The Right to Party: Why Partying is Political

The Politics of Partying 

This past weekend we threw a dance party. During the preparations, I found myself feeling conflicted: Is partying ethically responsible? Is it an entitled and privileged activity to engage in? Is it an individualistic, selfish, and immature pursuit? Are there better ways I could be spending my time and energy? 

Fortunately, I resolved most of these concerns by the time I was pouring the first shots of tequila for the night. Then we partied and danced until the sun came up. And it was a total blast. 

The night of dancing and partying also confirmed most of my thoughts from earlier in the day: Partying is political. That's what I decided while I was wandering the aisles of Walmart looking for frozen french fries and plastic cups (I know, the irony...). Of course, this probably isn't news to many of you: examples of parties with a political nature abound, from Burning Man to the Notting Hill Carnival in the U.K. to nightlife at LBTQ bars in New York City in the 1980s, to name just a few. 

I should also clarify that partying only can be political; it is not necessarily so. That's because partying can also be apolitical or even toxic. In college, I engaged in some decidedly toxic partying. It was exclusive and created unsafe spaces of toxic masculinity and white privilege. That said, with some intention, inclusivity, and respect for others, partying can be healthy, political, and transformative. 

But first, I have to wonder why I even feel the need to rationalize partying at all? There are plenty of other things I do that I don't feel the need to rationalize (or at least not to the same extent), like hiking or reading. So why do I feel like I need to justify staying up late and dancing with friends? 

Sadly, at some point in my life, the term "party" acquired a negative connotation for me. I developed an unhealthy relationship with partying. Not that I partied too much; actually the opposite. Partying somehow shifted from something joyful and free to something that needed to be earned, rationed, and justified. It now largely holds a sort of secondary position to "work" for myself and many others.  

But it doesn't have to be like this. Partying is political. And we have a right to party. Some might even say "You gotta fight for your right to party."  

There are at least 12 distinct ways in which I understand partying as political: 

    1. Partying builds community 

Partying builds community because it brings people together. It provides a shared space and a shared experience people can bond over. It often transcends many of the other segregating aspects of society, like age, occupation, workplace, private property, etc. 

    2. Partying builds revolutionary and organizing skills

 

When people party, they collaborate and coordinate; they plan and communicate and pool resources and gather supplies and materials. During a party itself, there is constant feedback and communication: Should we turn the music up? Turn the lights down? Move into this room? Go outside? Countless small decisions get made during the course of a party, and many of these happen collectively. 

There is also inevitably conflict, and people get to practice conflict resolution in what can be (although certainly is not always) a relatively safe and positive space. All of these skills are transferrable to revolutionary and community organizing activities. And, of course, partying and revolution are not mutually exclusive!

    3. Partying creates space for expression 

Dancing, late-night cooking, singing, playing music, cracking jokes, telling stories, and just letting loose. All of these types of expression can happen in the right party atmosphere. Self-expression is political in a repressed society. As one artist put it: "The act of being who you are is a political way of saying 'fuck you.'" A classic example of this is through punk music and its associated party scene -- which often involve political expression, because "issues in equality, justice, and hegemonic cultural standards are explored and prodded..." [1] 

Or, as the musician and activist Andrew W.K. has said: "You have to let the full spectrum of behaviors find a place in that party. No good party should be so strict as to allow only one emotion. No good party is one-dimensional."

    4. Partying can challenge social norms and marginalization 

Partying has the potential to disrupt dominant social norms and expectations, especially those placed on young people and people from marginalized groups. In her fantastic book, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman tells the stories of radical young women of color in Philadelphia and New York at the beginning of the twentieth century. Under conditions of marginalization and oppression, these girls, women, and radicals pursued their desires and forged new intimate relationships and complex social lives. 

Hartman brings alive an account of these "beautiful experiments -- to make living an art..." and illuminates "the radical imagination and everyday anarchy of ordinary colored girls." [2] Of course, I don't mean to equate my (white, male) experience of partying with the incredible, radical, and complex lives of the women of color described by Hartman. But I do think that the narratives Hartman weave show the radical potential of socializing and fulfilling one's desires, especially in an environment where external forces attempt to repress one's identity and desires. 

    5. Partying challenges binaries 

Binaries are central to the Western heteropatriarchy (e.g. man/woman, straight/gay, work/play, good/evil, mind/body, etc.). Put simply: binaries are a powerful way to control and confine people; patriarchy takes up space and limits people's identities. 

Partying creates a space where binaries can be challenged: People can explore their sexuality and disrupt sexual orientation binaries; drag parties call gender binaries into question; the day/night binary blurs during all-night dance parties; the work/play dichotomy falls apart as people network and organize on a Saturday night over drinks; the stranger/friend binary breaks down as people become comfortable with others they've just met. In a society dominated by the enforcement of binaries, parties can catalyze resistance and disruption. 

    6. Partying challenges conventional ideas about work and productivity

I've grown up thinking that "work is good." That being "productive" is the right thing to do. Basically, the Protestant work ethic. But partying challenges this, because parties are usually not considered "productive" by the mainstream. Commitment to partying -- to making the time to enjoy the sensuous aspects of life and actively seek pleasure in a social setting -- is political, especially when it means reducing the amount of time spent "working." Because of course partying can be "productive," depending on how one defines "productivity." For example, it can increase health and wellbeing to move your body and be social. 

    7. Partying is non-hierarchical and democratic

All of my favorite parties I've been to have been essentially non-hierarchical. There is no authoritarian rule-maker; no policies or rules or bouncers or coercion of any kind. The best parties (in my experience) have all been basically anarchist. A group of people gets together and collectively, democratically, decides what to do, how to do it, what actions are appropriate, when someone crosses the line, etc. Everyone's voice and participation are welcome; the will of the group and the energy in the room shape what happens next. Parties can be a beautiful model of decentralized governance, and of non-hierarchical, democratic social systems. 

    8. Partying is inclusive

At its best, partying can be radically inclusive. Do away with guest lists, dress codes, and other forms of exclusion, and continually try to increase the sphere of participation. In its most committed form, this radical inclusivity is unconditional; whoever shows up gets in. This is the kind of inclusivity that challenges political boundaries and makes radical transformation possible. This kind of openness invites challenging conversations and interactions. It creates real possibilities for new connections and breaking down social barriers. 

    9. Partying is pleasurable

For the most part, conflicting moral feelings aside, my experiences of partying have been distinctly pleasurable. But why should we bother with pleasure? Is pleasure just hedonism? Or is there something else at work? Is there a place for pleasure and partying in the revolution? 

Murray Bookchin defines pleasure as "the satisfaction of our desires, of our intellectual, esthetic, sensuous and playful 'daydreams'." [3] Bookchin claims that "it is precisely in this utopostic quest for pleasure...that humanity begins to gain its most sparkling glimpse of emancipation." [4] He explains that if this quest for pleasure is carried to the social realm, and beyond individual hedonism, we begin to "enter the realm of freedom -- a realm conceived, as the full realization of humanity's potentialities in their most creative form." [5] 

In other words, the quest for pleasure, pursued at a social level, can be liberating because it carries us toward creativity and freedom. Contrast this creative, social, pleasurable vision with a life dominated by work and toil -- a life which many in our society currently live. 

    10. Partying challenges capitalist forms of entertainment and the commodification of joy 

Partying can be done with relatively few resources: a space and some music, for example. The fact that 50 people can get together in a park or a house and have a ripping good time, with almost no other monetary costs, calls into question capitalist entertainment. Why spend $75 at Dave and Busters when you can get together with friends at someone's house? Why fly to Hawaii for pleasure when all your friends and family are here and ready to party? Partying, done in a consciously political and low-resource way, can disrupt the commodification of joy. We can do it on our own. 

    11. Partying can promote sharing and generosity 

In a society that is generally so dedicated to private property and wealth accumulation, partying can be a special opportunity to practice generosity. People often bring gifts or food or drink to parties to be enjoyed collectively. Someone brings a bowl of guac or a case of kombucha, and they don't typically worry about who is taking what. The gift is there to be used and enjoyed by all. In this way, partying can show us how freeing and joyful it can be to live generously. 

    12. Partying and political protesting often go together 

Michelle Lhooq writes that "...historically, the lines between partying and protesting have always been blurry." She cites examples like Reclaim the Streets, a direct-action movement against corporate globalization in the '90s which drew from rave culture, and all-night rave demonstrations in Lebanon in 2019. These examples show how parties can be a fun and effective tactic for resistance and demanding awareness and change. 

So, in conclusion: We have a right to pleasure. We have a right to happiness. Not mere contentment, or having our basic needs met; we have a right to real joy -- something that is exceedingly rare in our society [6]. We have a right to party.  

[1]Dillon Patrick Henry, Protest and Survive: A Brief History and Analysis of the Politics of Punk. Diss. University of Missouri--Kansas City, p. 3 (2018). 

[2] Saidiya Hartman, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, p. xiv (2019). 

[3] Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom, p. 74 (2005). 

[4] Id. 

[5] Id. 

[6] Jean Liedloff, The Continuum Concept, p. 148 (1977).