Inciting Sociological Thought by Studying the Deadhead Community: Engaging Publics in Dialogue

Abstract

Abstract:We need to pay more attention to the process of being sociologists and less attention to rates of productivity. To support this statement, I present a case study of the processes in which I have been involved while studying Deadheads, fans of the former rock band, the Grateful Dead. To avoid negative sanctioning, I proceeded slowly with this research and therefore had time to engage students, the media, and Deadheads in sociological dialogue. As a result, my teaching, ability to communicate sociological ideas, opportunities to incite sociological thought, and data were enhanced. To fulfill the promise of sociology "to revolutionize how people think" (Johnson 1997), we need to engage publics in dialogue and to establish routine rewards for doing so. Article:After Jerry Garcia's death in August of 1995, 150 Deadheads wrote to me about their experiences grieving for him. Although these letters were chiefly interesting to me because they were filled with expressions of fear of loss of community and because Deadheads were mourning a public figure as a member of their family or at least as a personal friend, another theme stood out. Jerry was very busy after his death. He visited Deadheads in their dreams or communicated with them in creative symbolic ways, reassuring them about his well-being and their future survival.Well, I have to admit I was curious about whether Jerry would communicate with me. Just when I had decided I was not on his list, I dreamed that I was attending a Bob Dylan concert in a small venue. When Dylan stopped playing, he exited by walking down the aisle that passed by my seat. When he reached me, much to my surprise, he paused and said, "Are you Rebecca Adams?" When I responded in the affirmative, Dylan said, "I have a message for you from Jerry. He says, "finish your damn book."

Music and Social Movements

“…Social movement scholars should heed Adams (1998) call to study popular culture and its increasing effects in society. The peace movement provides examples of popular musicians such as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in the 1960s to the band Green Day, more recently, giving their time to help the cause (Garofalo 2008).…”

“I Come Back a Better Person”: Identity Construction and Maintenance at a Regional Burn Festival

“…Further, research in festivals remains important as behavior and customs found at festivals can be considered exemplary of ceremony and ritual in modern society (Shrum and Kilburn ). There are relatively few sociological studies of festivals or the Burning Man festival itself (but see Adams ; Chen , , , ; Doherty ; Gotham ; Sherry and Kozinets ), however, Burning Man and associated regional burn festivals may provide insight for scholars interested in lifestyle‐based politics because of their relative longevity, counter‐cultural nature, and shared meaning and ideology (Chen ).…”

A Grateful Dead analysis: The relationship between concert and listening behavior analysis

“…Perhaps even more astounding than their prolific concert performances is the dedication that their fans (known as "deadheads") had to their music [13,1,17,16]. The typical deadhead was not a passive consumer of recorded studio albums, but an active concert goer that traveled with the band from concert to concert, city to city, and country to country.…”