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*

Intellect 'Punk Collection' Discount

Intellect are pleased to present their PUNK collection for 2020.

Between 1-31 December 2020, PSN members & conference attendees can get a 30% discount on books within the Intellect ‘Punk Collection’ using the code PUNK30 online.

Titles include:

Punk Now!!: Contemporary Perspectives on Punk

Edited by Matt Grimes and Mike Dines

Punk Now!! explores contemporary and non-Anglophone punk as well as its most anti-establishment tendencies through a collection of papers from the second Punk Scholars Network International Conference and Postgraduate Symposium. This edited collection informs us about punk today and punk at the margins, areas that are poorly served in punk studies.

Discounted price: £56.00

Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace: A Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s

By Andrea Harriman and Marloes Bontje

Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace focuses on the music, the individual and the creativity of a worldwide community, a subject not often covered by academic books. Whether you were part of the scene or are just fascinated by different modes of expression, this book will transport you to another time and place.

Discounted price: £18.55

The Anarchist Cinema

By James Newton

This book examines the complex relationships that exist between anarchist theory and film. No longer hidden in obscure corners of cinematic culture, anarchy is a theme that has traversed arthouse, underground and popular film. 

Discounted price: £49.00

The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global

Edited by Mike Dines, Alastair Gordon, Paula Guerra and Russ Bestley

The first offering in Intellect’s new Global Punk series, The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global is the first edited volume to explore and critically interrogate punk culture in relation to contemporary, radicalized globalization.

Discounted price: £17.50

We also welcome proposals for new manuscripts, please contact either m.dines@mdx.ac.uk or r.bestley@lcc.arts.ac.uk for more information. Alternatively, please visit https://www.punkscholarsnetwork.com/books-psn-intellect-books-imprint

Intellect is also thrilled to introduce its PUNK journal. Punk & Post-Punk is a peer-reviewed journal for academics, artists, journalists and the wider cultural industries. Placing punk and its progeny at the heart of interdisciplinary investigation, it is the first forum of its kind to explore this rich and influential topic in both historical and critical theoretical terms. For Call for Papers and to learn more about the journal, click here. 

Book Release: I Want Out - a book of poetry by Stephen Spencer-Fleet

Stephen Spencer-Fleet’s evocative, stripped-back style of poetry first appeared in the Itchy Monkey Press book Some of Us Scream, Some of Us Shout (2015). Entitled ‘I Changed My World,’ and delivered in the form of a short, prose-like poem, the author began with a declaration of intent: ‘From 1979 I felt that I needed to overthrow the government and change the world.’ He continued, ‘I started with a zine, a band and a leaflet home production line’ kick-starting an ‘urgent period of my life [which] brought me into contact with many great people, some formative life experiences and a type of radical politicisation that has stayed with me over the subsequent decades.’ Although he admits that his dream of overthrowing the government was a tad over ambitious, through ‘the simplicity and clarity of the message… I changed my world and that was good enough.’ Soon after, he contributed to Itchy Monkey’s And All Around Was Darkness (2017) with his poem ‘Stopping the City – A Micro Memory,’ where he recounted his experiences from the Stop the City demonstrations organised to disrupt the activities of financial institutions in London in the early 1980s. Again, the language is sparse and provocative. ‘We were sick of the fucking war machine,’ he notes, ‘sick of the City brokering death.’ 

Spencer-Fleet’s next appearance was in Factories Run by Robots (2018), an anthology of poetry where the author contributed poems that covered the stark reality of austerity (‘Hell Right Here’), political coercion (‘The Script’) and punk (‘The Tao of Punk’). ‘Every reader will have their favourite,’ said Ged Baby in his review of Factories… for Louder Than War. ‘Stephen Spencer-Fleet is probably mine,’ he noted, adding ‘he’s beautifully concise and tough like hardcore.’ Indeed, Spencer-Fleet’s poetry is often redolent, utilising a stripped-back style of writing that draws upon single words and short phrases as forms of expression. There is a nod to Kerouac’s stream of consciousness; to William Burroughs-style cut ups and visions; and to a punk template of shock tactics, of being raw and honest. I don’t want to ‘introduce’ the poems you have before you. I don’t want to give you a hint, or a forewarning of subject matter. All I can say is that you will not be disappointed. To paraphrase, Spencer-Fleet is tough: fucking hardcore. 

Books cost £6 plus P&P.

Please contact Stephen Spencer-Fleet on: sspencerfleet@gmail.com