ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author discusses discursive and performative practices which have been employed to contribute both to the making, or remaking, of punk as a movement and – what is perhaps more significant for her argument – a reflection on the very constructedness of punk as a movement. In 1978, the Sex Pistols, probably one of the most popular British boybands of the time, broke up after having toured the United States. Crass’ song, then, one might argue, announced the death of punk only a few years after it had been “born as a movement” through large-scale media attention dedicated to bands such as The Clash, The Damned, or the Sex Pistols. The movementization, demovementization, and removementization of punk can therefore be regarded as an ongoing processes fueled by interventions of the bands and musicians who are said to be “punk” or who fashion themselves as such, and by the journalistic and scholarly writings on punk rock.
