Skateboarding as imperial endeavour: A response to “The ludic lives of memoryscapes”

The present commentary explores the implicit and explicit role of skateboarding and skate studies in upholding Russian colonial practices in, and the coloniality of knowledge on, the territories of the former Soviet Union. Addressing Duncan McDuie-Ra’s article ‘The ludic lives of memoryscapes: Skateboarding post-Soviet peripheries’, I argue for the need to consider more openly how the power relations extant in leisure practices may shape the region’s construction both in geopolitical terms and within academic discourse. In doing so, this examination urges a broader reconsideration of how skateboarding is analysed while simultaneously adding to the understanding of memoryscapes in the post-Soviet context.