Smash the System! Punk Anarchism as a Culture of Resistance

Paperback, 433 p.

Smash the System! offers a snapshot of anarchist punk as a culture of resistance across the globe. In these diverse and internationalist chapters we witness struggles against racism and colonialism in South Africa, resistance to neo-liberalism and state oppression in Latin America, resistance to police brutality and capitalism in Western, Central and Southeast Europe, struggles for equality and against patriarchy in the US, and anarchist resistance against injustice and authoritarianism in Asia. The common theme is that anarchist punks have consistently sought to SMASH THE SYSTEM, whether that system is capitalism, state socialism, authoritarian communism, the police state, patriarchy, racism, ethno-nationalism, fascism, homophobia, colonialism, neo-liberalism, or the military industrial complex. In doing so anarchist punks have built thriving and diverse cultures of resistance and revitalised the anarchist movement across the world.

Table of Contents:

Foreword: Punk – dangerous utopia. Participants in the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers’ Collective.
Introduction: Smash All Systems! Jim Donaghey, Will Boisseau and Caroline Kaltefleiter.
Chapter One. Punk in South Africa: Race, class, colonialism and capitalism. Kevin C Dunn.
Chapter Two. Kubazuela: Remembering a Caribbean anarchist punk connection between Cuba and Venezuela (‘with rum but without Coca-Cola’). Rodolfo Montes de Oca. Translated by Luke Ray Di Marco Campbell.
Chapter Three. Punk archive: Collectionism, memories and resistance in Brazil (1979-2000). Antônio Carlos de Oliveira.
Chapter Four. The meanings of anarchism in Brazilian punk: A socio-historical approach. João Batista de M Bittencourt and Tiago de Jesus Vieira.
Chapter Five. Anarchist punk and post-left anarchism in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (1983-1993). Mariana Gabriela Calandra.
Chapter Six. The (anti-)neoliberalism of Chilean punk anarchism. Max Woods.
Chapter Seven. ‘I’m here, and don’t forget it’: Punk, anarchism, repression, and resistance in the Basque Country and Chile. Asel Luzarraga in interview with Jim Donaghey.
Chapter Eight. State liberation or state abolition? Czech punk between anti-Communism and anarchism. Ondřej Daniel.
Chapter Nine. WAR DANCE (fuck war, let’s dance): Anarchism, punk, and DIY music in Croatia since the 1990s. Marko Vojnić in interview with Len Tilbürger.
Chapter Ten. ΜΓΔ: The figure of the cop in the anarchic lyrics of Greek punk. Christos Marneros.
Chapter Eleven. ‘We spread the black flag around us’: The punk scene and the anarchist movement in Athens (late 1970s-2010). Yannis N Kolovos.
Chapter Twelve. The anarchist ethics of punk: The Punk Ethics collective in the UK. Jay Kerr.
Chapter Thirteen. Trans-feminist punk in the United States: Collective action, activism, and a libidinal economy of noise. Casey Robertson.
Chapter Fourteen. Anarchism and democracy in Indonesia: An underground perspective. M Rizky Sasono.
Chapter Fifteen. AS A PUNK DANGLING FROM THE VERTICAL SOCIETY: Punk in northern Japan as a ‘culture of transgression’. James D Letson.
Chapter Sixteen. ‘Anarchy in the PRC’: Anarchist practices and references in the Chinese punk movement. Nathanel Amar.