Oliver Wang is Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach. He is the editor of
Imaginings: Building Community in the Showcase Era
-
Published:March 2015
This chapter looks at the institution of the “showcase,” or large-scale, multicrew performances that could draw hundreds or thousands of people from across the Bay Area. Showcases were an important mediator of symbolic capital within the scene and thus drove both competitive and cooperative efforts among crews. Showcases also play a key role in understanding the import of the mobile scene in drawing together Filipino American youth from across different parts of the Bay Area, creating a powerful communal identity in its wake.
Advertisement