Field research in illegal street races online communities: speed, risk and masculinty

Abstract

This article is part of a research project
with the purpose of understanding the risk conduct
present in illegal street racing, and the meanings
they have for the young people who practice it.
Speed has acquired an important value in modern
western societies, in which several forms of risk pro-
liferate, creating, at the same time, doubt and the
search for safety. Unlike the way that risks are con-
trolled in a technologized and securitarian world,
some juvenile groups try to expose themselves to
them, widening and challenging them, sometimes,
until the limit of life and death. Speed is shown as
one of the main features of the urban revolution
and modern life, and the car is one of possible syn-
thesis of the changes that occurred. The purpose of
this article is to present initial theoretical conside-
rations about this theme, based on the analysis of
discussion lists on the Internet, and methodological
observations about the study of an illegal practice
that instigates the ethnographical approach.