ABSTRACT
As has historically been the case in interpreting youth cultural practices, a familiar association between the practices of raving and notions of freedom has emerged, and the British rave scene has, since the late 1980s, generated its own particular version of what this freedom entails.1 The main aim of this chapter is to challenge certain (arguably) oversimplistic readings of rave culture by indicating some of the complexities and contradictions involved in the experiences of raving. In particular, I want to contrast claims for ‘freedom’ made on behalf of rave with the strenuous efforts which can be seen to go into its production. I therefore emphasise how much self-regulation and management is required to produce what many ravers and academics valorise as a form of unregulated being.
