Gabriel Kuhn

Straight Edge has persisted as a drug-free, hardcore punk subculture for 25 years. Its political legacy remains ambiguous and is often misrepresented as a Puritan conservatism. However, as this study shows, its history is more complex. Since its origins in 1980s, the scene has been linked to radical thought and music. Tracing this history, the book includes contributions from famed Straight-Edge rockers like Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Mark Anderson (Dance of Days) and Andy Hurley (Fall Out Boy) and numerous other activists dedicated to a sober, liberated world.

Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics

Sober Living for the Revolution

Marion Meinzerin

Ulrike Klausmann

And the Politics of the Jolly Roger

Women Pirates

From its working-class roots to commercialisation and resistance to it - this is football history for the politically conscious fan. Football is a multi-billion pound industry. Professionalism and commercialisation dominate its global image. Yet the game retains a rebellious side, maybe more so than any other sport co-opted by money-makers and corrupt politicians. Soccer vs. The State traces its amazing history.

Tackling Football and Radical Politics

Soccer Vs. the State

George Katsiaficas

Geronimo

The first comprehensive study of the German autonomous movement ever published. Released in 1990, it reached its fifth edition by 1997, with the legendary German journal Konkret concluding that 'the movement had produced its own classic.' The author, writing under the pseudonym of Geronimo, has been an autonomous activist since the movement burst onto the scene in 1980-81. He here traces its origins in the Italian Autonomia project and the German social movements of the 1970s, before describing the battles for squats, 'free spaces' and alternative forms of living.

A History of the German Autonomist Movement

Fire and Flames

An ideological battle rages over the political legacy and cultural symbolism of the golden age pirates who roamed the seas between the Caribbean islands and the Indian Ocean from 1690 to 1725. One the one hand pirates are romanticised as swash-buckling villains, whilst on the other they are realised as genuine social rebels. LIFE UNDER THE JOLLY ROGER examines the political and cultural significance of these nomadic outlaws by relating historical accounts to a wide range of theoretical concepts - ranging from Marshall Sahlins and Pierre Clastres to Nietzche.

Reflections on Golden Age Piracy

Life Under the Jolly Roger

Examining the multigenerational impact of punk rock music, this international survey of the political-punk straight edge movement - which has persisted as a drug-free, hardcore subculture for more than 25 years - traces its history from 1980s Washington, DC, to today. Asserting that drugs are not necessarily rebellious and that not all rebels do them, the record also defies common conceptions of straight edge's political legacy as being associated with self-righteous, macho posturing and conservative Puritanism. On the contrary, the movement has been linked to radical thought and action by the countless individuals, bands, and entire scenes profiled throughout the discussion. Lively and exhaustive, this dynamic overview includes contributions from famed straight edge punk rockers Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Dennis Lyxzn of Refused and the International Noise Conspiracy, and Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy; legendary bands Man Lifting Banner and Point of No Return; radical collectives such as Crimeth Inc. and Alpine Anarchist Productions; and numerous other artists and activists dedicated as much to sober living as to the fight for a better world.

Seattle und die Folgen

"Neuer Anarchismus" in den USA

Straight edge--hardcore punk's drug-free offshoot--has thrived as a subculture since the early 1980s. Its influence has reached far beyond musical genres and subcultural divides. Today it is more diverse and richly complex than ever, and in the past decade alcohol and drug use have become a much-discussed issue in radical politics, not least due to the hard work, dedication, and commitment to social and environmental justice found among straight-edge activists. X: Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety is Gabriel Kuhn's highly anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed Sober Living for the Revolution. Extensively illustrated and combining original interviews and essays with manifestos and reprints from zines and pamphlets, X is a vital portrait of the wide spectrum of people who define straight edge culture today. In the sprawling scope of this book, the notion of straight edge as a bastion of white, middle-class, cis males is confronted and challenged. X takes a piercing look at religion, identity, feminism, aesthetics, harm reduction, and much more. It is both a call to action and an elaborate redefinition of straight edge and radical sobriety.

Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety

Straight edge—hardcore punk’s drug-free offshoot—has thrived as a subculture since the early 1980s. Its influence has reached far beyond musical genres and subcultural divides. Today it is more diverse and richly complex than ever, and in the past decade alcohol and drug use have become a much-discussed issue in radical politics, not least due to the hard work, dedication, and commitment to social and environmental justice found among straight-edge activists. X: Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety is Gabriel Kuhn’s highly anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed Sober Living for the Revolution. In this impressive volume, Kuhn continues his reconnaissance of straight-edge culture and how it overlaps with radical politics. Extensively illustrated and combining original interviews and essays with manifestos and reprints from zines and pamphlets, X is a vital portrait of the wide spectrum of people who define straight-edge culture today. In the sprawling scope of this book, the notion of straight edge as a bastion of white, middle-class, cis males is openly confronted and boldly challenged by dozens of contributors who span five continents. X takes a piercing look at religion, identity, feminism, aesthetics, harm reduction, and much more. It is both a call to action and an elaborate redefinition of straight edge and radical sobriety. Promising to inspire discussion, reflection, and unearth hidden chapters of hardcore punk history, X: Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety is of crucial importance to anybody interested in the politics of punk and social transformation.

Blekingegade is a quiet Copenhagen street. It is also where, in May 1989, the police discovered an apartment that had served Denmark’s most notorious twentieth-century bank robbers as a hideaway for years. The Blekingegade Group members belonged to a communist organization and lived modest lives in the Danish capital. Over a period of almost two decades, they sent millions of dollars acquired in spectacular heists to Third World liberation movements, in particular the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In May 1991, seven of them were convicted and went to prison. The story of the Blekingegade Group is one of the most puzzling and captivating chapters from the European anti-imperialist milieu of the 1970s and ’80s. Turning Money into Rebellion: The Unlikely Story of Denmark’s Revolutionary Bank Robbers is the first-ever account of the story in English, covering a fascinating journey from anti-war demonstrations in the late 1960s via travels to Middle Eastern capitals and African refugee camps to the group’s fateful last robbery that earned them a record haul and left a police officer dead. The book includes historical documents, illustrations, and an exclusive interview with Torkil Lauesen and Jan Weimann, two of the group’s longest-standing members. It is a compelling tale of turning radical theory into action and concerns analysis and strategy as much as morality and political practice. Perhaps most importantly, it revolves around the cardinal question of revolutionary politics: What to do, and how to do it?

The Unlikely Story of Denmark's Revolutionary Bank Robbers

Turning Money into Rebellion

The world of sports is often associated with commercialism, corruption, and reckless competition. Liberals have objected to sport being used for political propaganda, and leftists have decried its role in distracting the masses from the class struggle. Yet, since the beginning of organized sports, athletes, fans, and officials have tried to administer and play it in ways that strengthen, rather than hinder, progressive social change. From the workers' sports movement in the early twentieth century to the civil rights struggle transforming sports in the 1960s to the current global network of grassroots sports clubs, there has been a growing desire to include sports in the struggle for liberation and social justice. It is a struggle that has produced larger-than-life figures like Muhammad Ali and iconic images such as the Black Power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. It is also a struggle that has seen sport fans in increasing number reclaiming the games they love from undemocratic associations, greedy owners, and corporate interests. With the help of over a hundred full-color illustrations—from posters and leaflets to paintings and photographs—Playing as if the World Mattered makes this history tangible. Extensive lists of resources, including publications, films, and websites, will allow the reader to explore areas of interest further. Being the first illustrated history of its kind, Playing as if the World Mattered introduces an understanding of sports beyond chauvinistic jingoism, corporate media chat rooms, and multi-billion-dollar business deals.

An Illustrated History of Activism in Sports

Playing as if the World Mattered

Presenting English translations of manifestos, speeches, articles, and letters from the German Revolution, this is an informative look at early 20th-century Germany. After defeat in World War I and the end of the Kaiserreich, radicals across Germany rallied to a socialist slogan, ";All Power to the Councils!"; Many documents, such as the anarchist Erich Müsam's comprehensive account of the Bavarian Council Republic, are made available in English for the first time. Also included are appendices portraying the Red Ruhr Army that repelled reactionary Kapp Putsch in 1920, and the communist bandits that roamed Eastern Germany until 1921. This documentary history provides a dynamic and vivid picture of both an encouraging and tragic time with long-lasting effects for world history.

A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919

All Power to the Councils!

The Sámi, who have inhabited Europe's far north for thousands of years, are often referred to as the continent's "forgotten people." With Sápmi, their traditional homeland, divided between four nation-states--Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia--the Sámi have experienced the profound oppression and discrimination that characterize the fate of indigenous people worldwide: their lands have been confiscated, their beliefs and values attacked, their communities and families torn apart. Yet the Sámi have shown incredible resilience, defending their identity and their territories and retaining an important social and ecological voice. Liberating Sápmi is a stunning journey through Sápmi and includes in-depth interviews with Sámi activists and artists boldly standing up for the rights of their people. This beautifully illustrated work aims to raise awareness of the ongoing fight of the Sámi for justice and self-determination. The first accessible English-language introduction to the culture and history of the Sámi people and the first account that focuses on their political resistance, this provocative work gives irrefutable evidence of the important role the Sámi play in the resistance of indigenous people against an economic and political system whose power to destroy all life on earth has reached a scale unprecedented in the history of humanity.

Gabriel Kuhn

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