Between necessity and fragments of alternativity: DIY experiences in French roller derby | Intellect Skip to content
1981
image of Between necessity and fragments of alternativity: DIY experiences in French roller derby

Abstract

Between 1935 and 1970, roller derby was a co-ed North American sport practised on roller skates and played on a banked track. The 2000s marked its revival when a group of women decided to give it a new lease of life: roller derby is now exclusively for women and takes place on a flat track. Teams assert their independence from established institutions and follow a model of ‘do-it-yourself’ organization. According to some critics, the roller derby revival is a continuation of the feminist Riot Grrrl movement. This article aims to understand how French roller derby players use the ‘alternative’ heritage of American women. By mobilizing the frameworks of Cultural Studies and Sport Subculture, the article reflects on the ways in which the legacy of Riot Grrrl, as a movement to challenge a dominant order, enables derby teams to create alternatives to mainstream sports models. Through 90 interviews and participant observation conducted between January 2020 and the present day, the study was able to show a use of the DIY ethos articulated between resourcefulness and a claim to independence. While Riot Grrrl radically defends the values of the punk movement, against the prevailing economic and gender order, French roller derby and its teams propose a hybrid sporting model, articulated between reflections on a different way of looking at sport and a move away from the DIY model of the early days.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00231_1
2024-04-09
2024-05-01
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Beaver, Travis (2012), ‘“By the skaters, for the skaters”: The DIY ethos of the roller derby revival’, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 36:1, pp. 2549, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0193723511433862.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Becker, Howard Saul ([1982] 2010), Les mondes de l’art (Art World), Paris: Flammarion.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Blanchet, Anne and Gotman, Alain (2015), L’entretien (The Sociological Interview), Paris: Armand Colin.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Breeze, Maddie (2015), Seriousness and Women’s Roller Derby, London: Palgrave MacMillian.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Brohm, Jean-Marie (1976), Critiques du Sport, Paris: Christian Bourgois.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Calabria, Frank M. (1993), Dance of the Sleep-Walkers: The Dance-Marathon Fad, Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Chifflet, Pierre (1995), ‘The sport supply in France: From centralization to segmentation’, Sociology of Sport Journal, 12:2, pp. 18094, https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.12.2.180.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Cohen, Jodie H. (2008), ‘Sporting-self or selling sex: All-girl roller derby in the 21st century’, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 17:2, pp. 2433.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Cross, Sauna (2007), Derby Girl, New York: Henry Holt and Company.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Donaghey, Jim, Boisseau, Will and Kaltefleiter, Caroline (2024), “If I Had a Hammer…”: The radical potential of do-it-yourself (beyond punk)’, in J. Donaghey, C. Kaltefleiter, W. Boisseau (eds), DIY or Die! Do-It-Yourself, Do-It-Together & Punk Anarchism, Karlovac: Active Distribution, pp. 2758.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Donnelly, Peter (1988), ‘Sport as a site for popular resistance’, in R. Gruneau (ed.), Popular Cultures and Political Practices, Toronto: Garamond Press, pp. 6982.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Downes, Julia (2007), ‘Riot Grrrl: The legacy and contemporary landscape of DIY feminist cultural activism’, in J. Downes (ed.), Riot Grrrl: Revolution Girl Style Now!, London: Black Dog Pup, pp. 1250.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Downes, Julia, Breeze, Maddie and Griffin, Naomi (2013), ‘Researching DIY cultures: Towards a situated ethical practice for activist academia’, Graduate Journal of Social Science, 10:3, pp. 10024.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Duncombe, Stephen ([1997] 2008), Notes from the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture, Bloomington, IN: Microcosm Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos (2018), ‘Les festivals queer, lieux de formation de contre-publics transnationaux’, Questions de communication, 33:1, pp. 13552.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Falcoz, Marc and Walter, Emmanuelle (2007), ‘Travailler dans un monde de bénévoles’, Revue Internationale de l’Économie Sociale, 306:4, pp. 7891.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Garrison, Ednie Kaeh (2000), ‘US féminism-grrrl style! Youth (sub)cultures and the technologies of the third waves’, Feminist Studies, 26:1, pp. 14170.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Goldman, Vivien (2019), Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Gottlieb, Joanne and Wald, Gayle (1994), ‘Smells like teen spirit: Riot Grrrls, revolution and women in independent rock’, in A. Ross and T. Rose (eds), Microphone Fiends: Youth Music and Youth Culture, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 25074.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Hall, Stuart and Jefferson, Tony (1976), Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain, London: Hutchinson.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Hebdige, Dick (1979), Subculture: The Meaning of Style, London: Methuen.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hein, Fabien (2012), Do It Yourself! Autodétermination et culture punk, Congé-sur-Orne: Le Passager Clandestin.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence ([1983] 2006), L’invention de la tradition (The Invention of Tradition), Paris: Éditions Amsterdam.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Jones, Ellis (2021), DIY Music and the Politics of Social Media, New York: Blooomsbury Academic.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Joulwan, Melissa (2007), Roller Girl: Totally True Tales from the Track, New York: Touchstone.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Labry, Manon (2010), ‘Riot Grrrls américaines et réseaux féministes “underground” français’, Multitudes, 42:3, pp. 6066.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Labry, Manon (2011), ‘Le cas de la sous-culture punk féministe américaine: Vers une redéfinition de la relation dialectique “mainstream-underground”’ (‘The case of American feminist punk subculture: Towards a redefinition of the “mainstream-underground” dialectical relationship’), Ph.D. thesis, Toulouse: Université Toulouse II le Mirail.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Marcus, Sara (2010), Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, New York: HarperPerennial.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Marino, Michella M. (2021), Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Messey, Orlane and Demésy, Audrey Tuaillon (eds) (2022), ‘De la création à la contestation: Délimiter les sports alternatifs’, ¿Interrogations?, 35, http://www.revue-interrogations.org/-No-35-De-la-creation-a-la-. Accessed 7 March 2024.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Paillé, Pierre and Mucchielli, Alex (2021), L’analyse qualitative en sciences humaines et sociales, Paris: Armand Colin.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Pavlidis, Adele (2012), ‘From Riot Grrrls to roller derby? Exploring the relations between gender, music and sport’, Leisure Studies, 31:2, pp. 16576, https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2011.623304.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Pearson, David (2018), ‘Punk’s popularity anxieties and DIY institutions as ideological (anti-)state apparatuses’, Punk & Post-Punk, 7:1, pp. 3755.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Perreau-Niel, Alexandre and Erard, Carine (2015), ‘French football referees: An exploratory study of the conditions of access and employment for referees in terms of level and gender’, Soccer & Society, 16:1, pp. 116, https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2012.627168.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Peter, Jean-Michel (2009), ‘L’engagement bénévole des jeunes sportifs: Crise ou mutation?’, Agora débats/jeunesses, 51:1, pp. 2942, http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/agora.051.0029.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Piano, Doreen (2003), ‘Resisting subjects; DIY feminism and the politics of style in subcultural production’, in D. Muggleton and R. Weinzierl (eds), The Post-Subcultures Reader, Oxford: Berg, pp. 25369.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Rosenberg, Jessica and Garofalo, Gitana (1998), ‘Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from within’, Signs, 23:3, pp. 80941, https://doi.org/10.1086/495289.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Roulley, Simon Le (2016), ‘“Le cadavre est-il encore chaud?”: Étude sociologique sur la portée et l’héritage de la scène DIY punk française’, Volume!, 13:1, pp. 15771.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Storms, Carolyn (2009), ‘“There’s no sorry in roller derby”: A feminist examination of identity of women in the full contact sport of roller derby’, The New York Sociologist, 3, pp. 6887.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Thompson, Stacy (2004), Punk Productions: Unfinished Business, New York: State University of New York Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Toews, Rebecca J. (2012), ‘Derby dames and femme fatales: A qualitative critical analysis of empowerment consumption and representation in roller derby’, MA dissertation, Portland, OR: School of Journalism and Communication and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Triggs, Teal (2006), ‘Scissors and glue: Punk fanzines and the creation of a DIY aesthetic’, Journal of Design History, 19:1, pp. 6983.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Zaytseva, Anna (2017), ‘“Être comme chez soi”. Mécanismes de tri et homogénéisation sociale dans les clubs et bars DJ de Saint-Pétersbourg’, Cultures et conflits, 105&106:1, pp. 99122.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00231_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00231_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error