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Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1867613791966986240 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Fortuin, Enrico |
| author2 | Xaba, N. J. |
| author_browse | Fortuin, Enrico Xaba, N. J. |
| author_facet | Xaba, N. J. Fortuin, Enrico |
| author_sort | Fortuin, Enrico |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135991 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:46.341Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135991 Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa Fortuin, Enrico Xaba, N. J. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Fortuin, E. 2026. Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/28d11dac-106b-443d-bcc3-f41faed6d64c This study explores drag racing and spinning in Cape Town as more than cars, engines, and smoke. It looks at how people in these scenes show who they are, how they build respect, and how they find belonging. Through interviews and time spent at events and workshops, the research shows that identity is carried in cars, in clothes, in sound systems, and in the way a driver enters the pitch or lines up at the start. These are not random choices, they are performances where skill and control are put on display, and where the crowd gives back recognition through cheers, names spreading, and moments of respect. At the same time, these practices follow the shape of rites of passage. Newcomers learn slowly, standing between outsider and insider, helping with tasks, saving for parts, and proving themselves until they step into the spotlight. Winning prizes matters, but often the louder reward is the crowd itself. Using Turner’s idea of liminality, Van Gennep’s stages of passage, and Goffman’s view of performance, this study shows how drag racing and spinning become paths of transformation. Yet these practices cannot be understood without Cape Town’s history. Apartheid forced people out of their homes and left them with poverty and exclusion. Out of this ground car culture grew as a form of sub-culture. A car is not just a machine. It is freedom, some form of survival and also dignity. Drag racing and spinning are not mindless or reckless. They are ritual and they are memories to these individuals. Each race and each spin is a way of claiming space in a city that pushes people aside. It is a way of saying we are here. We are strong. We will not disappear. Masters 2026-04-17T08:22:16Z 2026-04-17T08:22:16Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135991 en Stellenbosch University 66 pages : ill. application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Fortuin, Enrico Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_short | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_sort | drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in cape town south africa |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135991 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fortuinenrico dragracingandspinningasaritualisedsportincapetownsouthafrica |