Punkrock at the margins of legality

This project studies subcultures called skinheads, punks, and hardcore fans (subcultures that are connected to punkrock music or other music genres rooted in punkrock) in two German cities from the perspective of legal anthropology. I analyse how the ideologies, normative structures, social structures, and economies of these subcultures are interlinked. My aim is to show that what is understood as “youth subculture” is more than a way of dressing, enjoying music, and building groups with their own distinctive ethos. A “subculture” of this type is also a social group with its own economic practices and social habitus based on an anti-state ideology and inner solidarity. Moreover, such groups often generate their own rules that may differ in important ways from state rules, without, however, rejecting all norms and values of mainstream society. People who participate in the punkrock, skinhead, and hardcore fan groups often operate at the margins of legality and illegality. However, various members of these related subcultures may take different positions in the degree to which they ignore, reject, or circumvent official state regulation. Looking at how members establish and maintain their own semiautonomous structures within the larger state society provides important insights into subcultures that have thus far have been largely ignored.

I seek to determine the degree to which it is valid to speak of distinct ideologies of the subcultures in question and the extent to which these ideologies are reflected in people’s activities and behaviour. Can we speak, for example, of the existence of an alternative notion of law when analysing the networks of such subcultures? Due to the importance of economic activities, social relations in punkrock groups are multiplex. Generally, one can speak of “multi-stranded” structures with consciously high “redundancy” (alternative channels if one channel fails) that covers several economic sectors. This serves to provide members of these subcultures with alternative ways of gaining access to resources. Does this mean, then, that members of subcultures make and follow their own laws, which are different from the state law? If subcultures have their own laws, to what extent do these laws determine people’s practice, and how great is the role of state law in affecting the strategies of participants in the subcultures? As a theoretical framework, I use the concept of the “semi-autonomous social field”(Moore 1973), in order to show that being part of a group that understands itself to be outside of the mainstream society affects aspects of the behaviour of members of the subculture.

The study is based on three month of fieldwork, which was carried out in two Eastern German cities with strong and vivid punkrock scenes. In both cases, underground bars, clubs, and journals (so called fanzines) serve as organisational centres for the punkrock, skinhead, and hardcore fan subcultures. Members of subcultures have established various social networks which contain 15 to 20 people and which are viewed by members themselves as “families”. One purpose of these networks is to facilitate economic reciprocity and to provide access to resources, including especially legal and illegal jobs. The networks are organised in a way that allows members to take advantage of illegal jobs, thus avoiding paying taxes to the state. At the same time, the practice of providing friends with additional semilegal income is supported by the anti-state ideology. Punkrockers, skinheads, and hardcore fans see the state and the norms of the mainstream society as alien, oppressive institutions that are in conflict with their understanding of their lifestyle and social relations.

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