The 10 Principles of Burning Man as a catalyst for human transformations

Abstract

Transformative experiences have become and increasing subject of interest as the progression of economic value reaches its next stage, the transformation economy. Rather than a mere passively consumed fabricated experience, people are now looking for authentic experiences that provides meaning and long-lasting changes in their lives. Due to their ineffable nature, what brings about human transformation is still relatively unknown. The objective of this thesis is to investigate Burning Man and its regional events’ ability to provide an environment that fosters human transformations. The focus is on the 10 Principles of Burning Man and how they can create this optimal transformative space. The literature review presents previous research on the concepts essential to this thesis. Topics of what makes an experience transformative, what the triggers of transformative experiences can be, and the background Burning Man and its 10 principles are explored in this chapter. The theoretical framework of this thesis proposes a model for an optimal transformative space. The framework is based on various elements gathered from previous experience theories presented in this thesis. It identifies the physical and psychological elements of a transformative space. The thesis used a qualitative approach in its research. The primary research method used was semi-structured interview. The thesis utilised a five-phase process for qualitative data analysis. The main findings concluded that a potential optimal transformative space has a balance of safety creating factors and challenge creating factors. The 10 Principles contribute to creating this balance in the social and physical environments of a burn event. However, the research of this thesis concludes that transformations are not one-size-fits-all, nor are the spaces which foster them. This thesis was conducted over the course of five months.