Browsing by Author "Mikkola, Pia"

This thesis is a study of cultural, corporal, social, symbolic and economic forms of capital of the Western surfers in Bali, Indonesia. The thesis follows Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social distinction. The study examines what types of capital exist in the surfing social field of Western surfers in Bali, and how these different forms of capital function, how they are established and negotiated. Study also analyses how social distinctions are created and negotiated through the distribution of capital. This study is based on a four and a half month long ethnographic fieldwork in spring 2015 in the southern parts of Bali, Indonesia. Methods used are participant observation, 10 in-depth interviews and informal discussions, as well as observations in the field and local surf related magazines. The informants of this study were surfers from Western countries who lived in Bali permanently or for and extended period of time. The analytical section of this thesis is divided into four sections on the basis of different forms of capital. First, analysis is provided on how and what types of bodily and perceptive skills and knowledge constitute surfers' corporeal capital. The second section focuses on the types of narratives that surfers use to constitute surfing experience and surfed place. The analysis suggests that in the narratives of individual experiences, surfers use socially legitimated ways of storytelling and contribute to the construction of surfing social field through the circulation of these narratives. The third section focuses on symbolic capital produced in surfing advertisements and negotiated amongst surfers and the surfing brands. The section illustrates how surfing brands harness symbolic capital relevant to the surfing social field and turn it into economic capital. Lastly, analysis is provided on surfing lifestyle. The section observes how surfers rationalize their lifestyles as personal choices, but suggests that they are choices available to these agents through their relative affluence that enables making choices distanced from necessity. This study suggests that surfing social field is constructed in visual and oral narratives that both the surfers and the surf brands produce. It is noted that whilst acquisition of relevant corporeal skills and capital seems to function as a gatekeeper to the surfing field, it is through relevant affluence and existing economic capital that enables the significant personal investments of time and efforts to gain this entrance. Thus, it is argued that the possibilities of Western surfers in Bali are linked broader global construction of social hierarchies and unequal distribution of affluence.