Abstract
Boy Racer Culture: Youth, Masculinity and Deviance draws on the author’s doctoral research to present a comprehensive and detailed insight into the world of modified car enthusiasts, popularly referred to in the UK as ‘boy racers’. Lumsden provides an in-depth exploration of one particular group who meet in the Beach Boulevard area of Aberdeen, Scotland. These modifiers are known locally as ‘Bouley Bashers’ and Lumsden conducted ethnographic research with them between 2005 and 2008. Boy Racer Culture covers a range of themes which are integral to the understanding of a modified car subculture, and the text is set within the sociological context of a ‘moral panic’ created through and by the actions of ‘folk devils’.
The book begins with an overview of literatures on mobility and understandings of car crime and deviance in the UK. The second chapter details the history and context of the ‘Bouley Bashers’, outlining the interactions between them and various ‘outsider’ groups. The remainder of the book then focuses on the perspectives and consequences of each of these ‘outside’ groups and their contributions to constructing and supporting a moral panic. In Chapter 3 Lumsden presents the ways in which the modifiers have been presented in local and in some cases national news coverage, and she compares this with experiences obtained through her ethnographic research. The fourth chapter builds on contemporary literatures on ‘moral panics’ through research conducted with police officers from Grampian Police, concluding that they and other authorities institutionalized the moral panic through their response to the boy racers in the Beach Boulevard area. In Chapter 5 the ‘boy racers’ themselves respond, as Lumsden explores their reaction to being perceived as ‘folk devils’ and labelled as ‘boy racers’. Invariably they do not see themselves as ‘boy racers’ and they present their actions in very different ways to the media and police. Chapter 6 contextualizes this group within a subcultural approach and focuses on three key practices: the act of car modification; the public display of cars and meetings; and debates about legitimate and appropriate public behaviour by drivers. Chapter 7 tackles an area which is often pushed to the periphery of youth-oriented car culture studies, namely gendered performance, and Lumsden specifically focuses on the role of women in youth car cultures and the gendered construction of the masculine ‘boy racer’.
In summary, Lumsden’s book provides a thought-provoking and detailed account of an often misunderstood subculture, providing an in-depth account of participants’ perspectives. This book would be particularly useful to anybody interested in marginalized youth cultures, contemporary moral panics and ethnographic methods. It provides a welcome addition to research on car cultures and mobilities, providing a unique case study of the ‘boy racer’.