"God Is A DJ" This is my church This is where I heal my hurt It's a natural grace Of watching young life shape It's in minor keys Solutions and remedies Enemies becoming friends When bitterness ends This is my church This is my church This is where I heal my hurt It's in the world I become Content in the hum Between voice and drum It's in change The poetic justice of cause and effect Respect, love, compassion This is my church This is where I heal my hurt For tonight God is a DJ This is my church - Faithless, 1998 Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1: Introduction to Rave Culture .............................................................................. 6 1.1 Techno and house music .......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 UK acid house and the birth of rave culture .................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Elements of rave culture ....................................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Social reactions .......................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.5 Rave culture in the Netherlands ........................................................................................................................ 14 1.6 Auto-ethnography .................................................................................................................................................... 17 1.7 Rave experiences ...................................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2: Introduction to Rave Studies ............................................................................. 21 2.1 Cultural studies ......................................................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Critique ......................................................................................................................................................................... 22 2.3 The rave as a ritual .................................................................................................................................................. 24 2.4 Connectedness and religious experience ....................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 3: Thomas Luckmann and the Secondary Institution ......................................... 30 3.1 Invisible religion ....................................................................................................................................................... 30 3.2 Relevance for the study on rave culture ......................................................................................................... 35 3.3 Later research and critique on Luckmann ................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Methods of the Study ......................................................................................... 38 4.1 Type of research ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 4.2 Research population ............................................................................................................................................... 38 4.3 Data collection ........................................................................................................................................................... 39 4.4 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................................................... 40 4.5 Introduction of the interview participants ................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 5: Results .................................................................................................................. 42 5.1 Initiation stories: becoming a raver ................................................................................................................. 42 5.2 After initiation: freedom and togetherness .................................................................................................. 43 5.2.1 Experiences of freedom ......................................................................................................................................... 44 5.2.2 Experiences of togetherness ................................................................................................................................ 48 5.3 Beyond rave: consequences for personal narratives ................................................................................ 51 5.4 Participant observation report ........................................................................................................................... 54 5.5 Participant observation review .......................................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 6: Analysis ................................................................................................................ 59 6.1 Recapitulation ............................................................................................................................................................ 59 6.2 Rave culture as a secondary institution? ....................................................................................................... 60 6.3 Other literature ......................................................................................................................................................... 61 6.4 What does it all mean? ........................................................................................................................................... 62 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 65 References ............................................................................................................................... 67 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................. 72 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................. 74 Matthijs ................................................................................................................................................................................. 74 Bob ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 87 2 Menno ................................................................................................................................................................................... 97 Marieke .............................................................................................................................................................................. 110 Frank .................................................................................................................................................................................. 118 Nikki ................................................................................................................................................................................... 126 Appendix C ........................................................................................................................... 134 3 Introduction God is a DJ is a famous record by the British dance act Faithless, released in 1998. It indicates that there might be more to what is called 'dance culture' or 'rave culture' than meets the eye. The song lyrics mention that it functions as a church, where one might come to 'heal his hurts'. This might not be what directly comes to mind when thinking about the concept. But if it is there, it is worth investigating. This thesis arises from two personal passions: a passion for rave culture and a passion for the sociology of religion, specifically an interest in contemporary forms of non- institutional religion or belief. Combining these two passions makes for a thesis that is not only a research project on the relationship between rave culture and religion, but also a research project on myself. My personal connection to both of these fields of interest is what drives me to know more about them and answer questions about the value and meaning of rave culture and the role of religion in contemporary western society. The conviction that rave culture carries value and meaning is based on experience and the perception that rave culture or variations thereof have a great influence on popular culture today. Musically, electronic dance music has been a constant factor in hit charts since its development during the 1990's, and the