 Dear students, in this module, we are going to talk about the subcultures and countercultures. Subcultures are the cultural groups within the larger society that share distinctive or unique beliefs, values and practices other than the central culture. In our society, there are many subcultures that share different distinctive cultural values. For example, if we talk about the rural urban society, there are different kinds of cultural representations within the rural society as compared to the urban culture. The living patterns can be different, the style of the language can be different, the dressing patterns can be different. Subcultures reflect the distinctive unique identities of the subcultures within any mainstream culture. So, the definition of counterculture includes the cultural groups that challenge or rebel against the dominant cultural norms and values of the society. Counterculture is generally a different culture from the mainstream culture that tries to adapt to a different culture which may be considered violation of cultural norms within the mainstream culture. So, it's a kind of deviant behavior, although it's not a kind of taboo, but it's a kind of deviant behavior. So, examples of subculture in Pakistani society include rural versus urban culture, youth have some specific cultures which are distinctive or different than the other population subgroups and also different religious or sectarian cultures. Examples of counterculture include alternative music which could be the rap music or other alternative mainstream modern forms of music and then the street art or the hipster culture. Hipster culture is a kind of reflection of different or unique dressing pattern or unique living style which is considered a kind of rebellious or kind of deviation from the mainstream culture. The role of subculture and counterculture in shaping the cultural diversity is that the subculture provides the unique perspective and contributes to the cultural diversity. Since there are many things in your mainstream culture that are in the normative pattern, the subculture is different reflections of the same patterns. In comparison to that, the counterculture challenges the traditional mainstream norms and values and brings new ideas and perspectives to the forefront. For example, after deviation, mainstream culture becomes a part of fashion and lifestyle. So, counterculture also creates positive effects. In general, mainstream culture initially reflects a reaction, but by the passage of time gradually it becomes part of the mainstream culture. The impact of these subcultures and countercultures may include the growth and evolution of society by challenging the status quo and promoting the cultural diversity. In this way, the cultural diversity is created based on those factors and the mainstream culture, in which most of the elite cultural reflection or representation is challenged.