Free parties et teknivals: Dans les marges du marché et de l’état, système de don et participation

rough raves and then subsequently through “free parties” and “teknivals”, French fans of electronic music have developed festive practices at the margins of the market and the state. In France, these events—especially so-called free parties—are o en associated with free-access events or inversely with settings for parallel economies. And yet, these parties operate under a logic of gi -exchange, playing on its symbolic dimensions. e free party is experienced as a collective production, in the sense that the organizers of these sound systems expect an investment, an active participation from the audience, and also in that the participants, faced with the party-as-gi made by these collectives, are drawn into an obligation to contribute to the event in their own way. is participation can take the nancial form of a donation, but can also be made by helping to set up or clean the event location, enlivening the festive space through spectacular street-theater, and also simply by dancing. is organization through gi -exchange is thus directly connected to the kind of participatory experience sought by the audience. e party-as-gi also prompts other collectives to o er their own festive gi s in turn; this entails a degree of emulation between sound systems. ey acquire prestige and renown within this social world according to their capacity to provide both music and parties as gi s.2 A reading in terms of the gi makes it possible to capture how the pleasures of giving and spontaneity can coexist with economic interests and prestige.