Punk rock and contemporary anarchism

Elisabeth Vincentelli teppaz at panix.com
Sat May 13 20:19:05 PDT 2000


Though I really like many of the bands already mentioned (particularly Crass and The Ex) I'm surprised nobody has talked about the Riot Grrrl legacy. Bikini Kill definitely saw themselves as political, though perhaps more in the "fight the patriarchy" than in the "fight the power sense". Kathleen Hanna built the entire Julie Ruin album around French feminist theories, and her new band, Le Tigre, is also all about cultural politics--sloganeering, yes, and really fun. Furthermore, queer politics are essential to bands like The Haggard and The Need.

Could the fact that nobody has mentioned these bands related to their being associated with cultural activism rather than politics? A band like Sleater-Kinney is extremely involved in grassroot activism (self-defense benefits, animal rights, etc.) but they say that they consider themselves cultural rather than political activists. Is it detrimental to their message/impact in the long run?

Elisabeth



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