Abstract
In this paper, I examine how a skydive drop zone in Texas, USA, operates within pericapitalist spaces. Specifically, what is striking about many drop zones across America is that many of the instructors and other staff often times live at the drop zone. I will be unpacking why skydive instructors often live within RVs or home trailers on drop zone grounds. This type of communal living allows skydive instructors and staff to be mobile and work at different skydive centers throughout their careers. This form of mobility challenges typical capitalist paradigms and thus this type of workforce operates within pericapitalism. The term pericapitalist highlights how some people exist in liminal spaces that straddle noncapitalist and capitalist intermingling. Pericapitalism describes these in-between spaces and how there is ongoing translation from the outskirts of capitalism to capitalist industry. The sport of skydiving is not only an extreme sport but it is also a subcultural sport. This small niche of athletes, especially those who have careers in the sport, tend to live alternative lifestyles and hence their jobs and living situations push back against capitalist norms and show ways of being beyond mainstream capitalist existence. This case study exemplifies how sport and culture interact to contest, transform and innovate experiences and understanding of physical culture and sporting identities.
Presenters
Alexandra MarisLecturer, Global Public Health, State University of New York, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Pericapitalism, Skydiving, Mobility, Subculture, Physical Culture
