Forces of valorisation

In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, raving experienced a sudden proliferation in Singapore. This thesis investigates the values associated with raving that drove this phenomenon, examining how and why it became a meaningful artistic practice in the post-pandemic era. The central research question is: why did raving experience a post-pandemic surge in Singapore? Guided by Dekker and Morea's (2023) value realisation framework that looks at the social process in which artistic and cultural practices become valued, this study positions raving as a site where artistic, social and symbolic values are co-created and realised by diverse actors. Therefore, the sub-research question is: how do the non-economic values realised through raving shape participation, coordination, and sustainability of the scene? Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews with actors across various sub-electronic dance music genres, this research adopts a non-extractive care-driven approach to examine how values are manifested, realised, negotiated and sustained. While existing theory suggests that tension is the main force that drives valorisation-the social process of value negotiation and establishment-and can occur infinitely, this study offers two theoretical contributions. Firstly, it argues that synergy, alongside tension, fuels the valorisation process although through different mechanisms. The synergistic interplay of values realised through participation reinforced value regimes and imbued raving with greater significance, catalysing the surge in raving. Tensions caused by structural challenges and external pressures, on the other hand, became an impetus for actors to reevaluate and negotiate their positions, resulting in the scene's adaptation for its sustainability. These forces of valorisation are conceptualised as the synergy-tension continuum. Secondly, the scene's current stagnation suggests the existence of a threshold beyond which, these forces breakdown. More broadly, this study demonstrates how cultural scenes can organically form in localised settings and sustain value outside of institutional frameworks, offering insights into how artistic practices take root, build legitimacy and create meaning in contemporary urban life.