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Becoming a Clubber: Transitions, Identities and Lifestyles

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Becoming a Clubber: Transitions, Identities and Lifestyles Becoming a clubber: transitions, identities and lifestyles Rhoda MacRae Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Applied Social Science University of Stirling 2002 Declaration I declare that none of the work contained within this thesis has been submitted for any other degree at any other university. The contents found herein have been composed by the candidate, Rhoda MacRae. Acknowledgements My acknowledgements fall into three main categories: first my family and friends from my 'other' life, second friends and colleagues from my post graduate life and third, the people who took part in the study. My thanks to Mum and Dad for their constant support, in this and previous ventures. To Sandy and Riona: without whom this undertaking would not have been possible. Their presence in my life has facilitated some of the discipline and motivation that kept me going. To my friends for always asking how I was getting on and providing the necessary distractions. My love and thanks to you alL. Thanks to my supervisory team. To Sue Scott and Lydia Martens who supported and guided me in the early stages; and to Susan Eley for her invaluable input, particularly for her thorough and constructive feedback. A special mention must go to James Valentine who has supported me from start to finish. Jim, you have been the best supervisor a post-graduate could ask for. Please accept my thanks and respect for being consistent, constructive and enthusiastic: for being a wonderful person, teacher and sociologist, you are a pleasure to work with. Thanks to all those who have provided me with friendly guidance, support and the benefit of their experiences, each of you in your own way has contributed to me completing my thesis and many of you have become good friends in the process. To Sharon Wright, alias Shazza, my ex office buddy and comrade in arms, thanks for the laughs and support. To Ruth Emond, alias my bench buddy, thanks for your invaluable comments and advice, cheers mate. To Jacqueline Davidson, my offce and bench buddy, cheers for listening to all my trials and tribulations. To all the other post graduates and colleagues around the department who have always showed interest in my progress: particular mentions go to GillianMcGolgan; Nicola IlIingworth; lan Mclntosh and Angus Erskine. To the participants: those people who took time out to introduce me to their social networks and to take me out clubbing with them. To those people who spoke with me at length about their clubbing experiences - i hope you guys haven't got lost in the construction of this thesis and the animated and passionate character of your experiences have been retained. AbstractCONTENTS 1 Chapter One Introduction Rationale and focus 2 Structure of the thesis 7 Chapter Two Youth Transitions Introduction 13 Notion of youth transitions: applications, critiques and implications 14 NotionYouth of atyouth risk? transiton 16 14 SocialCritiques change: the risk of de-structuring 19 17 Implications of de-standardisation and individualisation 20 Extended youth experience? 20 Fragmented youth experience? 22 Gendered transitons 24 ConclusionRe-conceptualising young people's transitions 31 28 Chapter Three Boundaries, Becoming and Identities Introduction 34 Notions of the self, identity and processes of becoming 36 Symbolic boundaries 38 Joint acts, group life and boundaries 38 Rhetoric of otherness and belonging: clubbing boundaries 43 Deviance and labellng 49 Becoming deviant 50 Gendered risk and the response to rave 51 Gendered identities 54 Conclusion 57 Chapter Four Subcultures, Lifestyles and Capitals Introduction 60 Subcultures 61 The notion of subculture 62 Youth subcultures and the CCCS 63 Critiques of the CCCS and the notion of subculture 65 Music, dance and gender in subcultures 68 Music and social dance 69 Clubbing and gender 71 Lifestyles 78 The notion of lifestyle 78 Lifestyle and consumption 79 Clubbing lifestyles 83 Capitals 85 The notion of capital and habitus 85 Cultural and subcultural capital 87 ConclusionSocial capital 9390 Chapter Five Knowledge Introduction 97 Knowledge 97 Learning and becoming 97 The thread of knowledge 100 Conclusion 108 Chapter Six Learning to Dance Introduction 110 Why ethnography? 110 Ethnography in theory 114 Ethnography in practice - fieldwork 122 Parlicipant observation 122 Paying customer 123 Invited observer 125 No entry 126 Implications 127 Methodological 128 Analytical 129 Ethnography in practice - interviews 130 Generating parlicipants 130 Interview phases 133 Sample generated 134 Interviewing ethics, setting, consent and guide 135 Relationships 138 Analysis 139 Chapter Seven Identification and Differentiation Introduction 142 What kind of clubber am I? 142 Identification 147 Typifications 148 Anyone and everyone? 149 Modes of identification 154 Differentiation 159 Typical club scenes 161 Modes of differentiation 165 Conclusion 170 Chapter Eight Becoming Introduction 173 'Sussing it out' 174 Magazines and guides 175 Shared sensibilties 177 'Trying it out' 178 First experiences 178 Developing furlher affiliations 181 The notion of becoming 184 Tricks of the trade: becoming proper clubbers 186 Learning to do drugs 186 Learning to interact and dance 191 Musical knowledge and taste 199 Experls and status 202 Becoming egaliarian? 208 Conclusion 210 Chapter Nine The Competent Clubber Introduction 212 Progressively competent 212 Honeymoon 213 'Everyone knows' 218 'At home' 223 'Its not what you do but the way that you do it' 228 Affrmation 235 'Not quite right' 241 Conclusion 242 Chapter Ten Moving on, moving out Introduction 245 Narratives of progression 245 'What goes up must come down': increasing control over drug use 246 'Once you get a job': investment in work careers 249 'It's harder to fit in the older you get': ageing and parlicipation 254 'You always want a good social life': sustaining sociabilty 258 Enhanced sociabilty 261 Gendered sociabilty 267 Conclusion 274 Chapter Eleven Conclusions Introduction 276 Main findings 277 Cultural boundary processes 277 Gender - small change 280 Progression and sociabilty 282 Using theory to make sense of the data 285 Contributions, constraints and ideas for the future 290 Significance of findings 293 Appendices Appendix one Flier 300 Appendix two Demographic profie of clubbing populations 301 Appendix three Snapshot of parlicipants 310 Appendix four Prompt sheet 314 Bibliography 314 Abstract This thesis examines how young people identify and affliate with particular club scenes and how these practices and processes relate to their transitions, identities and lifestyles. It aims to give a sense of the processes and the resources that are required to 'become' a clubber over time. The thesis engages with the recent attempts to reconcile the conceptual and empirical divisions between the two main approaches in the sociology of youth. It suggests that the work ofSchutz serves as a heuristic framework to conceptualise data, and when synthesised with other sympathetic conceptual frameworks, links disparate literature to allow for a better understanding of the role of knowledge in the transitions, identities and lifestyles of young people. This focus influenced my choice of method: the ethnographic techniques of participant observation and in-depth interviewing were employed to access participants' experiences and knowledge of becoming a c1ubber. The findings suggest that the process of becoming a clubber is a gendered, dialectical and transformational process: informed by the social heritage and locally situated experiences of clubbing participants. It is a process that manifests itself through embodied practices involving cultural knowledge and taste. Participants place one another on the basis of their participation in and identification with a clubbing lifestyle. These placements appear embedded in the social order: they call not only on old social markers but also on the increasing hierarchies of difference within and across social groups. Social competence, cultural knowledge and consumer activities are all implicated in the placement of others, and the construction of boundaries that clubbing collectives engage in. These are young people who can afford materially and socially to extend both their structural and cultural transitions. The social confidence and adept skills of exchange that 'proper' clubbers develop are resources that help them develop and create social and cultural capital of their own. Becoming a clubber requires competency, skills and dispositions: it is a process that transmits privilege and disadvantage. Abstract This thesis examines how young people identify and affiiate with particular club scenes and how these practices and processes relate to their transitions, identities and lifestyles. It aims to give a sense of the processes and the resources that are required to 'become' a clubber over time. The thesis engages with the recent attempts to reconcile the conceptual and empirical divisions between the two main approaches in the sociology of youth. It suggests that the work of Schutz serves as a heuristic framework to conceptualise data, and when synthesised with other sympathetic conceptual frameworks, links disparate literature to allow for a better understanding of the role of knowledge in the transitions, identities and lifestyles of young people. This focus influenced my choice of method: the ethnographic techniques of participant observation and in-depth interviewing were employed to access participants' experiences and knowledge of becoming
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