Shaping Youth in Salut les copains 1

The focus of this article is the monthly youth magazine Salut les copains (SLC), which has become synonymous with the rapid development of mass youth culture in France during the 1960s. Although the few existing academic accounts of SLC tend generally to emphasise the neutrality of its content, an in-depth study of the magazine reveals a more unequivocal approach, for example, towards the subject of youth as a community of copains. The magazine views les copains as a distinct yet socially integrated category, and expresses a solid determination to order youth and prepare readers for adulthood. Self-control is advocated amongst the magazine's young readers via popular-music stars, who serve effectively as role models of citizenship. However, a more problematic stance is adopted towards the regulation of youth especially by the French state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]