Global Raving Countercultures

Technomad:
Global Raving Countercultures

http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2009/11/technomad-global-raving-countercultures/

By Bruce Sterling
November 18, 2009

*I'm kind of a victim for work like this.

*If you think art critics are dying (and they are), you ought to see
the casualty list among music critics.

http://www.equinoxpub.com/books/showbook.asp?bkid=392

"Description

"A cultural history of global electronic dance music countercultures,
Technomad explores the pleasurable and activist trajectories of
post-rave culture. The book documents an emerging network of
techno-tribes, exploring their pleasure principles and cultural
politics. Attending to sound system culture, electro-humanitarianism,
secret sonic societies, teknivals and other gatherings, intentional
parties, revitalisation movements and counter-colonial interventions,
Technomad investigates how the dance party has been harnessed for
transgressive and progressive ends ­ for manifold freedoms. Seeking
freedom from moral prohibitions and standards, pleasure in rebellion,
refuge from sexual and gender prejudice, exile from oppression,
rupturing aesthetic boundaries, re-enchanting the world, reclaiming
space, fighting for "the right to party," and responding to a host of
critical concerns, electronic dance music cultures are multivalent
sites of resistance.

"Drawing on extensive ethnographic, netographic ((("netographic"?)))
and documentary research, Technomad details the post-rave trajectory
through various local sites and global scenes, with each chapter
attending to unique developments in the techno counterculture: e.g.
Spiral Tribe, teknivals, psytrance, Burning Man, Reclaim the Streets,
Earthdream. The book offers an original, nuanced theory of resistance
to assist understanding of these developments. This cultural history
of hitherto uncharted territory will be of interest to students of
cultural, performance, music, media, and new social movement studies,
along with enthusiasts of dance culture and popular politics.

Contents
Introduction; The Rave-olution?
1.Sound System Exodus: Tekno-Anarchy in the UK and Beyond
2.Secret Sonic Societies and Other Renegades of Sound
3.New Tribal Gathering: Vibe-Tribes and Mega-Raves
4.The Technoccult, Psytrance and the Millennium
5.Rebel Sounds and Dance Activism: Rave and the Carnival of Protest
6.Outback Vibes: Dancing Up Country
Conclusion: Hardcore, You Know the Score

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