Rave Culture

“Anderson clearly has a passion for the subject matter and a keen focus on the ‘decline’ of rave culture which is to be commended. There is a need for in-depth considerations of post-rave club cultures as embedded in global, national, local and virtual spaces. The thoroughness of Anderson’s empirical work, and her engagement with the data is useful and gives voice to young (and not so young!) people and culture.” Karenza Moore, Lancaster University “Rave Culture goes forward through the klatch of promotional hustlers, floppy hat-wearing hangers-on and artistic and cultural icons of that scene; runs from Philly, London, Ibiza and back; takes in the oft-discussed immensity and hedonistic eclat of acid house, etc., abroad…and figures out that some kids lose their personal identity to a somewhat more collective identity.” The Philadelphia City Paper, 11th June 2009 “[E]ntertaining…Anderson conducts field work in the course of her investigation. This means that Anderson, a self-professed fan of the EDM scene, gets to party at big music events in Philadelphia and elsewhere. But even as she’s dancing, Anderson is watching, assessing, quantifying, and putting things together…Anderson makes the subject feel applicable to last night’s all-night party.” Edge, 15th August 2009 “Anderson’s book takes on the challenge of analyzing a subject not at its exciting beginning or peak of strength, but as its popularity wanes. This is a brave decision and an important shift in the study of movements and subcultures. Anderson does an excellent job situating her subject–raves and other electronic dance music events–in the literatures on music scenes, subcultures, authenticity, and identity… Ultimately, the book makes a compelling case… Summing Up: Recommended.” Choice May 2010 “This insightful and ambitious book gives one of the fullest pictures to date of the American rave scene, which centers on all-night dance parties featuring electronic dance music…The book’s great strength is its subtle and complex empirical account of the rave scene, including the overlapping social groups, parties and the scene’s vague, contested borders with other forms of nightlife…Anderson’s book is an important contribution to the literature on youth subcultures and among the most comprehensive examinations of American rave culture. Its model of scene change will provide useful tools for [readers] with interests in collective identity, cultural change and cultural criminology.” - Social Forces, June 2010 “[A] wonderful ethnographic study of the electronic dance music (EDM) scene in Philadelphia… [T]he importance of Anderson’s Rave Culture lies in its attention to processes of cultural transformation… The book’s greatest theoretical contributions can be found in its chapter on forces of cultural change… With its structured and highly visible methodology, Rave Culture would be an excellent resource for teaching ethnographic methods… Anderson’s book can similarly be utilized as a basis for expanding the analytical models through which researchers explore and examine the life spans of music scenes.” The American Journal of Sociology, July 2011 “Rave Culture brings subcultural theory back to speed. Anderson’s book, rooted in protracted ethnography, charts the alteration and decline of Philadelphia’s rave scene from its high point during the mid- to late-1990s to its ‘diminished and fragmented state today.’… [It is] timely and of interest to students of subculture, lending insight into the utility of post-subculture studies at a time when neoliberalism has come full circle. [It is] also of interest to scholars of deviance, symbolic interactionism, and youth culture more generally… By providing a fuller, richer account of scene alteration and decline, Anderson makes a significant contribution to subcultural theory.” – Symbolic Interaction

Tammy L. Anderson is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. She is the author of Neither Villain, Nor Victim: Empowerment and Agency Among Women Substance Abusers. For more information about her work, please