Drawing on interview, survey, and long-term participant observational research in the BMW motorcycling community, we analyze issues related to the commodification of riding. We use Hill-Collins’s (1999) “both/and” approach in our data analysis. Specifically, we draw on Adorno’s (1991) and Marcuse’s (1964) theories of the commodification of popular culture and the power of the “culture industry” to market non-essential products. We find that Marx’s (Marx and Engels 1988) theory of ways to attain “species-being” have the potential to be expanded via serious leisure activities (e.g., motorcycling) even as some are caught up in the discursive power of the culture industry.
AustinD. MarkGagnéPatriciaOrendAngela. 2010. “Commodification and Popular Imagery of the Biker in American Culture.” Journal of Popular Culture43 (5): 942–63.
5.
AustinD. MarkGagnéPatricia. 2008. “Community in a Mobile Subculture: The World of the Touring Motorcyclist.” Studies in Symbolic Interaction30: 411–37.
6.
BestAmy L.2006. Fast Cars, Cool Rides. New York: New York University Press.
7.
BourassaLorenAshforth.Blake E.1998. “You Are about to Party Defiant Style: Socialization and Identity Onboard an Alaskan Fishing Boat.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography27 (2): 171–96.
8.
ChambersDeborah A.1983. “Symbolic Equipment and the Objects of Leisure Images.” Leisure Studies2 (3): 301–15.
9.
CharmazK.2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.
ComerEdward. 2011. “Contextualizing and Critiquing the Fantastic Prosumer: Power, Alienation and Hegemony.” Critical Sociology37 (3): 309–27.
11.
DantTim. 2008. “The Pragmatics of Material Interaction.” Journal of Consumer Culture8 (1): 11–33.
12.
DeanJeff. 2008. “In the Beginning.” In BMW MOA: The First 35 Years, edited by WinkelVince, 8–9. Effingham, IL: Kingery.
13.
DupontTyler. 2014. “From Core to Consumer: The Informal Hierarchy of the Skateboard Scene.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography43 (5): 556–81.
14.
EndresThomas G.2002. Sturgis Stories: Celebrating the People of the World’s Largest Motorcycle Rally. Minneapolis, MN: Kirk House.
15.
FeatherstoneMike. 2007. Consumer Culture and Postmodernism. London: Sage.
FreyJames H.DickensDavid R.1990. “Leisure as a Primary Institution.” Sociological Inquiry60 (3): 264–73.
18.
GagnéPatriciaAustinD. Mark. 2010. “Playing with the Guys: Women’s Negotiation of Gendered Leisure and Space.” International Journal of Motorcycle Studies6 (2).
19.
GagnéPatricia L.1992. “Appalachian Women: Violence and Social Control.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography20 (4): 387–415.
20.
GiddensAnthony. 1991. Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University.
21.
GlaserBarneyStraussAnselm. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
22.
GoffmanAlice. 2014. On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23.
HaldrupMichaelLarsenJonas. 2006. “Material Cultures of Tourism.” Leisure Studies25 (3): 275–89.
24.
HayanoDavid M.1982. Poker Faces: The Life and Work of Professional Card Players. Berkeley: University of California Press.
25.
HewerPaulBrownlieDouglas. 2007. “Cultures of Consumption of Car Aficionados: Aesthetics and Consumption Communities.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy27 (3-4): 106–19.
26.
Hill-CollinsPatricia1999. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
27.
HopperColumbus B.MooreJohnny. 1990. “Women in Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography18 (4): 363–87.
JorgensenDany L. 1989. Participant Observation: A Methodology for Human Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
LukacsGeorge. 1971. History and Class Consciousness: Studies in Marxist Dialectics. Great Britain: Merlin Press.
31.
LyngStephen. 1990. “Edgework: A Social Psychological Analysis of Voluntary Risk Taking.” American Journal of Sociology95 (4): 851–86.
32.
LyngStephen. 2005a. “Edgework and the Risk-Taking Experience.” In Edgework: The Sociology of Risk-Taking, edited by LyngStephen, 3–16. New York: Routledge.
33.
LyngStephen. 2005b. “Sociology at the Edge: Social Theory and Voluntary Risk Taking.” In Edgework: The Sociology of Risk-Taking, edited by LyngStephen, 17–50. New York: Routledge.
34.
MaffesoliMichel. 2005. The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. London: Sage.
35.
MarcuseHerbert. 1964. One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Boston: Beacon.
36.
MarxKarlEngelsFredrick. 1988. The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and the Communist Manifesto. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
37.
McBeeRandy D.2015. Born to Be Wild: The Rise of the the American Motorcyclist. Chapel Hill: University of North Carloina Press.
38.
MichelettiMichele. 2003. Political Virtue and Shopping: Individuals, Consumerism, and Collective Action. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
39.
PageEdwin R.2001. “Social Change at Bike Week.” Visual Studies16 (1): 7–35.
40.
PageRoby. 2005. Bike Week at Daytona: Bad Boys and Fancy Toys. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press.
41.
PiersonMelissa Holbrook. 1997. The Perfect Vehicle: What It Is about Motorcycles. New York: Norton.
42.
PughAllison J.2009. Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children, and Consumer Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.
43.
QuinnJames F.Forsyth.Craig J.2009. “Leathers and Rolexs: The Symbolism and Values of the Motorcycle Club.” Deviant Behavior30:235–65.
44.
QuinnJames F.ForsythCraig J.2011. “The Tools, Tactics, and Mentality of Outlaw Biker Wars.” American Journal of Criminal Justice36 (3): 216–30.
45.
RosenbaumMichael S.2013. “Maintaining the Trail: Collective Action in a Serious-Leisure Community.”Journal of Contemporary Ethnography42:639–67.
46.
SchoutenJohn W.McAlexander.James H.1995. “Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers.” Journal of Consumer Research22 (1): 43–61.
47.
SlaterDon. 1997. Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
