Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs and Struggles over Legitimation

2018 ◽  
pp. 145-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tereza Kuldova ◽  
James Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Motorcycle Clubs

Motorcycling in 1980s Athens

Transfers ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 4-21
Author(s):  
Panagiotis Zestanakis
Keyword(s):  
Gender Norms ◽  
New Associations ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs

Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s the number of motorcycles circulating in Athens almost quadrupled. Th is article examines the spread of motorcycling during the 1980s as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon. By examining representations of motorcycling as a deviant lifestyle, the article focuses on the strategies used to stigmatize bikers. Moreover, it describes the popularization of motorcycling and explores how public anxiety about it led to the emergence of new associations such as the motorcycle clubs. Finally, it argues that motorcycling represented a male lifestyle not completely inaccessible to women, a development that testifies to greater flexibility regarding contemporary gender norms and preferences.

scholarly journals Ethnographic Gameness: Theorizing Extra-methodological Fieldwork Practices in a Study of Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-56
Author(s):  
Christian Johann Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Symbolic Interaction ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Ideal Type ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs ◽  
Outlaw Bikers ◽  
The Ideal

This article theorizes the fieldwork experiences that I gained while studying outlaw biker subculture. Drawing on Bourdieu’s practice theory and Goffman’s dramaturgical interactionism, I argue that ethnography in practice is pre-disposed by the ethnographer’s primary habitus, which shapes symbolic interaction. To substantiate this claim, I disclose my own upbringing in a troubled working-class family and my personal ties with outlaw bikers, both prior to and beyond my research. This article then illustrates how my habitus helped me to compensate for the vagueness of ethnography in theory with regard to three recurrent issues of fieldwork, which are the practices of (1) approaching/entering the field, (2) negotiating participation, and (3) managing (un)fortunate circumstances. After reflecting on my cleft habitus as the buddy and/or researcher in ethnographic practice, this article concludes with the metaphor of gameness. This concept, which is borrowed from early prize fighting, is used to outline and label the ideal-type of the ethnographer who is well-suited for the immersion into deviant, criminalized, or otherwise culturally elitist fields.

scholarly journals The Constitutionality of Queensland's Recent (Legal) War on 'Bikies'

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-87
Author(s):  
Anthony Gray
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Offence ◽  
Institutional Integrity ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs

The Queensland government has responded to a perceived ‘criminal problem’ with motorcycle clubs by directly naming and declaring 26 motorcycle clubs. It supplements earlier legislation that provided for a court to make such an order, upon defined criteria. The effect of the declaration is that it becomes a criminal offence for participants in the declared organisation to associate. The legislation provides for minimum mandatory gaol terms for various offences, including the act of associating. This article argues that there are serious constitutional questions surrounding such legislation, including on the basis of Chapter III of the Constitution, and the extent to which a court’s institutional integrity is compromised by legislation of this nature.

The phenomenon of gangsterism in the context of motorcycle gangs

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-31
Author(s):  
WIESŁAW PŁYWACZEWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Legal Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Criminological Perspective ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs

The study concerns the phenomenon of gangsterism. The author presents the problem from the social and criminological perspective. The article includes, among others, a review of gang defi nitions and twin concepts, as well as typologies and classifi cations of the analysed criminal forms. The considerations in the article refer to the phenomenon of motorcycle clubs/ gangs. The author signals a number of practical problems connected with distinguishing the above mentioned structures and stresses the importance of knowledge of the aetiology of the phenomenon for a proper legal assessment of behaviours associated with the concept of a motorcycle gang.

The Reorganisation of Gangs in New Zealand

2016 ◽  
pp. 346-365
Author(s):  
Jarrod Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Street Gangs ◽  
Cultural Climate ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs

The first decade of the new century has seen significant changes among the gangs of New Zealand. Facing a changing cultural climate in which rebellious young people see membership in traditional ‘patch'-wearing gangs as less desirable, New Zealand's established gangs have become starved for recruits. Rather than precipitating a straightforward decline in the country's gang scene, however, what we are seeing is a reorganisation of the gangs. This chapter examines the problems facing the outlaw motorcycle clubs and the patched street gangs, and the numerous and complex nature of the issues facing these groups. It also explores the rise of LA-style street gangs and the similarities and difference that exist between them and New Zealand's traditional gangs.

Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs

Criminology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
The United States ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
High Quality Research ◽  
Hells Angels ◽  
Motorcycle Clubs ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Organized Crime Groups

Outlaw motorcycle clubs (OMCs), also referred to as outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs), such as the iconic Hells Angels MC, emerged as a subculture after World War II in the United States, being attractive to a number of veterans. The clubs were originally outlaws from the motorcycle club community rather than the law. The “1%” patch that distinguishes these clubs as outlaw motorcycle clubs dates back to the infamous Hollister riot in 1947 during the Annual Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally organized by the American Motorcycle Association (AMA), following which AMA is said to have stated that 99 percent of motorcyclists were law-abiding and that the riot was caused by the 1 percent of deviant law-breakers. The AMA has denied this statement, but the 1% patch has since been worn as a badge of honor, and outlaw motorcycle clubs came to be known as “One Percenters.” The subculture grew over the following decades, as clubs established chapters in new localities in the United States and in the 1960s began their transnational expansion, which accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s. Simultaneously, they became a powerful figment of popular culture and have ever since straddled the fine line between fact and fiction, reinforcing their “power mystique.” The most influential outlaw motorcycle clubs, such as Hells Angels MC, Outlaws MC, and Bandidos MC, have morphed into strong transnational organizations, counting thousands of members worldwide. These clubs have, through skillful self-commodification and branding, inspired the global growth of the 1% subculture and a worldwide proliferation of outlaw motorcycle clubs with the same organizational structures, laws and by-laws, core values, and marks of distinction: the three-piece patches consisting of a club logo, top rocker with the name of the club, and bottom rocker with location, along with the 1% patch. OMCs have been connected to a broad specter of illegal and criminal activities and are considered organized crime groups by law enforcement agencies worldwide. Considerable resources are channeled into the fight against these groups. Despite the size of the phenomenon, criminological research on outlaw motorcycle clubs has been limited and is still dominated by studies from United States, New Zealand, and Australia, albeit growing recently in Europe. This bibliography includes references to key works from criminology and related disciplines, such as anthropology of crime, as well as literature concerned with the policing of OMCs. While there are numerous accounts of OMC life written by (ex-)members and undercover agents that can be of interest to researchers, this bibliography summarizes only high-quality research.

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