Why PUNK STUDIES, doing punk research in the Netherlands

In December 2020, two Dutch punk veterans participated in the internet conference of the Punk Scholars Network (PSN) Indonesia.
What they found there, lectures about scholarly research into punk, combined with live music by Indonesian punk bands, inspired them to found a Dutch affiliate of the international PSN, joining forces with the webmaster of Dutch punk information site bacteria.nl, with Dr Anita Raghunath with her experience in PSN in the UK, and then with more people.

PSN the Netherlands organised three succesful events. In December 2021, our webinar on Punk And Venues, organised jointly with the Denmark/Germany PSN affiliate. In June 2022, our conference in Amsterdam on Women In Punk In The Netherlands. In October 2022, also in Amsterdam, the first launch of the book Punks Listen, published in Ireland, with Dutch contributors of the book.

We came to the conclusion that, in order to continue with all of our team which organised these events so well, we needed to found an autonomous organisation: Punk Studies.

Aiming to stimulate studies about punk by people in the Netherlands. Organising events combining lectures about scholarly punk research with film showings and live music.

We had good experiences with international contacts. Though Punk Studies is autonomous, we want to have contacts with others all over the world doing similar work, like the branches of the worldwide Punk Scholars Network, the KISMIF conference in Porto, Portugal, and others.

Punk, when it started, described by cynical journalists as a fad which would supposedly be over after one year, now, in its 48th year, is a movement present in over 100 countries all over the world, with impact not limited to just music. With also impact in the Netherlands: that needs more study: which lags a bit behind research in, e,g. the UK or the USA.

As someone said: ‘Hey ho! Let’s go!’