network society or network culture, certainly not in Hungary in 2003. The most traditional of human pastimes: to be with friends and family members is still by far the most popular. Sitting by the computer is one of top choices among teenagers. (“Doing one’s hobby” is an ambiguous category that might include some surfing the Internet.) Yet from 19 years and above classic leisure activities of the previous century still appear to be more attractive: young Hungarians prefer to watch TV, go to the cinema, read books, make excursions or engage in sports.

Italy: Carla BODO and Giulio STUMPO
Associazionne per l’economia della cultura, Rome

Trends
Culture in Italy is important both for the significance of its heritage and for the prevailing texture of cultural and artistic activities.

In focusing our analysis on young people we find a wide and articulated panorama.

There are significant differences between the big cities, their suburbs, the small- and the middle-scale towns. Level of educational attainment is also a key factor.

The analysis that follows is based on data collected by the Italian National Institute for Statistics (ISTAT) from 1993 onwards, arising out of its annual multipurpose survey. This relates to participation in different cultural activities more than once per year.

Table 1 shows the cultural participation rate in different cultural activities for youngsters, subdivided into age groups.

Tab. 1) Annual cultural consumption by young people according to age during 2002 (population over 3 years - %)

For all age groups participation is, as we might expect, highest for indoor domestic cultural activities, like TV, radio and reading books. Amongst the non-home based cultural activities, cinema is the favourite, followed by museums and exhibitions.

Table 2 shows the trend in cultural participation in Italy by age classification - focusing on young people under 35 - in the years 1995-2002

Statistical annex:

Cultural Habits of Hungarian Youth in 2003.

Usage of Computer and the Internet

Social Distances

Information technology versus more conventional ways

Tab. 1) Annual cultural consumption by young people according to age during 2002 (population over 3 years - %)

Tab. 2) Trends for young cultural consumption in Italy - Years 1995-2002 (population over 3 years - % Var.)