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IST 605: Art, Culture & History of Skateboarding

Skateboarding in Academia

In recent years, there has been a considerable uptick of academic articles that are about skateboarding in one shape or another. The topics of these works range from urban planning, to sociology, to economics, to leisurely studies. On this page is a selection of influential skateboarding articles that have appeared in academic publications. Most of these articles are discoverable through Primo, UAlbany's library discovery platform. Other platforms and databases that were used to access these articles include:

The Poetics of Security: Skateboarding, Urban Design, and the New Public Space

Ocean Howell, A former professional skateboarder and current professor of history at the University of Oregon published this essay about the exclusionary and hostile nature of redeveloped public space in 2001. This essay particularly focuses on how skateboarders are uniquely adept at recognizing hostile architecture and defensive design. Howell's work, alongside other academics such as Iain Borden, have gone on to influence a subset of urban design called "skate urbanism". Howell published a reworked version of his essay in Transworld Skateboarding Magazine in 2003.

 

Ocean Howell circa 1990's. Source: The Chromeball Incident

The Skater's Ear: A Sensuous Complexity of Skateboarding Sound

In this paper, Paul O'Connor and Brian Glenney analyze the spectrum of sounds in skateboarding. First, the authors note that the sounds produced by skating are frequently a common basis for public noise complaints. Next, the authors argue that skaters themselves are aware of the perceived unpleasantness of the sound that skateboarding produces and uses sound to push back against institutional constraints. Finally, O'Connor and Glenney argue that the role that sound plays in skateboarding is both attractive and rewarding to individuals who may be marginalized by the constraints of mainstream sport.    

Weak Sauce: Authenticity, Selling Out, and the Skateboard Industry: A Study in Community Resiliency

Thomas Kemp, in this paper, observes that a stable sense of community will have a positive affect on the human well being, growth, and economic stability of the participant of that community. By analyzing authenticity in relation to the steady output of skateboard companies over the past 50 years, Kemp notes that the skate industry is a useful case study in understanding the ways in which institutions foster community resiliency for better or for worse. This resource is useful because it demonstrates the effect of skateboarding as an industry on smaller local scenes that participate in the wider context of skating.   

Skateboarding and the ‘Tired Generation’: Ageing in Youth Cultures and Lifestyle Sports

Skateboarding is primarily thought of as a youth activity predisposed to risk. Indigo Willing and Ben Green argue that that there is an increase in participation in skateboarding among older adults. The authors observe that skateboarding helps establish an ongoing sense of inclusion in skateboarding among older adults despite no longer fitting the description of prototypical youthful skateboarder.  

  • Willing, I., Bennett, A., Piispa, M., & Green, B. (2019). Skateboarding and the ‘Tired Generation’: Ageing in Youth Cultures and Lifestyle Sports. Sociology (Oxford), 53(3), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038518776886

Handrails, steps and curbs: sacred places and secular pilgrimage in skateboarding

Paul O'Connor notes in this article that many of the locations where skateboarding takes place are often banal urban spaces. However, skaters through their own interpretation of these areas, are shown to be deeply engaged with these spaces and assign their own sacred meaning to these otherwise underappreciated spots. This resource puts into perspective the relative effort that street skaters go through in order to re-appropriate the areas they engage with. In doing so, skaters become emotionally invested into these spaces. This article is helpful for research into skateboarding and public space.

Skateboarders of color and the (co-)emergence of the DIY ethos in skateboarding

David Kamper and Neftalie Williams examine the connections between skateboarding's DIY ethos, its relationship with other outsider art forms, and what that DIY ethos means to skaters of color. By examining the experiences of BIPOC and indigenous skaters, Kamper and Williams seek to reconsider the role that racial identity plays in the participation of DIY subculture. This article is a great example of some of the more sociological scholarship that has been emerging from skateboarding related academic resources.