Ideological Crisis among China's Youths: Values and Official Ideology

This article examines youth culture in a socialist society. Pragmatism, consumerism, individual accomplishment, admiration for the West, and dissatisfaction with the Party, but support for the political system, stand out as the majorbeliefs of young Chinese in the 1980s. The young rejected the harsh and irrelevant values promoted in the ideal youth culture the government packaged for their consumption. Instead they created their own subsulture adopting what they deemed most pertinent and desirable from the official ideology and from the conditions they encountered. In light of these orientations, it is likely that the present policies will continue when this generation takes over political control.