The Art Worlds of Punk-Inspired Feminist Networks
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! The Art Worlds of Punk-Inspired Feminist Networks ! ! ! ! ! ! A social network analysis of the Ladyfest feminist music and cultural movement in the UK ! ! ! ! ! ! A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities ! ! ! 2014 ! ! Susan O’Shea ! ! School of Social Sciences ! ! Chapter One Whose music is it anyway? 1.1. Introduction 12 1.2. Ladyfest, Riot Girl and Girls Rock camps 14 1.2.1. Ladyfest 14 1.2.2. Riot Grrrl 16 1.2.3. Girls Rock camps 17 1.3. Choosing art worlds 17 1.4. The evidence: women’s participation in music 20 1.5. From the personal to the political 22 1.6. Thesis structure 25 Chapter Two The dynamics of feminist cultural production 2.1. Introduction 27 2.2. Art Worlds and Becker’s approach 29 2.3. Punk, Riot Grrrl and Ladyfest 32 2.3.1. Punk 33 2.3.2. Riot Grrrl 34 2.3.3. Ladyfest 40 2.4. The political economy of cultural production 41 2.5. Social movements, social networks and music 43 2.6. Women in music and art and the translocal nature of action 48 2.6.1. Translocality 50 2.7. Festivals as networked research sites 52 2.8. Conclusion 54 Chapter Three Methodology 3.1. Introduction 56 !2 ! 3.2. Operationalising Art Worlds, research aims and questions 57 3.3. Research philosophy 58 3.4. Concepts and terminology 63 3.5. Mixed methods 64 3.6. Ethics 66 3.6.1. Ethics review 68 3.6.2. Consent and confidentiality 70 3.6.3. Independent research and accountability 72 3.7. The case studies 72 3.7.1. Riot Grrrl and Girls Rock camps 74 3.7.2. Manchester 74 3.7.3. Oxford 76 3.7.4. London 77 3.8. Data collection 78 3.8.1. Network boundary 79 3.8.2. Case study sites and participant recruitment 80 3.8.3. Focus groups 84 3.8.4. Meetings and documentation 85 3.8.5. Surveys 86 3.9. Data audit 91 3.9.1. Meeting records 91 3.9.2. Survey Responses 92 3.10. Conclusion 95 Chapter Four Typical girls challenging conventions through historical and translocal networks 4.1. Introduction 97 !3 ! 4.2. The revolutionary roots of feminist cultural production 98 landscapes 4.3. Gender representation, access and participation in music 105 worlds 4.4. I’m in the band because girls rock 111 4.5. Girls get busy collaborating 116 4.6. Riot Grrrl networks 121 4.6.1. Network visualizations 123 4.6.2. Network measures 124 4.6.3. Band network data 126 4.6.4. Network of bands and cities 127 4.7. Ladyfest links 135 4.8. Conclusion 138 Chapter Five Organisational structures and participation 5.1. Introduction 140 5.2. The organisation of Ladyfest art worlds 141 5.2.1. The organisational structures of Ladyfest Manchester 143 5.2.1.1. Pilot focus group with organisers of Ladyfest Manchester 143 2008 5.2.1.2. Manchester’s organisational structure 146 5.2.2. The organisational structures of Ladyfest Oxford 147 5.2.2.1. Positive experiences of being a Ladyfest organiser 150 5.2.2.2. The challenges of being a Ladyfest organiser 151 5.2.2.3. Improving the organisational experience 153 5.2.3. Organisational structures of Ladyfest Ten 155 5.2.3.1. Expectations, risks and solutions 156 5.3. Organisers and participants 161 !4 ! 5.3.1. The data 161 5.3.2. Gender 162 5.3.3. Age 162 5.3.4. Education and employment 162 5.3.5. Social class 163 5.3.6. Ethnicity 164 5.3.7. Sexuality 167 5.3.8. Festival area 168 5.4. Experiences of participation 168 5.5. The challenges and rewards of collaboration 172 5.6. Conclusion 178 ! Chapter Six Embracing difference in feminist music worlds 6.1. Introduction 180 6.2. Social networks-homophily and heterophily 181 6.3. Network data 182 6.3.1. Sexuality 183 6.4. Network change over time 185 6.4.1. Density 186 6.4.2. Average degree density 187 6.4.3. Eigenvector centrality 188 6.4.4. Homophily 191 6.5. Mobilising networks 194 6.5.1. Ladyfest participation and geographic mobility 194 6.6. Online networks 196 6.6.1. Facebook - Ladyfest Ten 196 6.6.2. Facebook - Ladyfest Manchester 199 !5 ! 6.7. Crossover between feminist art and music worlds 205 6.8. Passing the Ladyfest cultural baton 207 6.9. Conclusion 209 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 211 Bibilography 218 Appendices Appendix1 ESRC research integrity checklist 231 Appendix 2 Participant information sheet 232 Appendix 3 Consent form 234 Appendix 4 Public Engagement event with Sara Marcus 235 Appendix 5 Programme Ladyfest Manchester 2008 236 Appendix 6 Programme for Ladyfest Manchester 2011 241 Appendix 7 Programme for Ladyfest Oxford 2010 242 Appendix 8 Programme for Ladyfest Ten 243 Appendix 9 Sample focus group schedule 247 Appendix 10 Pilot survey with Ladyfest Oxford 248 Appendix 11 Survey Ladyfest Ten, London 2010 259 Appendix 12 Ladyfest Manchester 2011 festival survey 266 Appendix 13 Public engagement: Ladyfest workshop 271 Appendix 14 Interview questions with Stella Zine 277 Appendix 15 Programme for Bristol Ladyfest 2012 278 Appendix 16 Riot Grrrl Berlin music compilation poster 281 Appendix 17 Ladyfest Ten video interview questions 282 Word count: 73,150 !6 ! Tables Table 3.1. Levels of network interaction 63 Table 3.2. Research modes and ethics 69 Table 3.3. Characteristics of Ladyfest case study sites 73 Table 3.4. Responses by Ladyfest case study site 93 Table 3.5. Data audit and codes 94 Table 5.1. Social Class proxy 163 Table 5.2. All White and BME ethnicities 165 Table 5.3. White British 166 Table 6.1. Sexuality grouped 184 Table 6.2. Average degree density 188 Table 6.3. Whole network homophily 192 Table 6.4. Density of tie strength based on sexuality 193 Table 6.5. From festival area 195 Table 6.6. Ladyfest Ten fans by country, city and language: Facebook, 199 2013 Table 6.7. Ladyfest Manchester fans by country and city: Facebook, 201 2013 Table 6.8. Translocal connections-Riot Grrrl, Girls Rock, Ladies Camp 203 and Ladyfest Figures Figure 3.1. Rationale and chronology of Ladyfest case studies 83 Figure 3.2. Ketso focus group facilitation tool, Ladyfest Manchester 2008 84 pilot Figure 4.1. Distribution of gender on the cover of the NME, 1989-2011 (co- 108 produced) Figure 4.2. Connections between Riot Grrrl associated bands by city 127 Figure 4.3. Strength of collaboration ties between bands 131 Figure 4.4. Degree centrality - Riot Grrrl musician collaboration network 133 Figure 4.5. Ego-networks: Hanna, Vail, Wolfe, Tucker and Love, Schemel 134 Figure 5.1. All White and BME ethnicities 166 !7 ! Figure 5.2. White British and Other ethnicities 167 Figure 6.1. Strong relationships at Time 1: Ladyfest Ten 186 Figure 6.2. Strong relationships at Time 3: Ladyfest Ten 187 Figure 6.3. All relations sized by Eigenvector centrality, Time 1: Ladyfest 189 Ten Figure 6.4. All relations sized by Eigenvector centrality, Time 3: Ladyfest 190 Ten Figure 6.5. Ladyfest Ten gender and age profile of fans: Facebook, 2013 197 Figure 6.6. Ladyfest Manchester gender and age profile of fans: 200 Facebook, 2013 Abbreviations A&R Artists and Repertoire BME Black and Minority Ethnic (ethnicity classification) DIY Do-It-Yourself PAR Participatory Action Research PRS Performing Rights Society LFB Ladyfest Bristol 2012 LFM Ladyfest Manchester Pilot Focus Group – 2008 organisers LFM Ladyfest Manchester 2008 LFM Ladyfest Manchester 2011 LFO Ladyfest Oxford 2010 LF10 Ladyfest Ten, London 2010 LGBTQ Usually shorthand for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer. This is the most commonly used abbreviation of the longer, more inclusive but less memorable LGBTTTQQIAA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-spirited, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Ally) NS-SEC National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification SNA Social Network Analysis SIC Standard Industrial Classification WLMA Women’s Liberation Music Archive WLMP Women’s Liberation Music Project !8 ! Abstract Riot Grrrl, Girls Rock camps and Ladyfest as social movements act as intermediaries in cultural production spaces, where music focused artefacts are made, collaborations forged, distribution networks established and reception practices enacted to create new conventions which can be understood as feminist art worlds. The growing literature on gender and cultural production, particularly in music communities such as Riot Grrrl, frequently speak of networks in qualitative narrative terms and very little is known about Ladyfest as a feminist movement and as a distribution network. This thesis offers an original contribution to cultural sociology by: employing a novel participatory action research approach to gathering social network data on translocal feminist music based cultural organisations; exploring how these networks can challenge a gendered political economy of cultural production in music worlds; understanding who participates and why; investigating how network structures impact the personal relationships, participation and collaboration opportunities for those involved. Engaging with Howard Becker’s Art Worlds theory as a framework, this thesis explores how music and art by women is produced, distributed and received by translocal networks. It takes into account contemporary issues for feminist music-based communities as well as the historical and international context of these overlapping and developing social movements. The literature suggests that one of the most pressing tasks for a sociology of the arts is to understand how organisational structures negotiate the domains of production, distribution and reception, with distribution modes being the most the most under-researched of the three.