ABSTRACT
In 2010, comedian and punk Jon Gnarr successfully led his Best Party to victory in the Reykjavik mayoral race (Birrell 2011). A self-described anarchist inspired by Gandhi and anarchopunk legends Crass, Gnarr and a cabinet full of former punks set out to transform politics, first by satirizing the entire process — they promised kids they would build a Disneyland and bring a polar bear to the zoo — and then by actually enacting policies — pushing forward with plans to make the city a hub for electric cars (McGrane 2010). A cadre of bankers and politicians had led Iceland into financial collapse in 2008, prompting disaffected voters to disrupt the status quo. Gnarr, who maintains he still wants to tear the system down, felt like he had to infiltrate politics to make real change. Subculturists are often cast as nihilistic kids with no future, exemplified by the Circle Jerks song “Live Fast Die Young.” However, Gnarr's journey from sniffing glue and playing in punk band Nefrennsli (“Runny Nose”) to Reykjavik city hall shows that sub-culturists may wind up in the most unlikely places. Their paths towards adulthood are rarely straightforward and many subculturists creatively find ways to live subcultural lives.
