Psychedelics under Catastrophe: Reflections on the October 7 Rave Massacre
The South Atlantic Quarterly April 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1215/00382876-11626577 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPleasure and spirituality in Israeli psychedelic trance culture are not opposed to militarism but instead express the disavowed settler-colonial fabric of the state. Reflecting on the October 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli ravers by Palestinian militants, the essay argues that the countercultural specificities of psytrance—its hedonism and spirituality—articulate rather than resist the violence and catastrophe structuring Israeli society.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Political science |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Psychedelic trance culture in Israel articulates the disavowed settler-colonial fabric of the state rather than opposing its militarism. |
Abstract
How is pleasure structured by violence and catastrophe? This essay provides reflections on an event profusely mentioned but little understood at the time of writing, the massacre of Israeli ravers in the attack on October 7, 2023, by Palestinian militants. It is important to sketch the countercultural specificities of psychedelic trance music to appreciate how it became singularly popular in the state of Israel. It turns out the spirituality and hedonism of psytrance do not stand in opposition to the militarism of Israel but form an articulation of its disavowed settler-colonial fabric.