Punk Revolution!
An Oral History of Punk Rock Politics and Activism
Will be published approx. on 27. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
979-8-8818-0754-2 (ISBN)
Description
The most wide-ranging and provocative look at punk rock as a social change movement told through firsthand accounts
Punk rock has been on the front lines of activism since exploding on the scene in the 1970s. Punk Revolution! is a reflection on this cultural movement over the past 45 years, told through firsthand accounts of hundreds of musicians and activists.
John Malkin brings together a wide cast of characters that include major punk and postpunk musicians (members of The Ramones, Bad Religion, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Patti Smith's band, Gang of Four, Sex Pistols, Iggy & the Stooges, Talking Heads, The Slits, and more), important figures influenced by the punk movement (Noam Chomsky, Kalle Lasn, Keith McHenry, Marjane Satrapi, Laurie Anderson, and Kenneth Jarecke), and underground punk voices. These insightful, radical, and often funny conversations travel through rebellions against Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, to punk activism that has taken on nuclear war, neoliberalism, modern warfare, patriarchy, white supremacy, the police, settler colonialism, the climate crisis, and more.
The result is a fresh and unique, global history of punk throughout the ages.
Punk rock has been on the front lines of activism since exploding on the scene in the 1970s. Punk Revolution! is a reflection on this cultural movement over the past 45 years, told through firsthand accounts of hundreds of musicians and activists.
John Malkin brings together a wide cast of characters that include major punk and postpunk musicians (members of The Ramones, Bad Religion, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Patti Smith's band, Gang of Four, Sex Pistols, Iggy & the Stooges, Talking Heads, The Slits, and more), important figures influenced by the punk movement (Noam Chomsky, Kalle Lasn, Keith McHenry, Marjane Satrapi, Laurie Anderson, and Kenneth Jarecke), and underground punk voices. These insightful, radical, and often funny conversations travel through rebellions against Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin, to punk activism that has taken on nuclear war, neoliberalism, modern warfare, patriarchy, white supremacy, the police, settler colonialism, the climate crisis, and more.
The result is a fresh and unique, global history of punk throughout the ages.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
44 b/w photos
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
18 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-8818-0754-2 (9798881807542)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2023
1st Edition
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
€18.99
Available for download
E-Book
06/2023
1st Edition
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
€18.99
Available for download
Persons
John Malkin is a musician, activist, filmmaker, photographer, and radio & print journalist. He is the author of Sounds of Freedom: Musicians on Social Change & Spirituality, and his interviews and writings have been published in many magazines including Punk Planet, Z Magazine, In These Times, Ode, Spirituality & Health, Shambhala Sun, Tricycle, The Sun and Sojourners. He lives in Santa Cruz, California with his wife and son.
Content
Acknowledgments and Gratitude
Introduction: What You Think Changes How You Act
Chapter 1: Mixing Punk and Politics: Common Ground for the Revolution
Chapter 2: Do It Yourself: DIY Together
Chapter 3: We Are All Pussy Riot: Punk on the Front Lines, Russia to Myanmar, China to Mexico
Chapter 4: East Berlin Punk-: Clandestine Concerts behind the Berlin Wall
Chapter 5: Music Is that Powerful Tool: Blackfire Navajo Punks
Chapter 6: Tijuana No!: Latin Punk Rock from Peru to Mexico to East LA
Chapter 7: Pansy Division: Out of the Closet into the Slampit
Chapter 8: Positive Force: Mark Andersen and Fugazi in Washington, DC
Chapter 9: Fight War Not Wars: Punk Rock, Militarism, and War
Chapter 10: Just Another Gulf War: Punk, US Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 9/11
Chapter 11: America! Fuck Yeah!: Punks Perform for US Soldiers
Chapter 12: Nazi Trumps Fuck Off!: Punk in the Trump Era
Chapter 13: I Am an Anarchist: Antiauthoritarian Soundtrack
Chapter 14: To Hell with Poverty: Capitalism and Class in Punk Rock
Chapter 15: White Riot: Race and Antiracism in Punk
Chapter 16: Equal but Different: Gender and Feminism in Punk
Chapter 17: The Revolution Is Personal: Politics with a Small "P"
Chapter 18: The Revolution Will Be Commodified
Chapter 19: Burn Punk London: Joe Corre and Extinction Rebellion
Chapter 20: How Revolutionary Has Punk Rock Been?
Chapter 21: Where Is the Revolution Now?
List of Interviews
About the Author
Introduction: What You Think Changes How You Act
Chapter 1: Mixing Punk and Politics: Common Ground for the Revolution
Chapter 2: Do It Yourself: DIY Together
Chapter 3: We Are All Pussy Riot: Punk on the Front Lines, Russia to Myanmar, China to Mexico
Chapter 4: East Berlin Punk-: Clandestine Concerts behind the Berlin Wall
Chapter 5: Music Is that Powerful Tool: Blackfire Navajo Punks
Chapter 6: Tijuana No!: Latin Punk Rock from Peru to Mexico to East LA
Chapter 7: Pansy Division: Out of the Closet into the Slampit
Chapter 8: Positive Force: Mark Andersen and Fugazi in Washington, DC
Chapter 9: Fight War Not Wars: Punk Rock, Militarism, and War
Chapter 10: Just Another Gulf War: Punk, US Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 9/11
Chapter 11: America! Fuck Yeah!: Punks Perform for US Soldiers
Chapter 12: Nazi Trumps Fuck Off!: Punk in the Trump Era
Chapter 13: I Am an Anarchist: Antiauthoritarian Soundtrack
Chapter 14: To Hell with Poverty: Capitalism and Class in Punk Rock
Chapter 15: White Riot: Race and Antiracism in Punk
Chapter 16: Equal but Different: Gender and Feminism in Punk
Chapter 17: The Revolution Is Personal: Politics with a Small "P"
Chapter 18: The Revolution Will Be Commodified
Chapter 19: Burn Punk London: Joe Corre and Extinction Rebellion
Chapter 20: How Revolutionary Has Punk Rock Been?
Chapter 21: Where Is the Revolution Now?
List of Interviews
About the Author