[Dancecult-l] Question for those that dare... (Adam Walker)

[Eliot Bates]

I certainly have seen violence and fights happen at raves... one
underground rave in Oakland in 2002 (music: drum and bass, tech step)
turned into a brawl and many were hurt, but perhaps in that case it was
because the party was a mix of underground hip hop fans and more PLUR
style ravers, who had different designs on a few women and different
conceptions of how to party. It wasn't a very healthy mix, no matter how
you looked at it.

In one of the dance parties I saw in San Francisco in February it was
certainly taking on some of the drunken frat-party style ambience, with
go-go dancers and such, yet this was coming from a DJ collective who had
previously been on the most extreme wing of hippie, communal, and
peace-loving. I should say, the party, which before had been about
individual expression inside a group consciousness of sorts, had kinda
turned into a forum for displaying hyped up sexuality (other kinds of
individual expression were less valid now, it seems). It hasn't got to the
violence stage yet, but there was certainly more "competition" over chicks
going on. I have to say, it's really strange to watch gay men competing
over chicks...

-eliot

> Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:36:31 +1000
> From: "Adam Walker" <de_proginosko at hotmail.com>
> Subject: [Dancecult-l] Question for those that dare...
> To: Dancecult-l at listcultures.org
> Message-ID: <BAY133-F19BF34433B41246794147084490 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
>
> G'day to all!
>
> We haven't had a thread on this list for a while now, so I thought that I
> would put this out to you guys.  I am writing a piece that has to focus
> around the Anthropology of violence, and have decided to investigate the
> aspects of EDMC that characterise it as a 'culture of peace'.  Of course
> the
> slant is highlighted mostly by the comparison between EDMC and typical
> Western drunken shananigans that often evoke aggression and violence.  My
> working title is:
>
> Doof as a subculture of peace: A comparative analysis of a culture of
> peace
> amidst a society of violence
>
> While I draw most of my arguement from the litterature on PLUR and
> examples
> of alcohol fueled violence, I am keen to include discussion on the cross
> over or overlap between the 2 cultures.  Thus I have a question that I am
> surveying in order to retrieve ethnographic data from an emic perspective:
>
> Have you ever experienced or witnessed acts of aggressive violence at a
> PLUR
> fueled EDMC event, in which the aggressive violence was characterised by
> typical alcohol fueled behaviour?Tell me about it.
>
> Or if you have any stories about (peace/doof):(war/drinkin piss and
> fightin
> over chicks style outing).
>
> Look forward to your responses.
>
> Adam


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Eliot Bates
PhD Candidate (Ethnomusicology), UC Berkeley
Music of Turkey, recording studios, electronic music practices and cultures
http://www.eliotbates.com/
oud at berkeley.edu