The Anarchism and Punk Book Project

Update on the CrowdFunder (21st April 2021):

También tenemos un video de crowdfunding en español: 

Decir tus amig@s!

Why Anarchism and Punk?

Punk and anarchism have been intertwined since punk first blasted into the public consciousness some 45 years ago, and, while the relationship is complicated (and not ubiquitous), anarchism has been identified as punk's 'primary political companion' (Worley 2017).

But, close investigation of the connections between anarchism and punk has been scant - it's either taken-for-granted, lurks in the background of other topics of analysis, or is ignored completely. We're going to change that, with the publication of four books about various aspects of the punk/anarchism relationship.

Our 'Call for Chapters' in late 2020 was wildly successful - we now have 96 contributors from all over the world working on chapters for these books right now.

Why We Need Your Help

• Translation costs

The international scope of this project is crucial. Writing about punk is still overwhelmingly focused on Anglo-American contexts, despite the wide proliferation of punk across the world. In the spirt of internationalism and inclusivity, several of our chapter contributors are writing in their own languages (including French, Portuguese, Spanish, Indonesian). We need money to pay for these chapters to be translated into English ahead of publication.

• Books for our contributors

Neither the editors nor the contributing writers are getting paid for this project - it's a labour of love (and rage). We want to send each author a hard copy of the book that they have contributed to creating - these days, not many publishing projects even bother to do that. We have 96 contributors spread across 5 continents - we need money to get these books into the hands of the authors.

• Subvention of publication costs

If it ain't cheap, it ain't punk! Punk culture recognises the importance of keeping things affordable. Active Distribution, as a punk-rooted anarchist publisher, follows this logic in its publishing practices. But, the more money we raise, the cheaper we can distribute these books. We need money to make these books cheap as punk.

Rewards

We've got a whole heap of reward bundles - but everyone who donates at least £5 will get their name printed in each of the books. You'll be famous! (Sort of).

Other rewards include books on punk and anarchism (provided by Active Distribution), posters, exclusive access to a punk-anarchist podcast made by the book editors, and free copies of the new Anarchism and Punk book series.

Publication plan

Draft chapters have already started coming in, but are due for submission in June 2021. After review, revision, editing, typesetting, and proofing, we'll publish the four books at regular intervals, starting in late 2021. The book titles/themes are:

• Punk Anarchism as a Culture of Resistance
• Anarchism and Punk in Action – iteration, prefiguration, and politicisation
• Critical engagements between punk, anarchism and other radical politics and practices
• Anarchist Punks Doing It Together – Cultural Production, Autonomous Spaces, DIY

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can't afford to chip in, don't worry - you can always help us out by telling your (rich) friends about the project.