Punk Reader - Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global
The University of Chicago Press
It has been more than forty years since the inception of punk – a statement that holds true no matter if you think that the cradle of the movement was in the United Kingdom or the East Coast of the new world – and it can be universally agreed on that scenes have popped up as a result even in the most remote of locations, with each incarnation having its own idiosyncrasies.
What this borderline scientific tome does is the examination of how punk relates to globalization and how it has contributed to how punk morphed from what it was to what it is perceived to be these days taking into consideration that new epicentres have constantly been added to the mix.
The special thing about punk is that its DIY ethos has immensely helped via a myriad of media to spread the message and help recruit new enthusiasts that in turn added the DNA of their local contexts into the ever-growing movement through hybridisation and assimilation.
What is skilfully made a case for is that globalization does not destroy localities but helps them thrive and that youth culture is a main vehicle for transformation that then will eventually pervade other aspects of society and both expand and change the DNA of what it started out as.
What all of this culminates in is that cultural developments almost always go both ways and what incubators played an integral role on punk scene evolving in more off the grid locales.
