Identity constructions among breakdancers

Abstract

The hip-hop culture has evolved from the ghettos of The Bronx, New York in the 1970s, into a global phenomenon. Despite such prominence there is an absence of academic research on the hip-hop culture element: breakdance. Through eight months of participant observations and 17 qualitative interviews, this study investigates the identity construction process among breakdancers with diverse ethnic backgrounds in Norway. The aim is to provide an insight into the lives of young people and their impression management in constructing a breaker identity. The analysis highlights the complex and contested nature of breakdance as it is experienced and viewed by young people performing breakdance in Norway. Through deliberate impression management the breakdancers construct an alternative identity detached from other social categories. As a result, breakdance seems to counter social oppression and to have an empowering and liberating potential different from the common stigmatization and stereotypical prejudices regarding gender and ethnicity that many have experienced.