UK punk and politics 1975 – 84
Punk became an outlet for these frustrations. These frustrations are evident in the official labour disputes data during this period. 6
This chart illustrates spikes in labour disputes and lost working days in the 1970s, showing socio-economic discontent. The years 1976-82 are highlighted in grey. This spike in labour disputes lines up with the birth and rise of punk.
Office of National Statistics
The key question raised at the outset is whether British punk originated purely frommusical frustration or a deep-rooted frustration with the social and political establishment. The evidence suggests that punk developed first from a desire to push musical boundaries without the restrictions of the record industry, but, as time progressed, working class socio-economic struggles materialized, found expression in the lyrics and music, leading to the politicization of the entire genre.
SECTION 2 – ANARCHO-PUNK, 1977-84
By 1977, interest in anarchism became apparent in the London Punk scene. Songs like ‘Anarchy in the UK’ by the Sex Pistols introduced to the movement this relatively unknown ideology. However, the Sex Pistols were by no means anarchists. Bands like the Sex Pistols in the mid-70s merely appropriated anarchist imagery to generate controversy and illustrate ideas of ‘hedonistic’ freedom present in the scene. 7 It wasn’t until 1977, when Penny Rimbaud and Steve ‘Ignorant’ formed the band ‘Crass’, that anarchist ideology found a permanent home in p unk. ‘Crass’ and its feminist counterpart ‘Poison Girls’, were some of the first bands to explore true, political anarchism in their music. This marked the birth of a yet another subgenre of punk – anarcho-punk.
In 1910, Pyotr Kropotkin, a Russian revolutionary philosopher, considered by many as the father of anarcho-communism, defined anarchism as:
‘ . . . the name given to a principle or theory of life and conduct under which society is conceived without government – harmony in such a society being obtained, not by submission to law, or by obedience to any authority, but by free agreements concluded between the various groups, territorial and professional, freely constituted for the sake of production and consumption, as also for the satisfaction of the infinite variety of needs and aspirations of a civilized being.’ 8
6 Office of National Statistics, ‘Labour Disputes in the UK: 2017, Table 1: Labour Disputes Annual Estimates.’ May 30, 2018. 7 Cross 2010. 8 Kropotkin 1910: 1.
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