The relationships between law enforcement authorities and underground raves

A case study of Otum rave festival in the Maldives

Bibliographic Data

ID21729656
AuthorsRazzan Razee (0000-0001-7339-4977, Maldives National University, corresponding author), Neil Carr (0000-0002-9410-4710, University of Otago), Paolo Mura (0000-0001-6260-4991, Zayed University)
Year2024
Pages1-20
Publication date2024-11-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLeisure/Loisir (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1492-7713 • E-ISSN: 2151-2221
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14927713.2024.2420132
OpenAlexW4404156870
LanguageEN
References cited46

This article analyzes the relationship between underground raves and law enforcement authorities. It is centred on the police raid of the OTUM rave festival held on the uninhabited island of Anbaraa in the Maldives, specifically focusing on the perceptions of ravers present during the raid of the OTUM rave festival. The data on which this paper is based stems from open-ended interviews with ravers who were present during the raid. Ravers felt that police used excessive force at the rave festival. They arrested 79 ravers for possessing recreational substances, including LSD, cannabis, and ecstasy. The police raided the rave festival due to pressure from religious clerics and to appease the more conservative members of the mainstream society. The results from this study suggest that treating ravers as criminals and threatening them with imprisonment creates a disconnection between the underground rave community and the mainstream society, widening rather than healing divides and reinforcing ideas of deviance and resistance

Criminology · Enforcement · Geography · Law enforcement · Political science · Sociology · Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Law · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts