Transnational Punk Communities in Poland

A Transnational History of Punk Communities in Poland is a multi-regional study of the history and contemporary condition of two Polish punk communities: the one in Warsaw and surrounding areas, and the Upper Silesian region: both rich in varied and sometimes conflicting punk traditions. The author, a self-identified member of the punk subculture formerly living and active in Warsaw, explores the various political, economic and social dimensions of the development of these unique communities and the meaning of the punk ethos for people across different age groups, genders, and life experiences, in relation to other subcultures, especially skinheads, and the broader society. An additional dimension, previously unexplored in scholarship, are the ties between these Polish punk communities and their counterparts in the United States and Canada. The personal connections between early bands and the long lasting transnational aspects of punk practices are shown to be an important factor in the shaping of punk attitudes across time and space. The economics of everyday punk life are discussed referring to contemporary scholarship on the subject, punk lyrics, and ethnographies which throughout the book illustrate selected themes and problems. This study includes insight about obscure yet foundational Silesian bands and their defiant, sardonic humor; about punk and anarchy, punk versus communism and the political opposition in the 1980s, punks' attitudes toward the transformation of 1989, about being a punk girl on the streets of Warsaw or Wodzislaw Slaski. Discover punk as an old subculture that cherishes its own past and remains an important alternative to mainstream cultural practices in a rapidly "Westernizing" and corporatizing country.

Marta Marciniak received her PhD in American Studies from the University of Buffalo, The State University of New York.

Contents vii
Preface viii
Acknowledgements xii
Introduction xiii
Abbreviations xliii
Chapter 1: The most sensible way to be? The first two
decades of punk in Poland 1
Chapter 2: The Silesian scenes 43
Chapter 3: "Star Wars, or you can have everything"
- punk politics of everyday life 75
Chapter 4: "DIY till we die:" the economy and institutions
of punk 119
Chapter 5: "Dziewczyny w pogo:" women and ideas
about gender in punk 151
Epilogue 185
Appendix 201
Bibliography 205
Index 215