ABSTRACT
Do-it-yourself (DIY) methods entail making things by oneself and thus obviating commercial and institutional channels of production. Moreover, the ideology and politics of a self-conscious DIY ethos in the United States arose in the 1950s with beatniks, and further expanded with the 1960s counterculture. The concept of DIY “self-reliance” was also an important part of Mexican American and African American sociocultural traditions. The historical development outlined is significant also in its relation to historical movements that predated and informed punk and DIY culture. The theoretical and methodological approach that focuses on the materiality of social and cultural aspects of American DIY scenes not only emerged the author's own personal experiences of American DIY spaces and events, but more importantly, is grounded in the experiences of the American DIY participants themselves.
