Cultural studies regarding contemporary group formation have often been developed in abstraction from concrete social and material circumstances. This article suggests that discussions concerning the increased flexibility of contemporary group formation need further theoretical elaboration and closer empirical consideration. The article focuses on the role of difference in the creation of group memberships within the particular social circumstances of young people living in Finland. A certain `hierarchy of difference' is elaborated in order to analyse the ways in which Finnish young people outline the interplay between sameness and difference in terms of two group-related contexts: first of all, in the way they define the formation of their own group, and, second, in the way they talk about the less familiar interactions of foreigners. What kind of difference is perceived as `making the difference', as being significant?
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