PSN Brasil First Symposium Online/Virtual event, 27-29th january 2021. Report by Gabriela Gelain

In Brazil, the Punk Scholars Network has been meeting since the middle of 2020 with its members organizing their first event to take place at the end of January 2021. The symposium was organised primarily by João Bittencourt and Maiara Rodrigues, with help from the other members of the branch.

Over the course of three days, a public and live event (all available on the Punk Scholars Network Brasil YouTube channel) was developed with the participation of members of the Brazilian punk scene as musicians and activists, in addition to academics and researchers interested in theme and active participants in this forum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUqaRW1TFPU 1st day - Apresentando a PSN Brasil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UJydEeqqIg 1st day - Entrevista com Minerva - Punk Colômbia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyA5Cy8gtI8 2nd day - Interseccionalidades e ativismos no punk brasileiro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP3iaF-biSc 3rd day - Arquivo Punk - colecionismo, memórias e resistências

On the first day of the seminar, we held an opening of the event, introducing PSN Brasil and explaining the Global PSN project, the basic principles of the community and how this discussion forum about punk culture came to our country. Following this, Gabriela Gelain (member of PSN Brasil) chaired a presentation by researcher and academic Minerva Campion (Pontificia Universidad Javieriana) on the subject of Colombian punk from the 1980s to the present day. On the second day of the seminar, the discussion was organized by Maiara Rodrigues and Carolina Cardoso and centred on the issues of intersectionality and activism in Brazilian punk. Three women active in the punk scene in Brazil were interviewed: Elaine Campos (from the band Rastilho), Natália Matos (from the band Punho de Mahim) and Daniela Rodrigues (from the band Renegades of Punk). Finally, on the last day of the seminar Antonio Carlos de Oliveira and João Neves reflected on their trajectories and research relating to collecting, memories and resistance in Brazilian punk.

In parallel to the PSN Brasil public seminar, there were two days of internal seminars. These were arranged specifically for the members of the network to get to know each other better as well as sharing their research, and to have the opportunity to discuss topics related to punk in our country and region-specific information. João Bittencourt discussed punks in a region located in the northeast of Brazil, reconstructing the sociological clues of this urban youth culture. Carolina de Andrade Cardoso's work focused on women in underground rock in the city of Curitiba, capital of the state of Paraná in southern Brazil, where one of the country's Girls Rock Camps also takes place. Moacir Alcântara presented her work on the representations and modes of subjectification of punk in the newspaper Correio Braziliense, using excerpts from the period 1990 to 2014. Henrique Conti presented work on the straight edge movement in Brazil as a political performance, specifically from an anarchist perspective. Felipe Silvatti led a discussion on punk festivals, relating this empirical field to Foucault’s concept of heterotopia.

Gabriela Gelain then recounted the experience of her dissertation, which focussed on the readings and updates of the Riot Grrrl movement in Brazil. This conversation related to the work of Karina Moritzen, who discussed other works on gender, with an emphasis on intersectional feminism, issues of whiteness and Riot Grrrl. Hellen Cristina Silva de Oliveira analysed the meanings of violence in the punk movement in the city of São Paulo in the Southeast Region of Brazil, while Edson Alencar Silva presented work on the musical recordings of punks in São Paulo. Alexandre de Almeida offered a debate on the organization of musical documents produced by Brazilian skinheads and White Power bands, and José Rinaldo Queiroz de Lima developed an interesting work on the punk of Alto Sertão Alagoano, specifying his research in the town of Delmiro Gouveia, situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region of Brazil, from 1984 to 1996.

We were able to learn about the work of Maiara Rodrigues dos Santos Silva on gender violence in Latin punk in the 1990s, based on a comparative analysis between Brazil and Argentina. João Augusto Neves presented his work on tensions and stresses of punk masculinity, demonstrating some dialogues within a selected range of Brazilian fanzines. Finally, researcher Rodolpho Jordano Netto had the opportunity to show his work on anarcho-punk squats in Brazil, as territories for the creation and experience of libertarian culture.

Author: Gabriela Gelain (PSN Brazil – ESPM-SP) gabrielagelain@gmail.com

Interview With Marie Skov Chair of PSN Germany and Denmark

Interview with Herman de Tollenaere, Chair of PSN Netherlands

I talk about old style punk with Herman de Tolenaere of PSN Netherlands.

Interview With Fahkran Ramadhan Chair of PSN Indonesia

I talk punk, heavy metal parenting, and the blood sweat and tears of the PSN Conference 2020 with the wonderful Fahkran Ramadhan of PSN Indonesia.

Punk Passages: Punk, Ageing and Time – Call for Chapter Proposals

Punk Passages: Punk, Ageing and Time – Call for Chapter Proposals

Writers are invited to submit chapter proposals for an edited collection of work exploring ageing, time and temporality in the context of punk.

Initial academic consideration of punk posited it as a youth culture and the positioning of punk in relation to time and historical location is of course commonplace in scholarship. This can be seen outside of academia too, for example the ‘celebration’ of the 40th anniversary of punk and the associated events which took place highlight the way punk is often link with a particular time in our collective memory. Just as punk scholarship has endeavoured to deal with the notion of punk retaining significance in individuals’ lives ‘post-youth’, empirical work has built around how punk is remembered and represented. And yet...tensions, issues and gaps remain unaddressed.

Whilst a body of work concerned with punk and ageing has begun to be developed, this is still very much in its infancy. Indeed, work approaching punk and ageing which takes into consideration intersectionality (for example speaking to also how gender, ethnicity/race, sexuality, disability and/or class intersect with ageing) is extremely limited. Similar problems are found in scholarship focusing on how punk is remembered and represented – this might entail the ‘writing out’ or the minimising of particular participants’ involvement (Reddington 2006, Stewart 2019, Wiedlack 2015), for example, or the way punk historiography assumes whiteness as the taken-for-granted subject position in punk (Davila 2019). We clearly need, as Lohman and Raghunath (2019) express, a “re-examination of how punk has entered our collective memory and our lived experience” (189); particularly involving the relationship between this and marginalized identities. To quote Wiedlack (2015) - “it is time to complicate the pictures, rather than renarrate the straight white punk history of white middle-classness, homophobia and racism again and again” (10)

Below is a list of themes/areas which chapter proposals might consider - this is by no means an exhaustive list though the key focus on punk in relation to ageing and/ or time must be retained in any broadening beyond this:

-          Punk and ageing, particularly drawing upon intersectional analysis,

-          The relationship between temporality and particular concepts relevant to punk including, but not limited to, authenticity, DIY, identity, resistance, spatiality, style,

-          Punk pasts: for example, critiques/analyses of how punk has been posited in the past (e.g. in reference to punk’s ‘death’); problematising punk narratives; memory, remembering and/or forgetting,

-          Punk futures (e.g. from the perspective of those affiliated with punk),

-          Punk, ageing and/or temporality in the context of virtual spaces.

Chapter proposals which are grounded in emic perspectives are particularly welcomed as is work approached from critical/feminist methodologies and/or theoretical frameworks.

Proposals should be no longer than 500 words and e-mailed to Dr Laura Way at lway@lincoln.ac.uk – please include a working title, abstract and your contact detail.

Scholars at any point in their career are welcome to submit a proposal. Chapter proposals are particularly welcome from scholars of marginalised identities and researchers in the Global South.

Deadline for abstracts: 12th February 2021
Notification of outcome: 26th February 2021

Editors – Dr Laura Way and Dr Matt Grimes

Day 1 PSN Conference 2020 Recordings

Please find the recordings for Day 1 of the PSN Conference 2020 linked below. Fantastic start to this year’s virtual, global conference spanning 7 days. See our previous post for the downloadable programme and details for joining the different days.

Panel A: Experimental Presentations in Punk and Post Punk

Panel B: Straight Edge Experiences

Panel C: Punk Ethos

Keynote with G.W. Sok

Full Downloadable Programme NOW AVAILABLE for PSN Global Conference 2020

The full programme for the Punk Scholars Network 7th Annual Conference and Postgraduate Symposium is now available for download. Click here to download your copy. The programme was designed by the wonderful Russ Bestley and comprises the full line-up details and links for the seven conference days. We look forward to virtually meeting you across the conference!

Punk and Anarchism Call for Papers

Anarchism and Punk - Call for Chapters

We are inviting chapter submissions for an edited volume on the interrelationships between anarchism and punk. Send 250-300 abstracts to Will Boisseau (will.boisseau@hotmail.com), Caroline Kaltefleiter (Caroline.Kaltefleiter@cortland.edu), and Jim Donaghey (j.donaghey@qub.ac.uk) by 20 January 2021. More details below.

https://jimdonaghey.noblogs.org/anarchism-and-punk-call-for-chapters/

There has been a wealth of excellent writing about punk over the last few years. The best of these have been the critical reflections that pull free of the quagmire of 1970s nostalgia, and the critical engagements that see beyond the narrow scope of punk’s Anglo-American birthing ponds. This Call for Chapters proposes to continue and extend that exciting work by considering in closer detail the relationships between anarchism and punk, with a contemporary emphasis and a global spread.

Whilst anarchism has been well recognised as punk’s primary political companion, it is of course not the case that all punks are anarchist, nor that all anarchists are punk. Even within the 40+ year entwinement of punk and anarchism, the relationship has been far from straightforward. In the coming together of two such multifaceted entities, fractiousness is to be expected (perhaps even embraced).

Views on the relationships between anarchism and punk are wide-ranging. There have been outright rejections of punk by ‘materialist’ anarchists worried about punk’s apparent lack of historical awareness or its ‘lifestylist’ leanings. And, equally, there have been punk-anarchist rejections of the ‘old guard’ of the anarchist movement and its preoccupations with the faded memories of failed revolutions. In a less adversarial vein, other analyses have pointed to punk as an invigorating force for moribund or repressed anarchist movements worldwide. There have been recognitions of the value of the practical example of ‘anarchy in action’ provided by DIY punk’s cultural production, and of the importance of ‘punk spaces’ such as squats and social centres in sustaining anarchist activist movements. All over the world, punk continues to play a role in politicising new generations of anarchists, almost always under the radar of the mainstream media, and often unbeknownst to academic researchers.

But none of these views are likely to go unchallenged, and that lively debate is what this volume hopes to tap into. We invite contributions that reflect on the interrelationships between anarchism and punk in particular times or places, or that consider how punk does (or does not) manifest specific aspects of anarchist political philosophy, or that draw comparisons between punk and other anarchist-inflected music cultures and art movements.

Some thought-provoking questions, to which you might respond or take as a point of departure:

• What lessons can other milieus of the anarchist movement draw from punk’s longevity and impressive global spread?

• Is the relationship between punk and anarchism substantially distinct in ‘other’ world contexts (especially in the ‘Global South’)?

• Can punk’s success in ‘taking back the means of cultural production’ be replicated in other realms of production (whether social or material)?

• Is punk well-placed to respond to, or resist, or escape, the neoliberal capitalist world? Or is punk just another harbinger of neoliberalism’s seemingly irresistible advance?

• How do punk scenes respond to life under socialist/communist states and governments? Or to life under fascist/authoritarian/totalitarian states and governments?

• What intervention can punk culture (or punk counter-culture) make in the ‘culture wars’?

• In our era of perpetual crisis, what role can/do punk scenes play in providing focal points for resistance and mutual aid?

• How has punk responded to radical ideologies other than anarchism (Marxism, autonomism, socialism, feminism, environmentalism)?

• How has punk interacted with specific social movements (Black Lives Matter, antifa, Extinction Rebellion, trans rights, anti-globalisation, Occupy, disability rights, Food Not Bombs, LGBT, squatting)?

• How does punk challenge, or fail to challenge, the patriarchy? Does queer punk look different in diverse global contexts?

• What does the prevalence of veganism in punk culture tell us about tensions between individual consumer choices and activism? How do other punk behaviours and consumption practices relate to anarchism?

• In what ways does the prevalence of anti-theism in punk reflect anarchist anti-theism and anti-clericalism?

• How does the relationship between punk and anarchism compare with other anarchist-associated music cultures or art movements? (Hip-hop, rap, dance, rave, folk, anti-folk, metal, jazz, kraut rock, ska, avant-garde, rebetiko, corridos, no wave, Irish rebel music, ad nauseam!).

Please feel free to expand beyond these questions in your contributions.

Editors:

Will Boisseau – will.boisseau@hotmail.com

Caroline Kaltefleiter – Caroline.Kaltefleiter@cortland.edu

Jim Donaghey – j.donaghey@qub.ac.uk

Timeline:

23 November 2020 – Call for Chapters disseminated.

20 January 2021 – Please send 250-300 word abstracts to the editors by 20 January 2021 (to the email addresses given above).

21 June 2021 – Subsequently invited chapters, of between 5,000 and 8,000 words, to be submitted by 21 June 2021. Chapters should be written with a general readership in mind.

Winter 2021/22 – After review and revisions process, the book is under agreement to be published with a well respected radical (and punk friendly) publisher. Details to be announced.

https://jimdonaghey.noblogs.org/anarchism-and-punk-call-for-chapters/

We look forward to reading your contribution ideas!

In solidarity

Punk Scholars Network 7th Annual Conference and Postgraduate Symposium 2020 - full programme and registration details

The Punk Scholars Network can now reveal the full programme details for the 2020 conference. This year’s conference is entirely virtual and truly global; spanning seven days and representing a variety of regions around the world. We would like to thank our PSN affiliates for their work in putting these schedules together as well as recognising the continued global support for punk scholarship.

Click on the link for full details of day:

Sunday 13th Dec. - PSN UK/Europe
Monday 14th Dec. - PSN Australia/Aotearoa (NZ)
Tuesday 15th Dec. - PSN Indonesia
Wednesday 16th Dec. - PSN USA
Thursday 17th Dec.- PSN Iberia
Friday 18th Dec. - PSN Europe/UK
Saturday 19th Dec. - PSN Colombia

We are also pleased to announce some pre-conference events:

• Saturday 5th Dec. - Punk is Not Dead (PSN France)

• Between Sunday 6th Dec and Sunday 13th Dec the PSN will be running a virtual interview series. Details to follow.

*Please be aware of what time zone different days will be using*