David Ensminger, “The Politics of Punk: Protest and Revolt from the Streets” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016)

Punk has long been viewed as a subculture of anger, disruption, and alternative political and lifestyle choices. In The Politics of Punk: Protest and Revolt from the Streets (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016) David Ensminger examines the various ways in which punk has created connections to various activist communities. Using interviews with musicians and subculture participants, oral histories, observations, and popular media reports, Ensminger follows the money trail, exploring where punk as a subculture has influenced communities and challenged dominant narratives. Ensminger positions punk’s beginnings in the larger political and social culture, connecting punk activism to the communities of which it was a part. He examines how punks were grassroots activists in ways that are often overlooked in traditional histories of the movement. Ensminger’s book appeals to scholars and readers interested in punk culture, popular music, activisms, and popular culture as Ensminger’s engaging work adds to the growing history of punk.

Rebekah Buchanan is an Assistant Professor of English at Western Illinois University. Her work examines the role of narrative–both analog and digital–in people’s lives. She is interested in how personal narratives produced in alternative spaces create sites that challenge traditionally accepted public narratives. She researches zines, zine writers and the influence of music subcultures and fandom on writers and narratives. You can find more about her on her website, follow her on Twitter @rj_buchanan or email her at rj-buchanan@wiu.edu.

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