My musical “spider” sound journey into the “resonant” worlds of the sonosphere continues. This time I delve into a very interesting project that I came across thanks to a recommendation from a friend of mine. I have always been fascinated by Punk culture, music, cinema, and philosophy, which has animated and continues to animate my listening and thinking. Imagine the pleasure in the discovery of this network called Punk Scholars Network, PSN, composed of international scholars who have been dealing with punk in all its declinations for years. After learning this very important news, and after an initial contact with its productions, the review of Barry Phillips‘ volume ‘In search of Tito’s Punks’ (here), I felt it was essential and necessary to delve deeper through the tool of interviewing researchers Mike Dines and Russ Bestley, who told me the when, the how, the why, and the meaning of this important international scholarly project, the Punk Scholars Network.
How did the Punk Scholars Network come about?
A number of academic researchers were working on punk-related projects in the 1990s and early 2000s and felt that they could work more effectively if they collaborated together. A historical account of the PSN can be found in Mike Dines and Laura Way’s (eds.) ‘Postgraduate Voices in Punk Studies: Your Wisdom, Our Youth’, in particular, Mike’s Afterword, ‘Academia as Subversion: The Birth of the Punk Scholars Network.’ The network began after a conversation between Mike and Gords (Alastair Gordon), who teaches at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Gords had first come up with the idea of an academic ‘network’, partly to support each other through peer review processes and constructive, critical feedback, since ‘punk studies’ was something of an outlier within most academic institutions.
Mike and Gords met after the former sent out a call-for-chapters for his book ‘The Aesthetic of Our Anger’ (2016), and the contributors of the book, including Russ, Matt Grimes, Ana Raposo, Helen Reddington, Rich Cross, Pete Dale and Matthew Worley all became key players in the formation and development of the PSN.
A year before the PSN was formed, Russ had been part of the original team that established the Punk & Post-Punk journal, which allowed the PSN access to a wider pool of potential members and peer reviewers and a potential crossover with a high-quality academic publisher, Intellect Books. Indeed, a few years after the PSN was formed, Russ approached Intellect Books and the Global Punk Series was born, which has published volumes on Throbbing Gristle, punk in South America and punk pedagogy. It is also home to three ‘Punk Readers’, which map post-2000 global punk scenes, movements and ideals.
Mike and Alastair organised the first Punk Scholars Network meeting in Leicester, United Kingdom, in November 2012, and invited researchers in the field to come along and discuss a more formal collective partnership. Russ designed the PSN logo, and we began organising regular meetings, symposia and workshops, with the first international PSN conference at Leicester in 2014 organised by Laura Way and Mike Dines.
The Punk Scholars Network has delivered workshops and conferences in Reading, Oxford, Leicester, Birmingham, Northampton, Bolton, Los Angeles, Lincoln, Newcastle, London, High Wycombe and Stirling. The PSN organised a global online conference involving regional groups across three continents in 2020 and 2021, including the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Australia and Iberia, before returning to in-person events from 2022 onward. These events have reflected a broad range of critical themes including global, historical and contemporary punk scenes, punk pedagogy, DIY, punk and spirituality, identities and sexualities, punk art and aesthetics, curatorial practices, punk and noise, punk resilience, status, genre and subjectivity, and the social and political legacy of the 1980s anarcho-punk movement.
The PSN has grown exponentially, incorporating regional affiliate groups in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, France, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United States. Many of these groups organise their own meetings, workshops and conferences, with the core PSN website acting as a hosting platform to disseminate information globally.
How is it structured?
Very loosely. We have a Steering Group made up of representatives from the global affiliate groups, led by Mike as official PSN Chair. There are no formal subscriptions, and everything is run on a punk DIY/DIT voluntary basis. Our main ‘point of contact’ is our Facebook group although, as mentioned below, we have other social media accounts. Our website also advertises new events as well as being a valuable archive of previous conferences, etc.
Where is it located? What is its physical base?
There is no physical base, PSN members are spread around the world and connect online or at our regular conferences, workshops and other events.
What research does the Punk Scholars Network carry out?
The PSN is engaged in research into historical and contemporary punk scenes around the globe. With a global and academically diverse membership, the PSN encourages and embraces methodological approaches towards punk from a myriad of academic disciplines, including film studies, history, cultural studies, sociology, musicology, art and design and religious studies.
How was the podcast born?
Two of our regular PSN participants, Jessica Schwartz and Paul Hollins, came up with the idea for a regular PSN podcast and proposed it to the Steering Group in 2024. It was agreed as a good idea and the practicalities simply ran from there. More information can be found on the PSN website.
Is the Punk Scholars Network on social media?
Yes, on Facebook, Twitter/X, BlueSky and Instagram.
Does the Punk Scholars Network care for the issue of gender in Punk Culture, especially in the Punk Music?
Yes, of course, gender is an important lens through which to approach research to any theme or topic, including punk. Indeed, one need only turn to the great work of Laura Way or Francis Stewart (and others!). But gender is not the only focus – and our researchers also consider race and ethnicity, class, age, sexuality, agency, religion or belief and many other themes through which to consider punk culture and/or punk music in a critical context.
What is your relationship with the British government?
We don’t have one.
Is the Punk Scholars Network open to collaborations with institutions, associations, research centres?
Yes, we are always keen to work with others, one of which was the ‘Doing Metal, Being Punk, Doing Punk, Being Metal’ conference at De Montfort University in 2019.
Ongoing projects and future projects?
Too many to mention – but the Global Punk Series has some great new titles coming out in the next year or so, including an English translation of Nicolas Ballet’s excellent ‘Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial Music’. Other volumes include those centred around punk and the animal, punk and philosophy and an edited collection on Bad Religion. We are also looking forward to our 12th Annual Conference and Postgraduate Symposium in December 2025.
Link: Punk Scholars Network Home Page
Link: Punk Scholars Network Facebook Page
Link: Punk Scholars Network Twitter Profile
Link: Punk Scholars Network Instagram Profile
