SCOM 357
Dr. Leigh Nelson
Winsie Lee
Subculture Paper
2nd March, 2013
Rave culture is one of the most significant subcultures among today’s youth. Since it
originated in the 80s as illegal underground parties that usually took place in secret
warehouses, it has transformed into popular events that have enjoyed great publicity. Rave
culture is distinguished by its transgressive potential and indulgence in hedonistic pleasure
and sensualness, reached under the influence of repetitive electronic music and drugs such
as ecstasy. Because rave cultures have emerged among different classes, countries, and
circumstances, it has great complexity which makes if difficult to make generalized claims
about the subculture. Several themes have been selected around which the discussion of this
paper would be organized. Resistance, neo-tribalism, commodification and identity are all
significant features of rave culture.
Rave culture could be interpreted as a form of resistance. According to Hebdige(1979),
subcultures are responses that represent ‘solutions’ to problems in mainstream culture. De
Certeau (1984) and Foucault(1980) asserted that nothing exists outside power. Resistance
occurs within a network of power relationships where competing ideologies construct and
contest meanings (Brummett, 1994). Resistance does not oppose the dominant culture, but
rather make creative and adaptive use of the other’s resources (de Certeau, 1984, p.37).
Mainstream culture is skeptical of the ever-accelerating and evolutionary technological
advances of the modern era. Rave subculturalists defy this fear of rapid socio-cultural
change by the over-consuming and over-embracing of technology.They hyper-adapt to
digital society by integrating ‘high tech’ into leisure consumption to a great extent (Wilson,
2002).Unlike spectacular subcultures such as punks and skinheads who openly display
anger and discontent, rave subculturalists’ resistance take on more subtle forms. They do
not quite display resistance deliberately but rather give resistive meaning to their activities
(Wilson, 2002). Rave subculturalists also resist mainstream culture’s hypocritical ‘critique
of drugs but reverence of alcohol’. Other had suggested that the respectful nature of rave
partying is a strategically symbolic reaction to the mainstream gendered and racially
segregated nightclub/bar culture. Ravers interpreted this subtle resistance as a form of
‘tactical’ resistance(Wilson, 2002). Overall, rave subculturalists use ‘purposeful-tactital’ and
‘adpative-reactive’ forms of resistance. Rave culture does not quite oppose hegemonic
culture from the outside but rather competes alongside it.
Rave culture could be interpreted as a form of ‘neo-tribe’, an unstable transitory group
that provides temporary escape from mundane everyday life (Goulding, Shankar,& Elliott,
2002). Neo-tribes are multiple and rarely dominate individual’s lives. A neo-tribe does not
exclude members of other tribes or communities, but rather stresses the fluidity between
different identities (Bennett, 1999). Because of this, neo-tribes emerge and disappear as
members come and go (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001; Muniz & Schau, 2005).
There are five key elements of neo-tribalism ritual that enhance our understanding of
rave culture: mythology, formulism, sacredness, communitas, and transformation.
Mythology is a story of origin that sets the scene for subsequent expectations and
experiences. Clubbing has a mythical foundation which came from the formative years of
rave during which secrecy was imperative and communication was restrictive. Stories of
origin survive into the present and are remembered personally or through narrative and
music. There is also a nostalgia for the original scene, which was characterized by an
underground hype. Myths provide a sense of history and help to sustain the neo-tribe’s
continuity (Goulding, Shankar, 2011).
The second key element of neo-tribalism ritual is formulism. It involves initiation, which
leads to a process of conversion and commitment (Belk et al., 1989). ‘This requires leaving
the ‘everyday’ behind for a period of physical and psychological re-adjustment, congregation
and transformation.’ (Goulding, Shankar, 2011) A lot of excitement, anticipation, careful
planning and preparation go into the initiation process. One rave subculturalist recalled her
ritual of moving from being outside the group to becoming a fully member of the neo-tribe
(Maffesoli, 1996). She started out as an ‘e’ virgin. A member gave her a tab and they waited
for it to take effect. The fellow member’s company is required to make sure the new member
can handle the drug. A lot of preparation and careful planning go into the big event. The
new member usually plans the big night two weeks in advance. She had known about the
venue, got the tickets and booked the bus, and prepared a couple hours immediately prior to
the event. Eventually she took the pill, warmed up with the DJ, and danced for 3-4 hours,
fully immersed in her transformative experience. Members of the rave culture, contrary to
popular perception, have a code of etiquette and normative behavior to follow. They are
expected to take ‘e’ so that they have the energy and state of mind to dance to repetitive
music for a long period of time. They are not supposed to take alcohol because it is
associated with aggression. Members of rave culture follow the procedures for psychological
readjustment and participation and are socialized into the scene directly through the music
played, the nature of dance, social interaction, and mental states (Goulding, Shankar, 2011) .
Sacredness is the third element of neo-tribalism ritual. Rave culture includes common
expressions of religious nature, such as ‘God is a DJ’, ‘Worship the weekend, ‘The Second
Coming’ and ‘the Clubbers’ Bible’ Venues also have religious names, such as popular clubs
‘The Ministry of Sound’, ‘The Mission’, ‘The Sanctuary’, and even ‘The Church’. Rave
culture emphasizes on ‘the sacralisation of time or ‘living for the weekend’ – a sense of
separation and clear distinction between the working week and the clubbing weekend that
offers a sense of release and an alternative way of being’ (Goulding et al., 2002). ‘Week time’
is the normal week occupied with work and general worries, while the weekend is devoted to
becoming a different person in an alternate state of being. In this sense, the profane refers
to ordinary everyday life, while the sacred is anything outside the ordinary (Belk et al.,
1989). DJs are the shamans or spiritual leaders of rave culture. They play music with
repetitive beats to create a trance state and awaken the crowd and heal their anxieties
(Goulding, Shankar, 2011).
Transformation is another key element of neo-tribalism ritual. Within rave culture,
transformations occur in the body through dress and the physical exhilaration from dancing
and transformations occur in the mind through music and drugs (Goulding, Shankar, 2011).
This often involves ‘changes in perception of the environment (social or natural) and of the
self’ (Stanfield & Kleine, 1990), as well as changes in the meaning of objects, people or
experiences. Transformation involves a rite of separation that enables the clubber to
separate from one mode of being and become a different person for a temporary period of
time (Van Gennep, 1960). This ‘high’ must eventually end as disengagement from the
ecstatic state and reintegration back into normality occurs (Goulding, Shankar, 2011).
Last but not least, communitas is another crucial element of neo-tribalism ritual.
Clubbing, ever since its beginning, has evolved around the notion of spontaneous
communitas (Goulding, Shankar, 2011). Belk et al. (1989, p. 7) defined communitas as ‘a
social antistructure that frees participants from their normal social roles and status and
instead engages them in a transcending camaraderie of status of equality’. Most participants
in the rave culture feel a sense of togetherness and equality. As they shed the constraints of
everyday life in a levelling process, they recreate a society in which they worship shared
objects and share experiences (Etzioni, 2000). This neo-tribal experience may lead to a
rejection of individualism that is driven by a collective unconsciousness. In this communitas
that temporarily deconstructs the social structure and reverses ordinary behavior, the
identities of members may be expected to transcend individuality (Maffesoli, 1996).
Because of the possibilities for multiple play, neo-tribes have a market orientation
that set them on new paths for entrepreneurial ventures (Cova, Kozinets, & Shankar, 2007).
Rave culture had originated as a communitas in which members share experiences, certain
norms and values and connect with each other through ritualistic practices, and was
gradually transformed into a commodity spectacle. Throughout the 1990s, ravers were
relocated into clubs and discos, spaces meant for traditional spectacles. Music promoters
began to sponsor spectacular outdoor raves with powerful sound systems, laser-light shows,
and mass market DJs. Local radio stations made a lot of effort in advertising and ‘super’
raves drew huge crowds for $30-$60 a ticket. The music and record industry had especially
derived much of its profits from the growing celebrity of the DJ. Popular, trade, and
industry magazines promoted DJs as pop idols and caused great hype. They are interviewed
in the media and the right lineup of DJs at an event always guarantees great success in
music and event ticket sales. Commodification of the DJ and his/her music has been
extended to his/her lifestyle as well. DJ trading cards, biographies, and bags can be seen in
record stores, bookstores, and shopping mall boutiques offer DJ bags (Ott, Herman, 2003).
The commodification of rave culture is linked to the identities of its constituents.
Rave is an experience that offers its adherents an alternative way of being and allow them to
construct and the manage the self (Goulding et al., 2002). People actively construct who
they are, or want to be, from the symbolic resources that are available to them (Firat,
Dholakia, & Venkatesh, 1995), ‘making a statement’ about themselves. In a postmodern
consumer culture, identity is becoming more associated with active consumption of images
and styles (Kellner, 1995; van Poecke, 1996) Fragmentation, a central theme of the
postmodern approach to consumption, is the idea that markets have fragmented into
smaller and smaller sectors, leading to an abundance of products to serve the rising number
of sectors, which lead to the fragmentation and excess of the media (Firat & Venkatesh,
1995). As traditional instituitons(the church, marriage, family and workplace) that provided
the formal basis of identity disintegrate, the self becomes more fragmented as consumption
has become a major means of constructing and expressing identity. The changes in
technology and media are accompanied by a greater emphasis on style, packaging, the
aesthetic form and the ‘look (Goulding et al., 2002).’ Rave subculturalists project a
particular image that is judged on the basis of such symbols as clothes, knowledge of the
right kind of music, and the general ‘look’ to gain access and acceptance in the dance club.
Shields (1992) had proposed that consumption spaces are social spaces, where the
individual’s status is determined in the group’s favor. Members’ selfhood is recognized and
confirmed in the subculture’s general environment (Goulding et al., 2002). Thompson and
Haytko (1997, p26) had argued that fashion can be used to make one stand out with
uniqueness or forge a sense of affiliation as well as a sense of belonging. The identities of
rave subculturalists arc characterized by an alternating balance between individuality and
collectivity. The neo-tribal communitas aspect of rave culture may cause rejection or
transcendence of individualism to be fully immersed in the collective conscience. While
subculturalist utilize various symbolic resources to construct and express their identities,
they may also be subject to the judgment of their group. Fragmentation may suggest
however that there would be a greater variety of sources to choose from which may
contribute to more individual free choice.
Rave culture, one of the most significant youth subcultures today, could be
interpreted as form of resistance that, contrary to preconceived notions about resistance, is
a subtle form that competes with the hegemonic culture. It could also be interpreted as neotribe, a fluid transitory group with five major ritualistic elements. It has also become a
commodification spectacle and entrepreneurial venue. Finally, identities of the members of
the rave culture are closely tied to a consumer market, and they often have to balance
between individuality and collectivity.
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