Rebel Without A Pause (But With A Cause)

Increasingly, there is a call for a new theoretical framework of economic thinking which goes beyond the state and market. A framework for this is found in theory of the commons, which focuses on how communities efficiently manage common-pool resources through self-governance. When applied to modern situations, this theory can help us understand how community-based organizations engage in social and political tensions in their environments. This research is a case study of four community-based organizations: Hiphophuis (NL), WORM (NL), Rapolitics (DK), and Soul Sessions Oslo (NO). The research investigates how these organizations engage with social and political tensions in their urban environment with and through alternative performing arts. While the organizations are multidisciplinary, they all have hip-hop as one of their focal art forms. Based on 13 semi-structured interviews with people within these organizations, this study suggests that the four organizations provide a unique approach to engaging with social and political tensions through self-governance. The qualitative data was analyzed through the framework of thematic analysis, resulting in four themes. The study found, firstly, that the organizations engage in a variety of social and political tensions, for example by creating spaces that foster confidence and political participation. Furthermore, their scope is beyond the immediate city in which they are situated, which has been overlooked in previous research on this topic. Secondly, the organizations successfully engage different communities in their environment, mainly as a result of their bottom-up characteristics and their focus on less institutionalized art forms. Thirdly, intrinsic motivation is seen as the driving force for both the artistic and socially/politically engaged work of the organizations, which is crowded-out when external intervention is experienced as controlling. This is seen in relation to the inherent political quality to question authority within hip-hop. Lastly, the research contributes to theorizing the (urban) commons by providing practical examples of working outside the dichotomy of state and market. Academically, the key contribution of the research is to the theory of urban commons and social/political engagement, providing perspectives that are often overlooked in research by focusing on alternative performing arts. It also has societal relevance, as it provides insights into the important role these organizations play in solving social and political tensions in our modern society.