Rocking the house: sound system cultures and the politics of space

This paper looks at cultural and musical practices which revolve around the reproduction and reception of recorded music as a form of public entertainment. It focuses on the technological and institutional configuration of the “sound system” in various genres of black music, disco and dance cultures. It shows how sound systems have become the focus of various musical, technological and social practices which have articulated cultural space. It also examines what occurs when these practices operate outside the boundaries of authorised, legitimate leisure space, and how they become subject to particular forms of social control and legal regulation.