Chris Jenks’in Alt Kültür Yaklaşımı ve Tofaş Gençliği: Karaman İli Üzerine Bir Araştırma
Chris Jenks' Subculture Approach and Tofaş Youth: A Research on Karaman Province

Summary/Abstract: Among the recent industrial products, one of the most significant developments affecting societies and people has been the advances in the automotive industry. Automobiles have made it possible redefine the relationship between the individuals and society, transforming spaces according to their own needs. Spaces have contributed to the creation of a network of social relationships where users can communicate with several people simultaneously in the relationship between automobiles and people. Therefore, while automobiles have become a part of private life, it has also provided individuals with the opportunity to enter the public sphere. In this study, young people who view owning a bird series car as a way to distinguish themselves from others in society are considered as a subcultural group. The main purpose of this study is to provide a sociological explanation for young people who see owning a symbolic vehicle as a way of gaining social acceptance. In this direction, the data in the study, which was conducted in accordance with the phenomenology research design within the qualitative research tradition, the data were obtained through interviews with a total of 33 people, two of whom were female and 31 of whom were male, between the ages of 18-35, who own Bird Series vehicles. Interviews were conducted between December 2022 and April 2023, using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The collected data was analysed descriptively using MAXQDA 22 software. The analysis and interpretation of the data is based on Chris Jenks' classification of cultural, reflexive, linguistic, and visual turns to explain the difference between the approaches to the concept of subculture in the modern and postmodern periods. The differences, characteristics, transforming aspects and existence strategies of young people who use Bird Series vehicles through the ownership of a symbolic vehicle and their practices of separation from the dominant culture were analyzed based on Chris Jenks' quadruple classification. The research found that young people value the relationships built around a symbolic vehicle more, as Bird Series vehicles fulfil their need for a sense of belonging to a group.

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