The Punk Reader

'The story of punk has long been told from the perspective of punk in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local to the Global, edited by Russ Bestley, Mike Dines, Alastair ‘Gords’ Gordon and Paula Guerra , begins to crack that myth since, as described at the publisher’s website, this is indeed the first edited collection that looks at the influence of punk beyond the geographical constraints previously assigned to punk. Essays on this volume critically explore punk in essays covering the globe including Spain, China, Malaysia, Portugal, Holland and Mexico. [...] A great compilation of material about the global punk scene and the international network that has appeared since the 1980s.'

-- José F. Blanco, Fashion, Style & Popular Culture

'This edited volume collects essays thematically tied to punk’s global influence outside the US and UK, which argue against the notion that global punk continues to model itself after Western definitions of punk. At its heart, the text explores seemingly disparate and international punk scenes to discuss concepts of authenticity, identity, and production, highlighting “the emergence of punk rock in both a contemporary and global sense” (p. 18). Content includes discussing punk scenes in countries not previously or extensively studied, such as Iran, Portugal, and Malaysia. Each chapter begins with the author’s abstract, keywords, and a brief biography. While a general audience can be included in its readership, the consistent use of scholarly terms makes this volume most favorable for graduate research or a professional audience in the areas of ethnomusicology and musicology. Of note are the detailed references provided at the end of each chapter, the copious footnotes, and the extensive index at the end of the book. Altogether, this scholarly collection effectively presents a cohesive look at a post-2000s global punk culture... Highly recommended.'

-- J. Jocson-Singh, CHOICE

'The Punk Reader is a collection of academic essays examining punk scene outside of the US and how the cross pollination of sound and ideals made available through the grassroots network of fanzines and touring helped them develop culturally. The examination of the scene in Groningen, Holland and their hunger for everything from Extreme Noise Terror to Dead Moon was an absorbing and refreshing read, as were the histories of scenes in Iran and Indonesia, too young to be infiltrated by scene politics.'

-- Tony Rettman, The Wire

'An insightful book. To understand what it is to be punk in the 21st century, one has to become comfortable with double vision, looking at global cultural exchange while digging into local contexts. A group of scholars who, by and large, also identify as punks, have gathered their research into a book that embraces this double vision. [...] Given the diversity of chapters and topics, it could prove a valuable reference for anyone looking for granular details on certain scenes. Within its 300-plus pages, insights from many of the authors and their subjects reveal punk to be a constellation of values and trends that arises from many uneasy histories. [...] The Punk Reader encourages prudence on the part of the reader when it comes to evaluating a scene and offers many instances where there are multiple sides to the subculture’s story.'

-- Layla Fassa, Hyperalle