Dancing with Dumont: Individualism at an Early Morning Melbourne Rave

What is it about?

Drawing from research into Australian bush doof festivals and raves, this paper details the happenings at an early morning conscious clubbing rave in Melbourne, Australia. I draw from my ethnographic research and from the work of Louis Dumont to demonstrate how the forms of sociality and subjectivity that emerge within the morning rave relate to deeper cultural and symbolic dynamics of individualistic societies. I use a Dumontian lens to analyse the dancing, attire and grounding exercises at the rave to help elucidate a deeper understanding of these ritual practices. The ravers are bringing forth an individualistic conception of human subjectivity and human sociality through their lived actions. Thus, the rave is not a mere reflection of individualism but a live creation of it.

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Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash

Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash