PUNK SCHOLARS NETWORK EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE & POSTGRADUATE SYMPOSIUM
A VIRTUAL, ONLINE GLOBAL CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE PUNK SCHOLARS NETWORK
CiRCUITS, NETWORKS, CONNECTIONS
4th-11TH DECEMBER 2021
Punk is a truly global phenomenon that manifests in myriad ways across many different scenes, musical styles, and political, cultural and social settings. As such, ‘punk’ is many things to many people and seldom remains static over a lifetime, with changes in connectivity and technology, economic and political globalisation impacting punk for better and worse. The current Punk Scholars Network series Global Punk has attempted to capture the spread and variance of punk across the world (Bestley, Dines, Gordon & Guerra 2019, 2020; Bestley, Dines, Gordon, Grimes & Guerra 2021). Moreover, the journal Punk & Post-Punk seeks contributions from punk scholars in a variety of geographical locations and settings.
With these efforts, and others, serving as a starting point the Punk Scholars Network are seeking to hold a conference that explores, examines and critically engages with punk scholars around the globe. Taking punk seriously as a theme means considering the variety of experiences within local, national and international punk communities, and this conference takes place against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic, making it still uncertain which parts will be face-to face and which parts will be solely online.
In keeping with the PSN’s wide ranging academic reach, we are seeking contributions from a range of interdisciplinary areas, including, but not limited to: cultural studies, musicology, ethnography, art and design, humanities, performing arts and the social sciences. Papers and panels could cover, but are not limited to, the following themes:
Globalisation of new media, communications, social networking, internet
Ethnographic considerations of scene/space and borders
In what ways do gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality, disability, class, religious beliefs and cultural norms shape punk?
Music and the performer: creativity, authorship, identity, problems with definition, crossing musical boundaries.
Reception: DIY culture, activism.
Lifestyle: crust punk, squatter, vegetarianism, animal rights, straight edge etc., within different cultural contexts.
The art of punk: record covers, concert flyers, fanzine design and associated graphic styles.
If you wish to take part, please submit your proposal to the relevant affiliate, if there is not one in your immediate geographical region then please submit it to the affiliate that aligns with your time zone for ease of inclusion. Proposals should be 350 words maximum (or equivalent, 3 minutes if a video clip for example) and do not have to be in English: please feel that you can use the language of your region, e.g. Dutch in the Netherlands, if you wish.
