Nightclubbing and the Search for Identity: Making the Transition from Childhood to Adulthood in an Urban Milieu

It is generally held that the kinds of rites of passage that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood found in less complex societies are not characteristic of advanced industrial societies. Rather, young people are seen to be caught within a liminal phase of ‘youth’ that involves a period of freedom and hedonistic leisure before they assume the roles and responsibilities of adulthood. This paper argues, however, that many young adults in advanced industrial societies seek to enact informal rites of passage through their leisure-time pursuits. As a popular form of leisure activity for young people worldwide, nightclubbing is examined in terms of an urban rite of passage using Mitchell's typology of urban relationships and Turner's dramaturgical perspective. The result of this analysis is a framework that may prove useful for approaching the transitional significance of other leisure practices engaged in by young people.