identity, ideological conflict and the field of punk rock arti

336 Pages·2016·1.23 MB·English

by  Heise, Jordan

“WHAT WAS ONCE REBELLION IS NOW CLEARLY JUST A SOCIAL SECT”:
IDENTITY, IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT
AND THE FIELD OF PUNK ROCK ARTISTIC PRODUCTION

A Thesis Submitted to the College of
Graduate Studies and Research
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
In the Department of Sociology
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon

By

M.D. DASCHUK

 Copyright Mitch Douglas Daschuk, August 2016. All rights reserved.
PERMISSION TO USE

In presenting this thesis/dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree
from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely
available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any
manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who
supervised my thesis/dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean
of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use
of this thesis/dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written
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Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis/dissertation.

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i
Head of the Department of Sociology
1019-9 Campus Drive
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Canada

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Dean
College of Graduate Studies and Research
University of Saskatchewan
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ABSTRACT
I advance a sociological reappraisal of the Western punk rock youth cultural artistic form.
Contrasting prevalent perspectives correlating punk rock culture with adolescent rites of
superficial social rebellion, I argue that the art form often exudes an underappreciated level of
sophistication. I argue for the presence of two dominant strains of punk artistic logic, and
demonstrate how each correspond with popular trends in neo-Marxist social theory. However, I
also note that these competing logics promote contradictory forms of punk artistic conduct.
Incorporating the perspectives of Pierre Bourdieu, I link this imperative for ideological division
with the punk artists’ placement within fields of cultural production. Drawing from the artistry
and testimonies of historically significant punk artists (and artistic consecrators), I argue that
notable instances of punk ideological debate simultaneously function to allow punk artists to
compete amongst one another for claims to artistic distinction and authority. I consider
significant case studies wherein ideological debates double as tactics through which artists
bolster their own claims to distinction in striving to delegitimize the authority of their ideological
competitors. I question whether the primary function of ideological punk artistic debate stem
from sincere ideological imperatives, or concerns surrounding the processes of accrediting
individual claims to artistic legitimacy within the punk artistic field. Critically considering the
interaction between collectivist punk artistic ideologies and the individualistic imperative of
asserting personal claims to authoritative punk identity, I conclude that movements toward
internal differentiation ultimately undermine punk rocks’ capacity to serve as a substantive
counter-hegemonic artistic movement.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sincerest thanks for the kind guidance of my Committee:
Executive Co-Producer: Dr. Terry Wotherspoon
Co-Producers: Dr. Marie Lovrod, Dr. Len Findlay, Dr. Kara Somerville
Special Guest Committee Member: Dr. Brian Cogan
Special Thanks: Dr. Despina Iliopoulou

This research was kindly funded by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Personal thanks to: Monica and Gerald “indestructible skull” Daschuk, Family immediate and
extended, Dr. Colleen Dell, Dr. Carolyn Brooks, Dr. Jennifer Poudrier, Dr. Eric Kempthorne,
Dr. Randy Duncan, Dr. James Popham, Savhanna Wilson, Brennan Krowchenko, Aaron Scholz,
and the Infamous Landon Franson.
Greatest thanks are reserved for my closest confidants:
the incomparable Elisabeth Bartlett and Skeletor (Lord of All Cats)

DEDICATION

“To the lost…”

~ James Edison Darmody

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PERMISSION TO USE ..………………………………………………………………………………… i
ABSTRACT.……………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………….. iv
DEDICATION .……………………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………………………… v

Chapter One. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. Page 1
1.1) Introduction 1
1.2) Preliminary Notes on the Concept of Punk 3
1.3) Methods in the Selection of Representative Punk Artistic Producers 7
1.4) Contributions to Knowledge and Chapter Overview 9

Chapter Two. 'Adolescence', Youth Culture and the Sociological Field of
Subcultural Studies………………………………………………………………………………………….. Page 16
2.1) Introduction 16
2.2) On the Social Construction of Adolescence 17
2.2.1) The Invention of the 'Teenager' 19
2.3) The Contentious Discipline of Subcultural Studies 21
2.3.1) Subculture and Class: Neo-Marxist Accounts of Subculture 23
2.3.2) The Fluidity of Youth Identity: Post-Subcultural Theory 25
2.4) The Significance of Diverging Subcultural Methodologies 29

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Chapter Three. Neo-Marxism and Punk Artistic Ideology:
Hegemony, The Culture Industry, and Interpellation……………………………………… Page 34
3.1) Introduction 34
3.2) Ideology and Neo-Marxist Theory 37
3.3) Antonio Gramsci and Hegemony 40
3.3.1) The Education System and the Function of Intellectuals 41
3.3.2) Gramscian Traditions in Punk Artistic Ideology 44
3.4) Adorno and Horkheimer on the Culture Industry 46
3.4.1) The Frankfurt Traditions in Punk Artistic Ideology 50
3.5) Methods in the Analysis of Ideology: Althusser on Interpellation 52
3.5.1) Barthes and Semiology: Meaning, Connotation and Myth 55
3.5.2) Dead Kennedys' "Kill The Poor": A Semiological Analysis at Work 58
3.6) Concluding Notes on Ideology and Punk Artistic Practice 63

Chapter Four. Music, Identity and Subcultural Capital………………………………….. Page 65
4.1) Introduction 65
4.2) Revisiting the Concept of Culture: The Theory of Pierre Bourdieu 69
4.2.1) Sarah Thornton and Subcultural Capital 74
4.3) On the ‘Gendered Elephant’ in the Room: The Masculinization of the Punk
Subcultural Field 77
4.3.1) R.W Connell on ‘Protest Masculinities’ 80
4.4) From the Subcultural Participant to the Artistic Producer: Bourdieu on the
Field of Cultural Production 83
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4.4.1) Conflict Among Artistic Communities: The Ideological Divide 84
4.4.2) Conflict Within Artistic Communities: Genre and the Generational Divide 85
4.5) Discourse and the Construction of Social Reality 87
4.5.1) Discourse and Intertextuality 89
4.6) Punk Ideology and Practice in the Field of Subcultural Production 91

Chapter Five. Turning Boredom into Rebellion, Turning Rebellion into
Money: Competing Knowledge Producers and the Codification of Punk………. Page 94
5.1) Introduction 94
5.2) Authoritative Knowledge and Pursuit of Jurisdiction Over Genre 96
5.3) Search and Destroy: New York and the First Wave of American Punk Rock 97
5.3.1) Warhol, Pop Art and the Velvet Underground 101
5.3.2) 1970s America: The Ramones and Punk Magazine 105
5.3.3) Bourdieuisian Notes on the Fanzine Press 110
5.3.4) Artistic Influences: Situationism, Malcolm McLaren and the New York Dolls 114
5.3.5) Political Disaffiliation and the Punk 'Anti-Movement' 120
5.4) Year Zero U.K.: The Rise and Fall of First-Wave British Punk 124
5.4.1) November 1975: The debut of the Sex Pistols 125
5.4.2) July 1976: Debut of The Clash 129
5.4.3) Women and Punk: X-Ray Spex, The Slits and the Egalitarian Intentions of
the Early Punk Movement 133
5.4.4) July 1976: Debut of Mark Perry's Sniffin' Glue Fanzine 136
5.4.5): September 1976: Punkfest at the 100 Club and Mass-Mediated
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Representations of Punk 140
5.4.6) November 1976: Anarchy in the UK 145
5.4.7) December 1976: The Grundy 'Situation' 148
5.4.8) March 1977: The Clash sign with CBS; Sniffin' Glue reacts 151
5.4.9) May 1977: Sid Vicious, God Save The Queen and the Silver Jubilee 159
5.4.10) Crass and the Feeding of the 5000 165
5.4.11) November 1978: The Clash Release Give 'Em Enough Rope 171
5.5) Concluding Thoughts 173

Chapter Six. Hypermasculinity and the American Hardcore Punk Movement Page 176
6.1) Introduction 176
6.2) American Hardcore Punk and North American Political Culture 178
6.2.1) Further Contextualizing Hardcore Punk Practice 180
6.3) Police Story: Black Flag and the Rise of Los Angeles Hardcore 182
6.4) "It's Time to Face What You Most Fear": The Dead Kennedys and San
Francisco Punk 186
6.4.1) The Dead Kennedys and a Subtext of Masculine Critique 191
6.5) Out of Step (With The World): Washington HarDCore, Minor Threat and
Dischord Records 195
6.6) "How Can You Explain the Violence?": Internal and External Factors
Considered 200
6.7) San Francisco, Maximum Rocknroll and the Entrenchment of Punk Artistic
Expectations 209
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6.8) Straight Edge, Revolution Summer and 'Emo-Core' 212
6.9) 'Bedtime for Democracy' and 924 Gilman Street 216
6.10) Riot Grrrl and the Specter of Co-optation 221
6.11) Concluding Thoughts 227

Chapter Seven. Rock Against Bush and/or for Sustainable Capitalism: 1990s
'Neo-Punk', the War on Terror and the Punkvoter Movement……………………….. Page 231
7.1) Introduction 231
7.2) 1987-1993: The Rise of 'Neo-Punk' 235
7.2.1) The Epitaph Records Roster 238
7.3) Toward a Sub-field of Restricted Production: Fat Wreck Chords and
Propagandhi 240
7.4) …And Out Come The Wolves: Punk Goes 'Mainstream' 246
7.4.1) NOFX and the Philosophy of Restricted Artistic Production 249
7.4.2) Anti-Flag and the ‘Underground Network’ 252
7.4.3) Bad Religion on the ‘Subcultural Retinue’ 255
7.5) The Bush Administration, the "War on Terror" and the Patriot Act 260
7.5.1) NOFX Post-9/11: Punkvoter and the War on Errorism 262
7.5.2) Rock Against Bush, CNN and Alternative Press 267
7.5.3) Anti-Flag and the Logic of Mainstream Co-operation 272
7.6) Ideological Debate and Artistic Illegitimacy: The Propagandhi/NOFX
Discourse 276
7.7) Concluding Thoughts 282
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