Building a Better Tomorrow: Punk Rock and the Socio-Politics of Place Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Jeffrey Samuel Debies-Carl Graduate Program in Sociology The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Townsand Price-Spratlen, Advisor J. Craig Jenkins Amy Shuman Jared Gardner Copyright by Jeffrey S. Debies-Carl 2009 Abstract Every social group must establish a unique place or set of places with which to facilitate and perpetuate its way of life and social organization. However, not all groups have an equal ability to do so. Rather, much of the physical environment is designed to facilitate the needs of the economy—the needs of exchange and capital accumulation— and is not as well suited to meet the needs of people who must live in it, nor for those whose needs are otherwise at odds with this dominant spatial order. Using punk subculture as a case study, this dissertation investigates how an unconventional and marginalized group strives to manage ‘place’ in order to maintain its survival and to facilitate its way of life despite being positioned in a relatively incompatible social and physical environment. To understand the importance of ‘place’—a physical location that is also attributed with meaning—the dissertation first explores the characteristics and concerns of punk subculture. Contrary to much previous research that focuses on music, style, and self-indulgence, what emerged from the data was that punk is most adequately described in terms of a general set of concerns and collective interests: individualism, community, egalitarianism, antiauthoritarianism, and a do-it-yourself ethic. Next, the places most important to punk are explored: music venues. While the reliable use of such places is ii essential for the subculture, obtaining and maintaining use of a venue is no easy task and not all venues are equally well-suited to the subculture’s requirements. First, it is found that those spaces most culturally compatible with the values of the subculture are most ideal, corresponding with the conceptualization of ‘place.’ Such ideal places are organized non-hierarchically, promote creativity and individuality, and emphasis sociality and community bonds over profit. Second, it is found that the physical features of a venue are also important factors in determining the value of a given place to the subculture. Specifically, those features which facilitate social differentiation and regulation are found to be most problematic for punks, whereas features that facilitate interaction and intimacy are desirable. Issues of place and space continue to be understudied, even though they are also universally experienced and universally relevant concerns that are taken-for-granted. For punks, and for any other social group, not all socio-spatial designs are universally beneficial. Rather, specific designs promote some social agendas as they attenuate others. For these reasons, researchers, planners, and policy makers alike should be increasingly aware of both the causes and consequences of place relative to a variety of social groups. iii Acknowledgements Throughout the process of writing this dissertation, a number of people have been instrumental in leading up to its successful completion whom I would like to thank. First, I would like to thank the many individuals who generously gave of their time that I might interview them. The glimpses they have provided into their personal lives and experiences have been invaluable and, without these, the work that follows would not have been possible. While I cannot expect that each individual will necessarily agree with everything I have written and the conclusions that I have drawn, it is my sincere hope that I have not misrepresented anyone and that, instead, I have honored each of your unique perspectives and made evident how deeply I appreciate your contributions to this study. I would like to extend further gratitude to those who, indirectly, have contributed to this study by making available the many sources and places that were the subjects of the study and without which their would be no punk subculture: the zinesters, bands, venue operators, bloggers, and punk music enthusiasts who ensure that punk remains a vibrant, relevant, and very much living movement. Where possible, these sources are credited in the following pages. In a similar regard, I would also like to thank Peter Skirko for iv providing me with the photograph that appears as Figure 7.7, and permitting me to use it to illustrate one of the key features of punk shows. Next I would like to thank the members of my committee for their time and contributions both to this dissertation and to my professional development more generally. In particular, thanks go to Amy Shuman and J. Craig Jenkins for insightful comments and suggestions, for providing stimulating coursework, general advice, and enthusiastic support. Sincere thanks are also due to my advisor, Townsand Price- Spratlen, for his unfailing support and expert guidance, for camaraderie and enthusiasm, for providing a sympathetic ear, and for extending to me the unique opportunity to pursue a topic which I am passionate about. I would also like to thank my parents—Robert H. Carl, Jr. and Patricia L. Carl—for their love and support in all my endeavors over the years. From reading to me when I was young to listening with interest to each development or setback in my life, I can always count on their encouragement, even when my aspirations have taken me far away from home. Finally, I would like to conclude by extending my love and appreciation to my wife, Melissa, for her patience through all the hours my work has absorbed, for her affection, for having confidence in me even when I have questioned my own abilities, and for being the extraordinary person that she is. My life is all the better for her sharing it with me. v Vita 2002…………………………………………B.A. Sociology, Anthropology, Kent State University 2005…………………………………………M.A. Sociology, The Ohio State University 2002 to 2005………………………………...Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University 2006…………………………………………Graduate Research Assistant, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University 2007 to 2009………………………………...Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Sociology vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….iv Vita………………………………………………………………………………………..vi List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..xi List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………xii Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Overview of the Study…………………………………………………….4 Chapter 2: Methodology…………………………………………………………………..9 General Research Perspective……………………………………………10 Sources of Data…………………………………………………………..12 In-Depth Interviews……………………………………………...12 Field Observations……………………………………………….19 Textual Analysis…………………………………………………24 Analytic Strategy………………………………………………………...26 Coding……………………………………………………………26 Analysis…………………………………………………………..28 Validity, Generalizability, and Reliability……………………………….30 Summary…………………………………………………………………32 Chapter 3: The Study of Youth Subculture………………………………………………34 An Overview of Youth Culture Perspectives…………………………….34 The Chicago School and Classical Youth Studies……………….35 Transaction and Labeling………………………………………...36 The Birmingham School and the Centre for Contemporary – Cultural Studies…………………………………………………..38 Post-Subcultural Studies…………………………………………46 A Critique of Youth Culture Perspectives……………………………….56 vii Monolithic Conceptions of Youth Culture………………………57 Style and Consumption…………………………………………..60 Goals, Rationality, and Outcomes……………………………….64 Summary…………………………………………………………………74 Chapter 4: A Critical Investigation of Punk Subculture…………………………………77 Punk Rock: More than Fashion…………………………………………..80 The Non-Material Culture of Punks……………………………………..92 Individualism and Communitarianism…………………………...93 Egalitarianism and Antiauthoritarianism……………………….102 The Do-It-Yourself Ethic……………………………………….110 Conclusion……………………………………………………...120 Chapter 5: The Significance of Place…………………………………………………...128 Conceptualizing Place…………………………………………………..131 Distinguishing the Material and Symbolic Dimensions of – Place…………………………………………………………….131 Causes and Consequences of Place……………………………..136 The Death of Public Space……………………………………………...147 Representational Space: A Subcultural Solution?...................................153 Research on Punk Subculture and Space……………………………….161 Summary………………………………………………………………..166 Chapter 6: Locating Punk Space………………………………………………………..168 The Importance of Show Spaces to Punk Subculture…………………..169 The Centrality of Punk Show Spaces…………………………...170 Show Space as Quasi-Sacred Space……………………………174 Resource Accumulation at Show Spaces……………………….177 The Loss of Space………………………………………………178 Options in Selecting Punk Spaces………………………………………180 Mainstream Venues and Punk Socio-Cultural Dissimilarity…………...182 The Profit Motive……………………………………………….183 Management and Regulation…………………………………...187 Mainstream Audiences………………………………………….189 Punk Cultural Dissimilarity in Mainstream Venues……………193 Outcomes and Considerations in Using Mainstream Venues…..199 DIY Show Spaces as Alternative to Mainstream Venues………………201 DIY Spaces as Solution to Punk Cultural Dissimilarity………………..218 Resolving Profit………………………………………………...205 Resolving Management