PhD defence B. (Britt) Swartjes

Brief summary of the doctoral thesis:

Music festivals arguably have exceptional unifying powers, often aiming to be ‘welcoming to everyone’. While they can indeed bring diverse groups of people together, they can also keep them apart. Consider for example recent discussions around rising  ticket prices for major festivals, transgressive behaviour occurring in festival audiences and backstage, and more general concerns with the accessibility of festivals to many. Within this context, festival organisers are increasingly expected to consider diversity and inclusion in their everyday practices, where they are supposed to offer ‘normative guidance’. Amidst these debates, this dissertation explores the role of music festival workers and producers. By exploring the context, structure, actors and practices of workers and producers within the popular music festival industry in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, it provides a first sociological account of music festival work and production. Overall, it concludes that – even though the music festival sector is clearly made up of a range of actors that ‘mean well’ – social inequalities are reproduced within music festivals in many (mostly implicit) ways. The general uncertainty present within the industry, the hierarchical structure of festival teams, and informal work cultures affect how work is done and by whom it is done. Moreover, boundaries observed in everyday life are visible at festivals too because of the way in which festivals are designed. Still,  festival workers and producers are actively working on changing some of these dynamics, for example by reducing barriers to entry and providing a space in which people are encouraged to meet others.