The Capture and Commodification of Surfing and Culture

Scott Laderman. Empire in Waves: A Political History of Surfing. Sport in World History Series. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014. 256 pp. $26.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-520-27911-7. Reviewed by Mark Sachleben Published on H-Diplo (January, 2015) Commissioned by Seth Offenbach (Bronx Community College, The City University of New York) For many of us of a certain age, classic televi‐ quest (hard power), yet its popularization was fed sion programs evoke surfing and Hawai’i as exot‐ by American soft power in the twentieth century. ic, yet distinctly American. Story lines such as After the 1898 annexation of Hawai’i, under dubi‐ Greg Brady mastering surfing in a single family ous circumstances, settlers of European descent vacation to Hawai’i lured our fertile imaginations led efforts to make attractive aspects of Hawaiian to a destination, a sport, and a way of life. What culture become American. The frst chapter pro‐ most of us little realized at the time was the latent vides an important reminder of how racial atti‐ political and cultural messages that were being tudes and prejudices shaped and propelled the transmitted to us. While reading Scott Laderman’s annexation of Hawai’i and its subsequent settle‐ fascinating book Empire in Waves: A Political His‐ ment of the territory by Americans from the tory of Surfing, I imagined the author at parties or mainland. It lays out how surfing was trans‐ family gatherings patiently describing his re‐ formed into a pastime for white Americans as search to a skeptical audience that perceived it as well. Eventually, surfers, primarily young people a boondoggle. It may be easy to dismiss a volume from Western countries, traveled to remote lesser such as Empire in Waves as being narrowly fo‐ developed parts of the globe where few tourists cused or outside the mainstream of academic and would venture, making the sport global. Lader‐ popular interests; yet to dismiss the value of this man provides a thought-provoking account of the volume would be a great mistake. What Lader‐ rise of surfing culture as a result of the American man presents is a fascinating account of a sport colonization of Hawai’i and American hegemony whose proponents believed it to be apolitical, but in the twentieth century, especially in the feld of facing the politics of a modern world. popular culture. Modern surf culture is a curious mix of two While surfers today can be characterized as resources: it is born of a nineteenth-century con‐ frivolous and carefree, even depicted as “air‐ H-Net Reviews heads” in popular culture, it is ironic that the na‐ wants to interact with nature in a spiritual action tive Hawaiian propensity to engage in the sport that excites and is meaningful. Riding the waves is was seen as evidence of the superiority of the a transcendent experience, which has become a American missionary culture. The sport takes metaphor for freedom of action. Many surfers be‐ great skill and an analytic reading of waves. lieve that the sport should be free from the dirty Among the pious Christian missionaries in hands of politics. Particularly in the 1970s, part of Hawai’i, as well as the rest of the world, industri‐ the allure of the sport was the myth that surfers ousness and hard work were valued; and con‐ were engaged in the discovery of an exotic world stant work meant self-improvement. The Hawai‐ —a modern-day exploration of the littoral world. ian propensity to engage in leisure activities, min‐ While this romantic view is enticing, Empire in gled with alternative conceptions of dress and Waves is excellent evidence to the contrary. The gender relations in the nineteenth century, served sport and lifestyle is steeped in political symbol‐ as a just cause for conquest, colonization, and ism. Surfers were often blind to how they were conversion. used as pawns by politicians and governments, As with many political and economic forces, whether this was economic development or inter‐ the Second World War brought many changes to nal and external legitimacy for less savory surfing, including new technologies, new adher‐ regimes. ents, and with the increased availability of trans‐ The rise of surfer culture created soft-power portation, new destinations. The emergence of the opportunities for the United States. As fascination United States as a preeminent power gave the with the sport grew, a number of flms, both pop‐ country’s media outlets a special role in world ular and documentary, glamorized the culture politics. Several different forms of media por‐ and the search for the perfect wave. Many flms trayed a benevolent United States bursting with portrayed frolicking on beaches and dancing to freedom and opportunities. Like many Ameri‐ popular music, while others documented surfers cans, both media outlets and surfers often had exploring the world for unique experiences. In amnesia about the historical foundations of many the exploration of the world, surfers engaged with events and circumstances. The American experi‐ local people in lesser-developed economies in an ence with imperialism and power politics in the exchange of culture and information. Films such nineteenth century is not well known. The incor‐ as The Endless Summer (1966) presented young poration of the Kingdom of Hawai’i into the Unit‐ Americans, typically male, roaming the world, ed States is not a story that most Americans out‐ surfing and engaging with locals and “highlighted side of the fftieth state understand or appreciate. the freedom afforded Americans ... to explore and The process of Americanization required work, discover the nations of world” (pp. 49-50). This advertisement, and a certain amount of forgetful‐ was, of course, in contrast to young people of the ness. As Laderman points out, with several superb Soviet Union and Eastern Europe who did not examples, just as Hawai’i became American, so have the same opportunities. It was also a differ‐ too did surfing. This meant that the sport as ent image of young American males in impover‐ Hawaiian reflected little of the ethnic and cultural ished countries than those engaged in the conflict background of the sport. in Vietnam. While this was a picture of benevo‐ Surfing as a sport, however, has traditionally lence, most of these flms portrayed local people been viewed by surfers as free from political and destinations as little more than exotic back‐ problems and ideology. There is a romantic notion drops for Americans to observe. Rarely were the that the surfer is blind to social issues and only stories of local people told or explored. 2 H-Net Reviews Nevertheless, it was true that many young resorts exclude those who cannot afford the price. people explored the world through surfing. The A new type of exclusion, economically based, problem was that many of the impressions that emerged. Like the fans of many other sports that people took away from the visits were mispercep‐ thrive on traditions, such as baseball, hockey, and tions. Surfers, like other tourists, would report soccer, Empire in Waves reflects a concern about home about the “progress” being made by coun‐ the growing commodification of a deeply trea‐ tries outside the so-called First World. Laderman sured pastime. Rather than a political empire of notes that surfers would conflate the trappings of the twentieth century, increasingly corporations home with progress being made in littoral coun‐ have built an economic empire in the twenty-first tries, little recognizing the authoritarian regimes century. The tension within the surf community is often engaged in human rights abuses to appeal one that pits traditionalists against newcomers in politically and economically to the West. Surfers a battle for the legacy of the sport and the associ‐ represented the frst wave of tourists that would ated generated revenues. The narrative wrestles harken an age of mass tourism. with the tenuous meaning of authenticity in a The fourth chapter of the book, on surfing modern global culture without resorting to pre‐ and Apartheid-era politics in South Africa, is an dictable tropes or easy answers. excellent case study on the dynamics of politics, Although a political history of the sport, Em‐ sports, racism, and international relations. As pire in Waves has several lessons for today’s someone who attended rallies and was well scholar and student. A recurrent theme is the idea versed in the politics and arguments of the time, I that there are consequences to actions, even the was reminded of the nuances of arguments and seemingly minor actions of individuals. In the the obfuscation of events by several people in chapter on the interface between surfing and In‐ support for the Apartheid government of South donesian politics, Laderman notes that surf Africa. Many students today would have a much tourism in Indonesia was essentially subsidizing a better appreciation of international relations, regime that was engaged in widespread political racial politics, and the power of framing by un‐ repression. The same was true about the partici‐ derstanding this period of history. Reading this pation of surfers in events in South Africa. chapter would be an excellent introduction. La‐ As with many such titles, the book is con‐ derman captures the conficting interests and con‐ structed in a temporal order, which does allow versations over whether to support a boycott of the reader to have an evolutionary understanding surfing events in South Africa by athletes. It cap‐ of surfing and its culture. The sources and cita‐ tures the subtle use of language and framing to tions of the text are especially helpful and well justify exclusionary policies and demonstrates the done (nearly a third of the book is dedicated to fluidity of race as well.

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