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Punk ideologies

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Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. This article provides a rough generalization of the philosophies of individuals who identify themselves as punks and doesn't completely represent the views of all of those who do so.

In its original nature, the punk culture has been primarily concerned with individual freedom, which tends to create beliefs in concepts such as individualism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism and free thought. Punk ideologies have often included a critical view of the world; seeing modern day societies as placing extensive limits on humanity. Punk ideologies are usually expressed through punk rock music, punk zines, independently-published literature and spoken word recordings.

Punk culture originated as a movement of shock, rebellion, and discontent; and from certain points-of-view, it has evolved into an overt socio-political movement. Lyrically, punk bands often express discontent with the individuals and institutions that influence society. The political ideology most often associated with punk is anarchism, however punk has also been associated with other leftist ideologies such as social liberalism, socialism and communism. Despite the association that punk ideologies have with the left wing, some punks perceive the efforts of leftists as ineffectual, and sometimes just as objectionable as the right wing. Although not as common, some right-wing ideologies have appeared within punk culture, including libertarianism, conservatism and neo-Nazism.

The following is a list of ideologies associated with the punk subculture; in rough order of their predominance within the subulture.

Anarchism

Main article: anarcho-punk

Many punks align themselves with the social movement of anarchism. These punks form a social movement within punk that is similar to anarchism without adjectives, collectively known as anarcho-punk. Some well-known punk bands (e.g. The Exploited and the Sex Pistols) sing about anarchy, but do not use the word in the sense of anarchism as a political philosophy. As such, they are not considered part of the anarcho-punk genre.

Anarchist punks

Socialism

Main article: socialism

The Clash were the first strongly political punk rock band, as they introduced socialism to the punk scene. Some of the original Oi! bands expressed a rough form of socialist working class populism — sometimes mixed with patriotism. Many Oi! bands sang about politically-charged topics such as unemployment, police harassment and working class power.

Socialist and communist punks

Straight Edge

Main article: Straight edge

Straight edge, which originated in the hardcore punk scene, involves abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drug use. Some who claim the title straight edge also abstain from caffeine, casual sex and meat. Those more strict individuals may be considered part of the hardline subculture For some, straight edge is a simple lifestyle preference, but for others it's a political stance. In many cases, it is a rejection of the perceived self-destruction of punk and hardcore culture.

Straight edge punks

Conservatism

Main article: Conservative Punk

A small number of punks are conservative, embracing the punk lifestyle while rejecting the left-wing and anarchist views held by the majority of the subculture. Michale Graves has said he believes that the DIY focus of the punk scene is youth culture's equivalent of Thatcherism.[citation needed]

Conservative punks

Neo-Nazism and Nationalism

Main articles: Nazi punk and Rock Against Communism

Nazi punks have a far right, nationalist, fascist, and racist ideology that is closely related to that of Nazi skinheads.

Neo-Nazis

Nihilism

Main article: nihilism

Centering around a belief in the abject lack of meaning and value to life, nihilism was a fixture in some early punk rock. Nihilist attitudes and aesthetics were apparent in protopunk and punk rock musicians such as Iggy Pop, MC5, Richard Hell, Sex Pistols and G.G. Allin. High unemployment and other socio-political conditions in the United Kingdom led to the punk slogan "No future."

Nihilist punks

Apolitical

Another punk minority are those who claim not to be political. Examples of this would be Charged GBH and G.G. Allin. However, in practice, socio-political ideas do find their way into these musicians' lyrics. Charged GBH have sung about social issues and anti-war themes, such as in the songs "Wardogs" and "No Survivors." G.G. Allin expressed some vague desire to kill the U.S. President and destroy the current political system (as evidenced by his song Violence Now).[1]

Situationism

Main article: situationist

Situationism was an early part of punk ideology in the United Kingdom. Started in continental Europe in the 1950s, it was an avant-garde political movement that sought to recapture the ideals of surrealist art and use them to construct new and radical social situations. While the movement itself failed to make meaningful political progress, it did have significant impact on music and culture.

Introduced to punk by svengali Malcolm McLaren, situationism found an effective breeding ground in the desperation of 1970s England. McLaren had been interested in the philosophy since the 1960s and, had tried unsuccessfully to participate in the May 1968 demonstrations in Paris. This failure led him to seek alternative methods by which to enact the philosophy.

Seeing such an opportunity in the Sex Pistols, he commandeered the band members’ various rebellious, but working-class, tendencies, and placed them in the context of his radical politics. While the members of the Pistols certainly had all the impulses necessary to do things like swear on national television, it was McLaren’s refined leftist veneer that placed them in a greater context.

Situationist ideals informed not only openly rebellious acts, such as the incident mentioned above and a 1977 concert McLaren and the Pistols staged on a boat before the Houses of Parliament, but also their public image. McLaren’s partner, and the band’s designer/stylist, Vivienne Westwood also ascribed to situationist ideals, and everything from album cover sloganeering to the bondage trousers they wore was intended to provoke a specific social response.

Liberalism

Liberal punks were in the punk subculture from the beginning and are mostly on the liberal left.

Liberal punks

Other punk ideologies

Fashion

Punk fashion was originally an expression of nonconformity with mainstream culture, as well as that of hippie counterculture. Punk fashion displays many of the things that punk music expresses: aggression, rebellion, and individualism. This use of fashion to shock may have been partly influenced by the Futurist art movement. Early British punk clothes were an example of polysemy, which is the appropriation of everyday items as clothing to changed the original meaning of the item. For example, safety pins and bin liners were worn by some early punks. Early punk styles have been linked to dandyism, because they were concerned with making the body a work of art.

It's common for punks wear to bondage bracelets, heavy chains, and bullet casings. Some Punks have body piercings and tattoos, some of which are politically oriented. Many punks wear vintage or thrift/ charity shop clothing, partly as an anti-consumerist statement and partly harks back to dandyism.

In 1990s USA, there were distinctive east and west coast styles. West coast style became more aligned with a loose, surfer or skateboarder style, while in the midwest and east, the style was more prim, in alignment with indie. In 1990s Britain, punk fashion sometimes mixed with heavy metal and nu metal styles. Examples of this include hoodies and baggy trousers. The streetpunk punk fashion of leather, chains, patches, mohawk hairstyles and boots persists as a distinctive fashion. The newer punk fashions can be said to be apolitical, but they make a statement constructing affiliation and difference in society. However, this is based more on cultural differences than ideology.

Some punks refuse to fall into the "punk fashion". This "anti-fashion" is often associated with hardcore punk like Minor Threat and Black Flag.

Visual arts

Punk visual art is usually straightforward with a clear message. Album covers contain potent messages concerning social injustice, economic disparity, and images of suffering. Alternatively, they may contain images of selfishness, apathy, and other things that may provoke contempt in the viewer. Much of the earlier artwork was in black and white, because it was distributed in fanzines created at copy shops. Other imagery can be cartoonish, especially in less overtly-political and apolitical bands. The Ramones often had cartoon images on album covers, reflecting their love of campy 1950s and 1960s pop culture.

Do it yourself (DIY) ethic

In the late 1970s, the punk movement was operating in an environment controlled by outside influences. Because this impinged on the freedom of the movement, people in the punk scene began creating their own record labels, organizing their own concerts, and creating their own print media. This became known as the do it yourself (DIY) ethic. "Don't hate the media, become the media" is a motto of this movement.

Direct action

Punks sometimes participate in direct action such as protests, boycotts, and in some cases, even violence. Some of the most militant punks have bombed gas stations, destroyed animal research laboratories, alterred billboards to include political messages, and occupied abandoned buildings. Hacktivism has become an additional method of sabotage. These acts are committed in an effort to create social change when it is felt that the normal channels for change have been proven ineffective. See songs on direct action.

Opposition to selling out

Selling out refers to any abandonment of personal values in exchange for reciprocal gain, in the form of wealth, status, or power. Because anti-establishment attitudes are such an important part of punk ideologies, a network of independent music labels, venues, and distributors has developed. Some punk bands have chosen to break from this independent system and work within the established system of major labels. Some punks argue that these artists have betrayed their communities, and that their creative integrity is necessarily compromised. However, some artists argue that working in the major label system is a necessary evil, allowing the widest distribution of their messages.

Another meaning of selling out is for a punk band to change its musical style, such as to prog rock, pop or heavy metal. For example, many of Black Flag's later songs show obvious metal influence, while their older work was mainly punk rock. Selling out also has the meaning of adopting a more conservative, mainstream lifestyle and ideology. One example of someone accused of selling out is Garry Bushell, who largely abandoned socialism after getting a job at The Sun newspaper. See songs on selling out.

Criticisms of punk ideology

Punk ideology has been criticized from outside and within. The Anarcho Punk band Crass wrote songs such as "White Punks on Hope", which accuses Joe Strummer of selling out and betraying his socialist principles, and "Punk is Dead", which attacks corporate co-optation of the punk subculture. Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra accused Maximum RocknRoll of "punk fundamentalism" when they refused to advertise Alternative Tentacles records because they said the records "weren't punk". Another criticism of punk from within is from Conservative Punk, which argues that punks have become "hippies with mohawks".

From the outside, punk ideology has been criticized by people like Jim Goad. In his essay, "The Underground is A Lie!", he claims that many punks are hypocrites. He writes that many act poor, while hiding the fact they come from middle class backgrounds. In "Farts from Underground", he argues that the DIY ethic never produces anything original, and it allows poor quality work to be championed. He feels that in being politicized and propagandist, punk contributes to a model of alternative culture that is more bland than the mainstream. Goad even says that punk is as outdated and obsolescent as the mainstream it rails against.

Another external criticism of punk culture comes from Aristasians, an all-female subculture that is heavily influenced by the traditionalist school of philosophy. Aristasians argue that punk accomplishes nothing but to kick the "corpse" of the establishment, which no longer existed after 1965, calling this "The Doctrine of The Cardboard Enemy". They argue that the more that punks rebel against the status quo, the more they become a part of it. In an interview with a fanzine, their media representative Marianne Martindale implies that by declaring oneself non-conformist, one conforms to a societal norm. [1] Aristasians claim that this theory applies equally to other youth cultures, such as hip hop, goth, skinhead, black metal, hippie, junglist and new age travellers.

Some commentators have criticised DIY culture as a form of laissez-faire libertarianism only available to those who already have access to resources and leisure in this society. In short (so the argument goes), only the rich can run a small punk/indie record label, have the time to go on protests or make their own costumes.

Songs expressing punk ideologies

On authoritarianism

On conformity

On consumerism

On drug legalization

On environmentalism and animal rights

On government

On militarism

On prejudice and discrimination

On straight edge

See also

Bibliography

  • O'Hara, Craig, The Philosophy of Punk, AK Press, 1999 ISBN 1-873176-16-3
  • Garofalo, Rebee, "Rockin' The Boat: Music and Mass Movements", South End Press, 1991 ISBN 0896084272
  • Sinker, Daniel, "We Owe You Nothing, Punk Planet: the collected interveiws", Akashic Books, 2001 ISBN 1888451149
  • Taylor, Steven, "False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground", Wesleyan University Press, 2003 ISBN 0819566675
  1. ^ Aristasia - Outlander inteview
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