Call for Papers International Symposium
Disorder: Towards a social history of punk and post-punk

University of Paris Diderot
With University of Chicago Paris Center, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin, New York University Paris
Friday 3 – Saturday 4 April 2015

Punk and Post-Punk: two movements that emerged in the mid to late seventies, the latter supposedly born from the ashes of the former, with the golden age of Post-Punk lasting till about 1984. The sheer number of new bands was staggering, and hundreds upon hundreds have made a name for themselves (Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, PIL, Gang of Four, Slits, The Pop Group, Père Ubu, Lydia Lunch, Einstürzende Neubauten, Dead Kennedys, Kas Product, Die Form, Magazine, Joy Division, John Foxx, Virgin Prunes, Bauhaus, UK Decay…). The degree of experimentation was likewise bewildering. All the arts were impacted, perhaps more especially in Britain. There were themes that had not been aired before in the music industry.

These movements have been written about in specialised or general-interest publications (Simon Reynolds, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984—these dates can of course be debated), but they have not been the subject of very much academic research.
The time is ripe to reflect upon these “expressive moments” in relation to the socio-political climate in which they emerged. The social sciences provide methodologies and tools: ethnography of the audience, the writing of social history, studies of artist/media relations, quantitative and qualitative studies of economic exchange, such as indie labels, distribution networks, advertising and communication strategies, etc.
The Punk/Post-Punk movements were steeped in the socio-political environment, especially because their audience was young, and their formulas (lyrics and “attitude”) are to be observed in relation to the social sphere. Their impact, if impact there was, needs to be complexified. We need to deconstruct all these notions before we can reassess any impact, image, or history. What reading can be given of these movements looking back at them? Was/were the movement(s) homogeneous? Do the chronological accounts stand up to scrutiny? Did the participants really have “agency”? Or are we, in retrospect, faced with a history in fragments, a series of isolated responses to economic situations, and individual political reactions to the social order? Was there radical change or continuity in either of the movements, musically or otherwise? Finally, is the temporality inherent in the term “Post-Punk” useful, or should other denominations prevail?

The conferences and discussion panels will concentrate on three main themes (the topics listed below are not exhaustive):

I. PUNK/POST-PUNK AND SOCIETY
- The media and spheres of influence: who says what is Punk/Post-Punk?
- Commitment and provocation: Politics or posing?
- Recuperation
- The real impact on society (then and now)
- Art-school punk vs. street punk

II. PUNK/POST-PUNK AND IDENTITIES
- Aesthetics and politics of Punk/Post-Punk identities in contrast to established norms
- Expressions and production of marginality: sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, social class
- Case studies of fan movements (fragmentation of the periods, of the public, etc.)
- Self-made fan-identity vs. the identities fabricated by the Majors: fashion, artifice and commerce of Punk/Post-Punk image making
- Importance of the home-made/hand-made in the construction of identities
- The effects of financial success

III. RESURGENCE OF PUNK/POST-PUNK AESTHETICS: CONTINUITIES AND DISCONTINUITIES
- Punk, Post-Punk and aesthetics: contemporary art (Throbbing Gristle, Test Dept, etc.)
- Punk/Post-Punk: nostalgia and posterity (1990-2015)
- Why the “Post-” in “Post-Punk”?

No limits will be placed either chronological or geographical.
Languages: conference papers and discussions may be in English or French.

Proposals to be submitted before 15 September 2014 and sent to

punkpostpunk2014@gmail.com

Submissions to be no more than one page long, and to include between three and five bibliographical references as well as a CV/résumé.
Papers must be original and unpublished.
Those papers selected for publication must be sent on or before 31 March 2015.
Conferences will be 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes of discussion.

Organizers: Paul Edwards, Élodie Grossi, Paul Schor.

Crédit photo / © http://photointhebook.com/

Fenster just released a new video for their track Cat Emperor, taken from their second album The Pink Caves (Morr Music / Mars 2014). After selected german shows in February and a month long US tour, they are embarking on a new European tour next week. Watch this amazing video shot back in January in New York City and check out tourdates below, they might come to a town near you …

13.05. Hannover — Cafe Glocksee (DE)
14.05. Gent — Vooruit (BE)
15.05. London — Birthdays (UK)
16.05. Amsterdam — De Nieuwe Anita (NL)
17.05. Paris — Espace B (FR)
18.05. Luxembourg — Carré Rotondes (LU)
19.05. Nancy — Quai’son (FR)
20.05. Grenoble — Centre d’art Bastille (FR)
21.05. Lausanne — Le Romandie (CH)
22.05. Lyon — Le Sonic (FR)
24.05. Nantes — Stereolux | Festival Indigènes (FR)
25.05. Angers – Joker’s (FR)
28.05. Dijon — Alchimia (FR)
29.05. Esslingen — Dieselstrasse | Young River Festival (DE)
30.05 Mannheim – Maifield Derby (DE)
31.05. Giessen — Kupferschmiede (DE)
01.06. Bielefeld — AJZ (DE)

06.06. Wien — Rhiz (AT)
07.06. Innsbruck — Oscar Kocht (AT)
10.06. Italy — TBA
11.06. Italy — TBA
12.06. Italy  — TBA
13.06. Lugano – Spazio Li (CH)
14.06. Luzern — B Side Festival (CH)
15.06. Ulm — Kradhalle (DE)
16.06. Bamberg — Morph Club (DE)
01.08. Burg Friedland — Jenseits Von Millionen (DE)

More tourdates TBA.
Now on booking for october / november 2014 : amande@julietippex.com

Berlin based weird pop outfit has grown to a four piece and just released their second album The Pink Caves on label Morr Music, exciting ! And to celebrate, they have a new video out for track In The Walls which has been premiered on US blog Impose Magazine. You are at SXSW ? Check them out at one of their showcases.  After very successful release parties in Berlin and NYC, they are now on the roads of America but don’t worry, they will be back to play shows in Europe in May and June !

Follow their american adventures : US Diary on NBHAP
Listen to the new tracks on Bancamp
Get in touch : Contact booking