From Subcultures to Common Culture: Bodybuilders, Skinheads, and the Normalization of the Marginal

Abstract

Using bodybuilders and skinheads/neo-Nazis as two rather diverse examples of subcultures, the present study theoretically explores our understanding of subculture and common culture. The study aims to explore how the concept of subculture can be used analytically in relation to processes of normalization and marginalization. The focus is on the historical, symbolic, and biographical relation between the subculture, the subcultural response, and sociopolitical transformations in society and culture. We are interested in understanding the processes through which, for example, bodybuilding has moved back and forth, over time, between a subcultural position and a more common fitness culture. In parallel to this, we are also interested in how subcultures centered on skinheads, neo-Nazis, and right-wing extremists influence and are connected to more general political transformations and opinions in contemporary society, blurring the distinction between subculture and common culture. The results indicate a complex relation between subcultures and the mainstreaming of certain values, opinions, and practices.