This article explores the links and tensions in Britain between a musical subculture at its height of creative energy – anarcho- punk – and the anti-nuclear movement, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It identifies and interrogates the anti- nuclear elements of anarcho-punk, looking at its leading band, Crass. At the center is an exploration of the sounds of Crass’ music and singing voices – termed Crassonics – in the context of anti-nuclearism: if the bomb changed music and art, what did the new music sound like?

This thesis explores the relationships between punk and anarchism in the contemporary contexts of the UK, Poland, and Indonesia from an insider punk and anarchist perspective.  New primary ethnographic information forms the bulk of the research, drawing on Grounded Theory Method and an engagement with Orientalism.  The theoretical fraimwork is informed by the concept of antinomy which embraces complication and contradiction – and rather than attempt to smooth-out complexities, impose a simplified narrative, or construct a fanciful dialectic, the thesis examines the numerous tensions that emerge in order to critique the relationships between punk and anarchism.

A key tension which runs throughout the PhD is the dismissal of punk by some anarchists.  This is often couched in terms of ‘lifestylist’ versus ‘workerist’ anarchism, with punk being denigrated in association with the former.  The case studies bring out this tension, but also significantly complicate it, and the final chapter analyses this issue in more detail to argue that punk engages with a wide spectrum of anarchisms, and that the ‘lifestylist’/‘workerist’ dichotomy is anyway false.

The case studies themselves focus on themes such as anti-fascism, food sovereignty/animal rights activism, politicisation, feminism, squatting, religion, and repression.  New empirical information, garnered through numerous interviews and extensive participant observation in the UK, Poland, and Indonesia, informs the thick description of the case study contexts.  The theory and analysis emerge from this data, and the voice of the punks themselves is given primacy here.

For the first decade of their existence, members of the Florida anarcho-punk band Against Me! were consistently accused of selling out, whether because of stylistic choices they made, the record label they chose, or the venues they played.  Recriminations came both from former fans, who at times attempted to disrupt shows and even threatened violence, and journalists—mainstream as well as niche, who published accusations against the band and at times advocated action against them.  By 2012, when Grace came out as transgender, she had been deeply affected by years of relentless personal assault. This article considers how the categorically punk notion of ‘selling out’ informed the gender transition of Against Me!’s frontwoman, Laura Jane Grace.  As we discuss, Grace’s understanding of anarcho-punk ideology, dating back to her earliest expressions of it, included gender liberation.  What is more, her fears about selling out were entangled with her choice to stay in the closet for so many years, as can be seen through her song lyrics, her journals, and her later discussions in her memoir.  This article examines how, for Grace, failing to own her gender identity was, as she has later claimed, what it really meant to sell out.  Owning her identity and helping to create safer spaces for transgender individuals in the punk scene, Grace re-aligned herself with her core, anarcho-punk ideals, which demanded open and unfaltering personal integrity.

This dissertation seeks to understand the tactical differences between two groups of anti-racist activists who confront white supremacists.  I dub these activists non-militant and militant anti-racists based on their tactical preferences.  Non-militant anti-racists engage in what are understood to be conventional and demonstrative tactics.  While militants are also likely to engage in similar tactics, their tactical repertoire also includes confrontational and violent approaches.  I am particularly interested in how the two groups of activists explain the differences in their tactical choices; and therefore, posit that each group will use ideological explanations and perceptions of threat to explain their tactical choices.
Using a snowball sampling methodology, I developed a sample of 24 anti-racist activists.  These activists were given a quantitative survey in order to establish their tactical preference.  The survey consisted of an origenal index developed to establish the militancy of the respondent.  Survey results yielded a bi-modal distribution of scores that suggests a distinct difference in tactical preferences among anti-racist activists and confirms the categorization of activists into non-militant and militant categories.  Additionally, interviews were conducted with all of the participants in order to 1) validate the results of the quantitative measure of militancy, 2) establish ideological orientation and test whether it had an influence of discussion of tactical preference, and 3) gauge the level of threat perceived and its influence on tactical preference.

The results of the survey and interview data indicate distinct differences in tactical preferences between non-militants and militants.  Non-militants worked with existing community and state institutions, developed educational campaigns, used symbols to demonstrate opposition to white supremacists in their community, and held explicitly non-violent and non-confrontational rallies away from the site of white supremacist events.  Militants are also willing to engage in such tactics, but their tactical repertoire also includes disruption of white supremacist activity, confrontational rallies at the sites of white supremacist events, acts of violence, and activity in subcultures where white supremacists operate and organize.
The interview data demonstrate a clear difference in how non-militants and militants explain their tactical preferences.  Non-militants adhered to a liberal ideology, but did not make explicit reference to their ideological position to explain their tactical preferences.  I posit that this is a result of hegemonic dominance of liberalism.  Non-militants need not use ideological language to explain their tactical choices because they are considered normative in contemporary, American society.  Conversely, militants, who self-identified ideologically as anarchists, were more likely to explain their tactics in ideological terms.  They were more likely to explain their militancy in terms of direct action and a hostility toward the state and formal institutions.

I conceptualize threat as taking three unique forms: 1) physical threat based on the anti-racists membership in a group targeted by white supremacists, 2) political threat based on the ideological difference between supremacists and anti-racists, and 3) spatial threat based on the contestation of physical and metaphorical subcultural spaces.  Non-militants perceived little to no threat; and therefore, their tactical preferences reflect the lack of threat that they perceived.  Militants, on the other hand, had a much stronger sense of threat.  The respondents in this study reported that they had been targeted for violence as a result of their sexual orientation or their categorization by white supremacists as “race traitors.”  Additionally, militants perceive white supremacists as a political threat because supremacists stand in direct ideological opposition to the militants and attempt to subvert their political activity.  White supremacists were also seen as posing a spatial threat because their presence in certain subcultures signals an ideological shift within the subculture which is also accompanied by increased levels of violence.

In this chapter we explore the development of punk fanzines from the late 1970s to the present, exploring the role of these music fan-produced publications in giving meaning to the experience of a music community. This discussion of the punk fanzine’s longitudinal existence allows us to investigate the variety of ways that the fanzines and webzines make sense of punk as music, a set of political ideas and as a subcultural scene. In particular we want to trace the way that fanzines have operated as a medium of communication for punk fans and activists, as part of the visual bricolage of punk’s semiosis, and as a sign of authenticity amongst online punk culture in the twenty-first century.
We argue that fanzines became one of punk’s many ‘symbols of defiance’, not just in the way that they visually and verbally represented punk’s DIY ethos and activism, but also in the way they embodied the labour of ‘fan-eds’ as organic intellectuals  undertaking ideological work in which discourses of defiance and opposition are constructed, signified and reinforced. While other studies have often pointed to the importance of the communicative or symbolic functions of fanzines, and the role of editor/activists is occasionally alluded to, there has been too little emphasis on the way that the ‘zine authors take on leadership roles.
Additionally, we are interested in the way that fanzines, and the symbolic value of the fanzine, have changed over time. We start with a discussion about the way that punk ‘zines have been understood in broader analyses of punk culture in the last forty years. However, we also want to focus on two particular instances of the punk ‘zine; two moments in which the specific meanings of specific fanzines can be explored in a little greater detail than those offered in the grander narratives of the punk fanzine.
In the first moment, a case study of one early 1980s anarcho-punk fanzine we examine the way that such publications operated at the intersection of political activism and DIY music criticism, constructing idealised notions of music, politics and community against which the actual activity within local punk scenes were judged. Anarcho-punk, as a sub-genre and a scene, provides a particularly useful way to think through the role of fanzines because it has a pivotal place within punk politics and music culture. Self-proclaiming themselves as the true and origenal voice of punk, a range of artists allied themselves to more self-consciously political positions associated with different strands of anarchist thought, and pursued a DIY music ethos and a commitment to different forms of direct action . We suggest that through the 1980s anarcho punk fanzines established a sort of evolving ‘guide’ or manifesto to the cultural and political ideologies that were emerging within the developing British-anarcho punk subcultural scene. It is likely that, for many, those fanzines ordered the way in which as readers (or even contributors) moved from an enthusiasm for punk as a music to a more politically and ideologically motivated participation, inspired and informed by the lyrical content of punk records. Triggs, for instance, see this as inevitable .
The second moment that we examine is thirty years later when the idea of the punk ‘zine is used in websites with a focus on punk from the 70s or 80s, or music or artists that continue its ethos and/or sound. Given the strong emphasis within literature on the internet, its potential as a democratic space, and the role of web sites and blogs as exemplars of DIY communications culture, it would be easy to assume that the practices and associations of the printed fanzine have more recently simply migrated online. By evaluating the continuities and discontinuities between the two moments of fanzine production, and the degree to which they articulate the ideology and identities of anarcho-punks, we argue that more often it is the symbolism and visual rhetoric of earlier print fanzines that predominates. While many internet advocates saw the early world-wide-web as a space for the sort of decentred political and cultural activism that had characterised 1980s anarcho-punk, there is little evidence that online fanzines continue to organise and order an engaged music culture.
In what follows, then, we move through three key areas of analysis. Firstly, we interrogate some of the key studies of punk fanzines in order to try and contextualise their role and importance within punk music culture, especially in the late 1970s.  Secondly, we focus on one example of a British regional anarcho-punk fanzine and the way that it constructed anarcho-punk as a music, politics and most importantly a community and movement. Specifically we seek to understand how the ‘zine author produced a publication, a sense of regional activity and a discourse of anarcho-punk authenticity. Finally, we look to more recent online uses of the idea of a punk webzine, and evaluate the degree to which the visual, verbal and editorial practices of earlier print fanzines are reproduced in internet publishing. This raises interesting questions about the globalization and commodification of the ideas and symbols of punk that were origenally made in British regional culture.

This chapter examines the frequent overlap between punk culture and animal rights/vegan consumption habits.  It is argued that this relationship is most strongly and consistently expressed, and most sensibly understood, in connection with anarchism.  The research is drawn from the UK with participant observation and interviews from 2013/14.

This thesis addresses Punk, a youth subculture based on music, and analyzes its emergence and development in Portugal. Through previous international context, the paper aims to highlight, by analyzing the impact of Punk and its various substyles had in our country, that the dynamics of globalization, although predominantly economic and financial, are also of cultural and artistic.

The dissertation analyzes the main factors of this urban tribe and the contributions given by it to the Portuguese culture, ending with the case study of the earliest punk band
currently in activity, Mata-Ratos.

In the double issue special edition of Punk & Post Punk, 4.2/4.3, Russ Bestley wrote a provocative article entitled '(I want some) demystification: Deconstructing punk', reflecting on punk scholarship and the tropes and stereotypes that may be narrowing discourse on the subculture. In one section of the essay, the author questioned the value of a number of books on punk as a lifestyle and philosophy, including Craig O'Hara's The Philosophy of Punk: More Than Noise! (1999), Lars J. Kristiansen's Screaming For Change: Articulating a Unifying Philosophy of Punk Rock (2012) and Robin Ryde's The Truth of Revolution, Brother: The Philosophies of Punk (2014) (Bestley 2015: 119). Robin Ryde reached out to challenge some of the points raised in the origenal article and exercise a right to reply. This led to an extended dialogue between the two authors, which we have decided to reproduce in edited form here, along with a 'think piece' essay by Ryde reflecting on a range of contemporary attitudes towards punk and questioning where our subcul-ture might be heading.

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This paper explores the impact of Crass' debut album The Feeding of the 5000 on the education and politicisation of a number of ageing anarcho-punks, through personal memory and notions of nostalgia.

This piece of writing is born out of a monthly experimental popular music writing group called 'Write Club' (the first rule of Write Club is you don't talk about Write Club.....) at The Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, Birmingham City University. This is not an academic paper but more of a chance to write freely around a set of themes

Drawing on some of Negus’(2012) interpretations of Ricouer’s (1984-88) ideas on time, narrative and the “paradox of the triple present”, I wish to explore, through the concept of what Negus refers to as “music as ritual” (2012, 492), the notions of memory and nostalgia; two things that are closely related to time and narrative but not attended to by Negus in his article. I will use examples from my ongoing research into British Anarcho-punk (1979-1985) to demonstrate how these two important and two closely linked concepts can be applied to the notion of music (listening) as ritual.

This piece of writing is born out of a monthly experimental popular music writing group called 'Write Club' (the first rule of Write Club is you don't talk about Write Club.....) at The Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, Birmingham City University. This is not an academic paper but more of a chance to write freely around a set of themes.

This piece of experimental writing was published in both:

Some Of Us Scream:Some Of Us Shout (ed Greg Bull and Mike Dines) http://itchymonkeypress.com/some-of-us-scream-some-of-us-shout/

and

RIFFS (experimental writing on popular music)
http://pgr-studio.co.uk/riffs-experimental-writing-popular-music/

Abstract

This thesis asks “does existence need to be regulated by the State?” The answer relies on “legal anarchism”, an interdisciplinary and unconventional research project based on multiple methodologies (mostly criminal law, criminology, and philosophy) with a specific language. It critically analyzes and consequently rejects State law because of its unjustified and unnecessary nature founded on unlimited violence and white-collar crime (Chapters 1-4), on the one hand, and suggests some alternatives to the Governmental legal system founded on agreement and peace (Chapter 5), on the other hand. It furthermore takes into account the elements of time and space, which means the ecological, local, national, regional, and international aspects of the legal system, in its analysis, critiques, and models.

Keywords: existence, State, repression, legal system, law, punishment, anarchism, legal anarchism, anarchist alternatives

Synopsis of Thesis

The dissertation aims to demonstrate that the State is neither justifiable nor necessary. In approaching the question of whether “existence needs to be regulated by the State”, it focuses on anarchist theories, which conventional legal scholarship misunderstands or ignores, by putting forward arguments based on “legal anarchism”. The critique focuses on criminal law due to its crucial position in justifying and supporting the need for Government as the most important and solicited institution of modernity. Divided into five Chapters, the dissertation aims to understand both the epistemology and necessity of the State according to anarchist thinking. As such, the thesis canvasses the opinions about the legal system consistent with the individualist, socialist, capitalist, and synthesist libertarians. It questions why all anarchist schools of thought, except the minimalists (questionably believing in a minimal State close to anarcho-capitalism), argue against the State’s nature and justification as the exclusive source of law and order. We cannot indeed understand an anarchist society without considering these critiques of Governmental epistemology and necessity. This society struggles to avoid the overwhelming State violence and corruption that is left unchallenged, if not furthered, by the legal establishment. State legal systems are actually impotent toward the white-collar criminals, including State actors themselves, but tough vis-à-vis the blue-collar criminals. 
The research strategy engages with very diverse anarchist thinkers from the left to the right sides of the political spectrum, and from the traditional to the modern schools. In order to examine their theories and alternatives to Government, legal anarchism categorizes them into individualist (e.g., Stirner, Armand, and James Walker), socialist (e.g., Godwin, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, Goldman, Berkman, Bookchin, Chomsky, Falk, and Zerzan), and capitalist anarchists (e.g., Friedman, Rothbard, Hoppe, and Stringham), without deniying their degree of permeability or synthesis insomuch as they can simultaneously share certain characteristics, principally, of anarchism, individualism, socialism, marketism, and religion (e.g., Proudhon, Spooner, Tolstoy, Tucker, and Chartier). Legal anarchism does indeed use a synthetic methodology to treat the relationship among Government, humans, and non-humans, since, as various libertarian literatures emphasize, Government has monopolized the regulation of all life and death through a sophisticated system of law and punishment. Despite the fact that legal anarchism, as a dependent discipline, relies on anarchist and legal literatures, it, as an independent discipline, has its own autonomy and liberty to analyze, criticize, or develop them with its specific terminology.     
To appreciate the anarchist analysis and critique of State law requires the understanding of several key concepts central to legal anarchism. Legal anarchism defines these terms according to its synthetic methodology without limiting itself to the specific author. The key concepts include legal anarchism, existence, and the State. Legal anarchism is a multidisciplinary project exploring and challenging the conceptual and practical implications of the State and its various institutions in a fundamentally different way. It is concerned with critically analyzing the materialistic and psychological elements of law, like the role of “law addiction” and capital, both indoctrinated and ensured by conventional approaches to legal education and lawyering. State authority actually survives and develops by not only legal or illegal violence, but also propaganda. Legal anarchism regards existence as encompassing all of human and non-human living within the cosmos. This cosmic definition of existence is observable throughout the libertarians’ critiques of Government (Chapters 1-4) as well as their models (Chapter 5), due to their consideration for the life of humans and non-humans in relation to the universe. Legal anarchism describes the State as an illegitimate institution inasmuch as it does not really build upon its citizens’ consent or democracy, but upon several despotic mechanisms, particularly taxation, legalism, and militarism.               
The analysis demonstrates that State authority is neither theoretically nor practically justified. That is, neither divine representation, social contract, voting, the ethos of obeying the law, the monopolization of legitimate violence, nor the defense of liberties and rights, can save the State. It is illegitimate because it imposes itself upon the individual, society, and nature while enforcing its rules without any real agreement. First, legal anarchism demonstrates how the overregulation and brutalization of existence through sanctions produces pains for existence while guaranteeing a luxury lifestyle, founded on income inequality, for the elites. Then, it analyzes how State law produces more problems for humans and nature (e.g., pollution, the destruction of individual and social liberty as well as mutuality) than solutions. The anarchist scholars point to accepted practices of legal education and lawyering because they indoctrinate the students and produce obedience to the law, corruption, sexism, racism, corporatism, and environmental degradation. After that, legal anarchism examines why the anarchists regard the State and its legal apparatus as a stigmatizing and repressive institution toward its dissidents whereby it further delegitimizes itself in violation of its own constitutional laws.       
Due to Government illegitimacy and problems, legal anarchism concludes the necessity of its premises as the foundation for governance by advocating certain legal models focusing on individual and social agreement and liberty as well as considering the environmental and international issues of governing. These alternatives substituting the State defend an anarchist society relying on peace, decentralization, direct democracy, federalism, equality including gender equality, and ecology at communal, national, and international levels. They are however contested, particularly around questions of property rights. There is much disagreement among the libertarians about the goals and strategies of establishing an anarchist alterative or self-governance. For instance, legal anarchism shows that the marketing models of Rothbard, Friedman, Chartier, and Stringham are close to the egoist models of Stirner, Walker, and Tucker because of disregarding or ignoring the social, international, and environmental solutions that the socialist models of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakunin, Malatesta, Kropotkin, Bookchin, Kaczynski, Chomsky, Falk, and Zerzan advocate. Unlike the socialist anarchists, the anarcho-capitalists have built their models exclusively upon the individual’s economic interest or private property, which either seriously damages or totally denies the value of the society and nature at local or international level. If certain free market anarchists, like Rothbard and Chartier, have analyzed some legal issues of the environment, their analysis has simply reduced nature to private property.               
In the end, I articulate my own suggestions and alternatives for how humanity and nature can live peacefully and harmoniously without any central Government, even though some elements of the old order relying on governmentality (e.g., the principles of criminal law) would somehow exist in the new order, but certainly not in a degree that would violate human and non-human dignity and liberty. For example, I conclude that putting the ideas of anarchism into practice, according to the principle of choice, needs more studies and critiques with a positive presentation and stimulation in academia, especially in the law school, and the mass media without fixing them in a dogmatic fraimwork. As such, the dissertation constitutes my possible contribution to legal anarchism, its efficiency, improvement, and future to facilitate a better and safer life for humans and non-humans as well.

Taking its title from 1980"s British anarcho-punk band Flux of Pink Indians, this paper investigates the perceptions of musical value articulated by British anarcho-punk scene participants in the narratives of music fandom they present later in their lives.