In 2022 Alix Boirot, a social anthropologist with expertise in masculinities, party tourism, and ... more In 2022 Alix Boirot, a social anthropologist with expertise in masculinities, party tourism, and addiction, conducted a lengthy interview with Thomas Thurnell Read, Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University and an internationally recognized scholar specializing in sociological approaches to alcohol, drinking, and drunkenness. Thurnell Read's influential contributions include editing the book Drinking Dilemmas: Space, Culture and Identity (2015) and his founding role in the British Sociological Association's Alcohol Study Group. The interview takes both a biographical and thematic approach. It provides the reader with a comprehensive insight into Thurnell Read's academic journey, tracing his research trajectory from stag party tourism to a broader exploration of alcohol culture. An integral aspect of his work is his exploration of masculinities, which has played a pivotal role in shaping his studies of alcohol consumption. His nuanced approach to understanding the complexities of masculinities and alcohol consumption is a notable highlight, contributing significantly to a broader understanding of these multifaceted phenomena, free from moral bias. The interview also explores the ethical considerations of researching people who are partying and may be under the influence of alcohol or other psychoactive substances. Thomas shares his insights into navigating these complexities while maintaining objectivity and sensitivity in the research process. The dialogue offers valuable insights into the multiple dimensions of alcohol-related research, highlighting the complexities of sociological approaches to alcohol, the evolving craft beer scene, and the critical role of pubs in fostering social connections in the UK. Their engaging conversation provides a rich source of knowledge for those interested in alcohol culture, gender studies, and the multifaceted dynamics of celebratory practices in modern societies.
This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken b... more This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken by people under 30) for the explicit purpose of indulgence in drinking, dancing, and other party behavior. Though the phenomenon (of which the US Spring Break is the most wellknown example) has generated strong disapproval since its emergence in the 1950s, I argue that it is important for scholars to not reject the practice as simply vulgar, dangerous, and/ or exploitative. Embracing it as the go-to solution to revitalizing or diversifying a city's assets under the umbrella term of the night-time economy (NTE) is equally problematic. Staying away from both moral panic and festive-touristic enchantment, this essay thus strives to uncover the complexities of party tourism and presents it as an advantageous entry point to a variety of subjects, including the construction of masculinity, the evolution of urban space, the tourist gaze, and more generally, racial, economic and social inequalities.
After analyzing the modeling industry in her previous book, Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashi... more After analyzing the modeling industry in her previous book, Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model (2011), Ashley Mears now offers an ethnographic exploration of the VIP party scene across the globe, with New York as its center. She provides insights into the practices and customs of the global elite's leisure nights, into the ways they establish their social status and indulge in shared cultural experiences, and into the gendered dynamics around them. The book focuses on the stories of promoters, the young women who attend these parties with them (named "girls" by all the actors), and the wealthy men who seek to be surrounded by beautiful women. It is important to note that Mears benefits from her particular position: she is one of the few sociologists in the world who can access this data thanks to her former model status. Indeed, as she points out, "Many VIP destinations are public spaces, ostensibly accessible to everyone. But by design, they are effectively closed off to all but the world's most privileged" (p. 36). Her immersion and involvement are intense since she takes on the role of a girl (to which she is sometimes brutally referred to, such as in the passage where a businessman who welcomes her into his Hamptons home makes it clear that she is not there because she is a writer but because she is a "hot girl" [p. 105]) on over one hundred different nights in seventeen different clubs in New York over eighteen months. The author succeeds in finding a good distance in her observing participation. She integrates, in a very appropriate way, the narrative and analysis of some moments that directly involve her, but far from the self-heroization that sometimes mars the exercise of the observing participant in difficult-to-access environments, she mostly remains in the background, letting the actors involved speak for themselves. In addition to her observations, she conducted forty-four interviews with thirty-nine promoters, twenty with "girls," and twenty with clients. Mears provides a convincing explanation of her position as a researcher and former model and the prominent role of promoters in her work. Promoters have socially fascinating and rare upward trajectories and are brokers at the junction between the different actors. Nevertheless, one can regret that the girls' point of view is not put forward more. The book consists of a prologue, six chapters, a concluding chapter, and a research appendix detailing the methodology used. The organization of the chapters is mostly thematic but sometimes chronological as well. Because of the importance of time in Mears's research, the first chapter begins at 11:30 p.m., ending with Dre, one of the promoters, reflecting on the previous night. The following chapter, titled "Daytime," describes a typical day of several promoters. Placing the notes at the end of the book allows for ample commentary on sources and concepts that will satisfy specialists in the field without making it too cumbersome to read. Overall, this is an accessible sociology book that never sacrifices scientific rigor.
This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken b... more This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken by people under 30) for the explicit purpose of indulgence in drinking, dancing, and other party behavior. Though the phenomenon (of which the US Spring Break is the most well-known example) has generated strong disapproval since its emergence in the 1950s, I argue that it is important for scholars to not reject the practice as simply vulgar, dangerous, and/or exploitative. Embracing it as the go-to solution to revitalizing or diversifying a city’s assets under the umbrella term of the night-time economy (NTE) is equally problematic. Staying away from both moral panic and festive-touristic enchantment, this essay thus strives to uncover the complexities of party tourism and presents it as an advantageous entry point to a variety of subjects, including the construction of masculinity, the evolution of urban space, the tourist gaze, and more generally, racial, economic and social inequalities.
La station balnéaire de Lloret de Mar reçoit chaque été des milliers de jeunes Européens attiré.e... more La station balnéaire de Lloret de Mar reçoit chaque été des milliers de jeunes Européens attiré.e.s par son offre festive : bars, discothèques, maisons de passe. Le tourisme festif porte un imaginaire de plage, d’excès d’alcool et de promesses de relations hétérosexuelles. Le titre de la thèse « Là où vont les garçons » – adaptation de celui du best-seller qui a lancé le Springbreak américain, modèle du tourisme festif européen – fait ressortir deux éléments clés définissant les adeptes de cette pratique vacancière : ils sont jeunes et majoritairement de sexe masculin. La station est un lieu d’homosocialité, où l’on se rend entre hommes hétérosexuels dans le but d’avoir des relations sexuelles avec des femmes : à ce titre, elle s’est révélée un terrain privilégié d’étude des différentes masculinités au sein du système de masculinité hégémonique (Connell, 1995) et a permis de s’interroger : la confrontation de différentes masculinités dans un contexte hétérotopique constitue-t-elle u...
Images du travail, travail des images 13 | 2022 Les apparences au travail au prisme de la photogr... more Images du travail, travail des images 13 | 2022 Les apparences au travail au prisme de la photographie « Masters of the streets » : vêtements et images des promoteurs de boites de nuit
Two East Asian Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae, Polypodiales) species, Lomariopsis moorei and Lomar... more Two East Asian Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae, Polypodiales) species, Lomariopsis moorei and Lomariopsis longini, which were previously misidentified as L. spectabilis, are here described as new species based on evidence from morphological characters and a molecular phylogeny. The two species differ from the three other described species in East Asia by their venation, pinna shapes, and perine morphology. A phylogeny based on a combined dataset of three chloroplast regions (rbcL+ rps4-trnS + trnL-L-F) showed that L. moorei and L. longini each formed a well-supported monophyletic group which was distantly related to both L. spectabilis and the other morphologically similar East Asian species, L. boninensis.
C’est du double constat de l’orientation moralisatrice d’un certain nombre de recherches sur le t... more C’est du double constat de l’orientation moralisatrice d’un certain nombre de recherches sur le tourisme de masse et du manque de travaux qualitatifs sur la question qu’est ne mon souhait de realiser une enquete anthropologique sur une localite du tourisme massifie. J’ai choisi comme terrain Lloret de Mar, une station balneaire de la Costa Brava connue pour une pratique que j’ai nommee le « tourisme festif » : il s’agit de partir plusieurs jours pour faire la fete de facon plus ou moins inint...
Là où sont les garçons » : Springbreak et tourisme festif
Springbreak is a festive phenomenon connected to the student world which appeared in the United S... more Springbreak is a festive phenomenon connected to the student world which appeared in the United States after the second World War. Aside from the beach and sun, binge drinking and the promise of casual heterosexual sex are constituent elements of the imaginary world of these festivities. From the 80s onwards, similar practices in seaside party resorts emerged in all of the western world, fed by the US spring break imagery. The springbreak phenomenon quickly raised moral concerns. Nevertheless, this practice pertains to the construction of gender and life stages in compliance with dominant social norms. It is a part of a constellation of rites of passage in preparation for entering the world of grown-up responsibilities and a monogamous and procreative sex life. Thus, far from the dreaded or desired transgression, springbreak allows the incorporation of gender and life stages’ standards as well as the reproduction of the contemporary societal configuration.
In 2022 Alix Boirot, a social anthropologist with expertise in masculinities, party tourism, and ... more In 2022 Alix Boirot, a social anthropologist with expertise in masculinities, party tourism, and addiction, conducted a lengthy interview with Thomas Thurnell Read, Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University and an internationally recognized scholar specializing in sociological approaches to alcohol, drinking, and drunkenness. Thurnell Read's influential contributions include editing the book Drinking Dilemmas: Space, Culture and Identity (2015) and his founding role in the British Sociological Association's Alcohol Study Group. The interview takes both a biographical and thematic approach. It provides the reader with a comprehensive insight into Thurnell Read's academic journey, tracing his research trajectory from stag party tourism to a broader exploration of alcohol culture. An integral aspect of his work is his exploration of masculinities, which has played a pivotal role in shaping his studies of alcohol consumption. His nuanced approach to understanding the complexities of masculinities and alcohol consumption is a notable highlight, contributing significantly to a broader understanding of these multifaceted phenomena, free from moral bias. The interview also explores the ethical considerations of researching people who are partying and may be under the influence of alcohol or other psychoactive substances. Thomas shares his insights into navigating these complexities while maintaining objectivity and sensitivity in the research process. The dialogue offers valuable insights into the multiple dimensions of alcohol-related research, highlighting the complexities of sociological approaches to alcohol, the evolving craft beer scene, and the critical role of pubs in fostering social connections in the UK. Their engaging conversation provides a rich source of knowledge for those interested in alcohol culture, gender studies, and the multifaceted dynamics of celebratory practices in modern societies.
This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken b... more This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken by people under 30) for the explicit purpose of indulgence in drinking, dancing, and other party behavior. Though the phenomenon (of which the US Spring Break is the most wellknown example) has generated strong disapproval since its emergence in the 1950s, I argue that it is important for scholars to not reject the practice as simply vulgar, dangerous, and/ or exploitative. Embracing it as the go-to solution to revitalizing or diversifying a city's assets under the umbrella term of the night-time economy (NTE) is equally problematic. Staying away from both moral panic and festive-touristic enchantment, this essay thus strives to uncover the complexities of party tourism and presents it as an advantageous entry point to a variety of subjects, including the construction of masculinity, the evolution of urban space, the tourist gaze, and more generally, racial, economic and social inequalities.
After analyzing the modeling industry in her previous book, Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashi... more After analyzing the modeling industry in her previous book, Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model (2011), Ashley Mears now offers an ethnographic exploration of the VIP party scene across the globe, with New York as its center. She provides insights into the practices and customs of the global elite's leisure nights, into the ways they establish their social status and indulge in shared cultural experiences, and into the gendered dynamics around them. The book focuses on the stories of promoters, the young women who attend these parties with them (named "girls" by all the actors), and the wealthy men who seek to be surrounded by beautiful women. It is important to note that Mears benefits from her particular position: she is one of the few sociologists in the world who can access this data thanks to her former model status. Indeed, as she points out, "Many VIP destinations are public spaces, ostensibly accessible to everyone. But by design, they are effectively closed off to all but the world's most privileged" (p. 36). Her immersion and involvement are intense since she takes on the role of a girl (to which she is sometimes brutally referred to, such as in the passage where a businessman who welcomes her into his Hamptons home makes it clear that she is not there because she is a writer but because she is a "hot girl" [p. 105]) on over one hundred different nights in seventeen different clubs in New York over eighteen months. The author succeeds in finding a good distance in her observing participation. She integrates, in a very appropriate way, the narrative and analysis of some moments that directly involve her, but far from the self-heroization that sometimes mars the exercise of the observing participant in difficult-to-access environments, she mostly remains in the background, letting the actors involved speak for themselves. In addition to her observations, she conducted forty-four interviews with thirty-nine promoters, twenty with "girls," and twenty with clients. Mears provides a convincing explanation of her position as a researcher and former model and the prominent role of promoters in her work. Promoters have socially fascinating and rare upward trajectories and are brokers at the junction between the different actors. Nevertheless, one can regret that the girls' point of view is not put forward more. The book consists of a prologue, six chapters, a concluding chapter, and a research appendix detailing the methodology used. The organization of the chapters is mostly thematic but sometimes chronological as well. Because of the importance of time in Mears's research, the first chapter begins at 11:30 p.m., ending with Dre, one of the promoters, reflecting on the previous night. The following chapter, titled "Daytime," describes a typical day of several promoters. Placing the notes at the end of the book allows for ample commentary on sources and concepts that will satisfy specialists in the field without making it too cumbersome to read. Overall, this is an accessible sociology book that never sacrifices scientific rigor.
This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken b... more This essay provides a brief introduction to party tourism, that is travel (typically undertaken by people under 30) for the explicit purpose of indulgence in drinking, dancing, and other party behavior. Though the phenomenon (of which the US Spring Break is the most well-known example) has generated strong disapproval since its emergence in the 1950s, I argue that it is important for scholars to not reject the practice as simply vulgar, dangerous, and/or exploitative. Embracing it as the go-to solution to revitalizing or diversifying a city’s assets under the umbrella term of the night-time economy (NTE) is equally problematic. Staying away from both moral panic and festive-touristic enchantment, this essay thus strives to uncover the complexities of party tourism and presents it as an advantageous entry point to a variety of subjects, including the construction of masculinity, the evolution of urban space, the tourist gaze, and more generally, racial, economic and social inequalities.
La station balnéaire de Lloret de Mar reçoit chaque été des milliers de jeunes Européens attiré.e... more La station balnéaire de Lloret de Mar reçoit chaque été des milliers de jeunes Européens attiré.e.s par son offre festive : bars, discothèques, maisons de passe. Le tourisme festif porte un imaginaire de plage, d’excès d’alcool et de promesses de relations hétérosexuelles. Le titre de la thèse « Là où vont les garçons » – adaptation de celui du best-seller qui a lancé le Springbreak américain, modèle du tourisme festif européen – fait ressortir deux éléments clés définissant les adeptes de cette pratique vacancière : ils sont jeunes et majoritairement de sexe masculin. La station est un lieu d’homosocialité, où l’on se rend entre hommes hétérosexuels dans le but d’avoir des relations sexuelles avec des femmes : à ce titre, elle s’est révélée un terrain privilégié d’étude des différentes masculinités au sein du système de masculinité hégémonique (Connell, 1995) et a permis de s’interroger : la confrontation de différentes masculinités dans un contexte hétérotopique constitue-t-elle u...
Images du travail, travail des images 13 | 2022 Les apparences au travail au prisme de la photogr... more Images du travail, travail des images 13 | 2022 Les apparences au travail au prisme de la photographie « Masters of the streets » : vêtements et images des promoteurs de boites de nuit
Two East Asian Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae, Polypodiales) species, Lomariopsis moorei and Lomar... more Two East Asian Lomariopsis (Lomariopsidaceae, Polypodiales) species, Lomariopsis moorei and Lomariopsis longini, which were previously misidentified as L. spectabilis, are here described as new species based on evidence from morphological characters and a molecular phylogeny. The two species differ from the three other described species in East Asia by their venation, pinna shapes, and perine morphology. A phylogeny based on a combined dataset of three chloroplast regions (rbcL+ rps4-trnS + trnL-L-F) showed that L. moorei and L. longini each formed a well-supported monophyletic group which was distantly related to both L. spectabilis and the other morphologically similar East Asian species, L. boninensis.
C’est du double constat de l’orientation moralisatrice d’un certain nombre de recherches sur le t... more C’est du double constat de l’orientation moralisatrice d’un certain nombre de recherches sur le tourisme de masse et du manque de travaux qualitatifs sur la question qu’est ne mon souhait de realiser une enquete anthropologique sur une localite du tourisme massifie. J’ai choisi comme terrain Lloret de Mar, une station balneaire de la Costa Brava connue pour une pratique que j’ai nommee le « tourisme festif » : il s’agit de partir plusieurs jours pour faire la fete de facon plus ou moins inint...
Là où sont les garçons » : Springbreak et tourisme festif
Springbreak is a festive phenomenon connected to the student world which appeared in the United S... more Springbreak is a festive phenomenon connected to the student world which appeared in the United States after the second World War. Aside from the beach and sun, binge drinking and the promise of casual heterosexual sex are constituent elements of the imaginary world of these festivities. From the 80s onwards, similar practices in seaside party resorts emerged in all of the western world, fed by the US spring break imagery. The springbreak phenomenon quickly raised moral concerns. Nevertheless, this practice pertains to the construction of gender and life stages in compliance with dominant social norms. It is a part of a constellation of rites of passage in preparation for entering the world of grown-up responsibilities and a monogamous and procreative sex life. Thus, far from the dreaded or desired transgression, springbreak allows the incorporation of gender and life stages’ standards as well as the reproduction of the contemporary societal configuration.
Uploads
Papers by Alix BOIROT