Abstract
This chapter introduces the term micro-ties (friendships) into the literature on dance culture in relation to the neo-tribes turn. It focuses on a grouping of ‘seasoned clubbers’ who socialise in core micro-groups within the larger clubbing network and subscribe to being DFOP (Dedicated Followers of PaSSion). The application of a virtual ethnography was used to analyse the news feed as a temporal construction of DFOP recollections in three public Facebook clubbing groups. In a general sense clubbers can be described as tribalised in terms of their inseparability from mass global electronic dance music consumption practices. Yet an internal fixity that challenges former applications of a neo-tribes ethos is rendered visible through a process of symbolic digital gift-giving in the continuation of a mediated collective memory and performance of authenticity online.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The use of the term ‘seasoned clubber(s)’ is a shorthand for those individuals of the late post-boomer/early echo generation who have participated in the nuances of club culture. The term is specifically used here to refer to those who are a part of what I call a ‘second wave’ in ‘ dance culture’ in the early 1990s to mid-2000’s, and who identified themselves through this practice as a ‘clubber’ (Thornton 1995). Initially, this term was invented for the purposes of my thesis (forthcoming) to describe the narratives of individuals as they recall their clubbing experiences but the reference could also be applied to anyone who has experienced the dance music world before or after this period.
- 2.
Garratt, Sheryl. (1998, p. 302), references an article in Mixmag Magazine that noted ‘how organisation’s such as Cream [at club Nation] … were more than just clubs. They ran DJ agencies, record labels and tours. Their distinctive logos appeared on clothing, merchandise and mix CD’s. They were emerging new youth brands’.
- 3.
The term ‘matrix of the clubbing lifeworld’ is my concept (2018) adapted from Husserl’s (1936/1970) conception of ‘lifeworld’ and Habermas’s (1981) contribution for the purposes of explaining the intersecting ‘micro-social’ interactions of those who participated in the practices of listening to electronic dance music.
- 4.
Dedicated Followers of PaSSion is a slogan that was created for the early promotion of the event. It first appeared on a flyer in 2001 and caught the imagination of its invested participants who embraced it as a part of their clubbing identity.
- 5.
Club Emporium was a familiar environment as I was a local and regular participant at PaSSion. The first event I attended was in 1996. The research in this chapter forms part of the data gathered during fieldwork for my PhD thesis (forthcoming). The broader framework comprises of (i) semi-structured interviews (in which a number of participants attended PaSSion at regular intervals between the late 1990s to early 2000s) and (ii) participant observations conducted at electronic dance music events across England and internationally.
References
Assmann, J. (2008). Communicative and Cultural Memory. In A. Erll, A. Nunning, & S. B. Young (Eds.), Cultural Memory Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Handbook (pp. 109–118). Berlin/New York: Walter De Gruyter/GmbH & Co. KG.
Bennett, A. (1999). Subcultures or Neo-Tribes? Rethinking the Relationship Between Youth, Style and Musical Taste. Sociology, 33(3), 599–617.
Clarke, J., Hall, S., Jefferson, T., & Roberts, B. (1976). Subcultures, Cultures and Class: A Theoretical Overview. In S. Hall & T. Jefferson (Eds.), Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain (pp. 9–74). London: Hutchinson & Co Ltd.
Cohen, S. (1972). Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. London: MacGibbon and Kee Ltd.
Connerton, P. (1989). How Societies Remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Garratt, S. (1998). Adventures in Wonderland: A Decade of Club Culture. London: Headline Book Publishing.
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Goffman, I. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday.
Gore, G. (1997). The Beat Goes on: Trance, Dance and Tribalism in Rave Culture. In H. Thomas (Ed.), Dance in the City (pp. 50–67). New York: St Martin’s Press.
Goulding, C., & Shankar, A. (2011). Club Culture, Neotribalism and Ritualised Behaviour. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(4), 1435–1453.
Habermas, J. (1981/1987). The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume 2. Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Boston: Beacon Press.
Halbwachs, M. (1992). On Collective Memory: The Heritage of Sociology (L. A. Coser, Trans.). Chicago, USA: Chicago University Press.
Hall, S., & Jefferson, T. (1976). Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain. London: Hutchinson & Co Ltd.
Hine, C. (2003). Virtual Ethnography. London/Thousand Oaks/New Delhi: Sage.
Hodkinson, P. (2004). The Goth Scene and (Sub)cultural Substance. In A. Bennett & K. Kahn-Harris (Eds.), After Subculture: Critical Studies in Contemporary Youth Culture (pp. 135–147). Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hodkinson, P. (2015). Youth Cultures and the Rest of Life: Subcultures, Post-subcultures and Beyond. Journal of Youth Studies, 19(5), 629–645.
Hogan, B. (2010). The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30(6), 377–386.
Husserl, E. (1936/1970). The Crisis to European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
JFK, DJ, and Project, MYNC. (2000). Passion Album. London: Credence.
Lincoln, S., & Robards, B. (2016). Editing the Project of Self: Sustained Facebook Use and Growing-Up Online. Journal of Youth Studies, 20, 1–14.
Maffesoli, M. (1996). The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. London: Sage.
Mauss, M. 1967. The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange (I. Gunnison, Trans.). New York: Norton Company.
McEwen, R. N., & Scheaffer, K. (2013). Virtual Mourning and Memory Construction on Facebook: Here Are the Terms of Use. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 33(3–4), 64–75.
Sauter, T. (2013). What’s on Your Mind? Writing on Facebook as a Tool for Self-Formation. New Media & Society, 16(5), 823–839.
Signum, Producer. (1998). What Ya Got 4 Me? (Remixed by DJ/producer JFK in 2010). Northampton: Tidy Trax.
Thornton, S. (1994). Moral Panic, the Media and British Rave Culture. In A. Ross & T. Rose (Eds.), Microphone Fiends: Youth Music & Youth Culture (pp. 176–192). New York/London: Routledge.
Thornton, S. (1995). Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital. Cambridge: Cambridge Polity Press.
Tiesto, D. J. (2004). Love Comes Again. Netherlands: Magik Musik.
Zimmer, M. (2010). “But the Data Is Already Public”: On the Ethics of Research in Facebook. Ethics and Information Technology, 12(4), 313–325.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Armour, Z. (2018). Dedicated Followers of PaSSion (1995–Present): Seasoned Clubbers and the Mediation of Collective Memory as a Process of Digital Gift-Giving. In: Hardy, A., Bennett, A., Robards, B. (eds) Neo-Tribes. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68207-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68207-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68206-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68207-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)