Do-It-Yourself Resistance: Atlanta Punk in the Late Twentieth Century Open Access
Nelson, Wren (Spring 2023)
Abstract
This honors thesis explores how Atlanta punks utilized a variety of resistance strategies to take action on their political beliefs. American punk has gained more scholarly attention over the last several decades, but the South has largely been ignored. My work begins to attend to this gap in the scholarship by analyzing Atlanta punk in the 1980s and 1990s. I build on Kevin Dunn’s discussion of do-it-yourself ethics as a mobilizing force in American punk scenes, as well as on subculture and social movement theory by multiple authors. I bring together pre-existing literature on American punk with primary resources from the Atlanta, Georgia scene to establish the connection between punk and activism in a city and region often overlooked because of its conservatism and supposed lack of left-wing political energy. Additionally, in-depth interviews with members of the Atlanta scene from the 1980s and 1990s help build an image of a vibrant scene and the vast range of ways Atlanta punks were conducting resistance. I find that Atlanta punk was intensely political in this time period and punks’ tactics of using culture as a political tool, do-it-yourself activism, and constructing safe spaces in an unsafe environment can all be helpful for sustaining resistance in the South.
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………........…1
“My Tribe of Misfits”: An Overview of Atlanta Punk……………………………………...9
“Whacking Through the Jungle”: DIY and Resistance Practices in Atlanta…...…....31
“Creativity is a Survival Skill”: Takeaways from Atlanta Punk Activism…………..…56
Epilogue: Atlanta Punk’s not Dead………………………………………………………......67
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….......…...70
About this Honors Thesis
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Do-It-Yourself Resistance: Atlanta Punk in the Late Twentieth Century () | 2023-04-12 13:40:47 -0400 |
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