[Commlist] CFP: Punk: Past, Present, Future. Punk Scholars Network 12th International Annual Conference and Post Graduate Symposium

*PUNK: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE.*

The Punk Scholars Network 12th Annual Conference and Postgraduate 
Symposium will be hosted by the School of Music at the University of 
Leeds on the 12th & 13th December 2025. The theme of the conference will 
be *Punk: Past, Present, Future.*

As punk approaches its half century – if we take the year of the first 
Ramones album and the first Sex Pistols single as year zero – this 
year’s Punk Scholars Network conference will ask how a cultural form 
that rejoiced in the rejection of the past, and a joyful scepticism 
towards any kind of future, can deal with its own history, its fragility 
in the face of age, and the sustainability of the form itself as it 
passes from first person memory into history. We invite papers that look 
at the past in light of these concerns, but also papers and 
presentations that explore the present – what is ‘punk’ now? – and the 
future of a form that remains resilient and innovative.

*Past: *Compared to 20 years ago, the history of punk and post-punk has 
now being extensively written, chiefly as memoir: there is little danger 
of anything significant being forgotten. There remain however, gaps in 
knowledge and interpretation – and in understanding the wider social 
impact of an uncommonly sturdy and adaptable set of cultural forms.

*Present: *‘Punk’ remains present in culture more generally as set of 
visual and audible indices of rebellion; a studded belt on a catwalk is 
enough to get a collection labelled as ‘punk’ and an overdriven guitar 
riffing through barre chords will add the same label to an otherwise 
unremarkable pop song. Paradoxically, certain visual tropes and 
practices that were once enough to mark the bearer as outcast are now 
mainstream – tattoos, piercings, brightly coloured hair. ‘Punk’ is both 
visible but also an invisible or unreadable thread in a common culture.

*Future: *Musical and cultural forms can be resilient and long-lasting; 
while also changing beyond recognition – the history of jazz from its 
early expression in New Orleans to now one obvious example. Can punk 
still be ‘punk’ if created entirely on a digital audio workstation 
(DAW)? Or are certain notions of authenticity still obligatory? Is the 
resistance of at least some – though not all – punk to the corporate 
still viable or even comprehensible in a platformed world?

We invite papers that address these questions under – but not limited to 
– the following headings:

• Punk archives: what are we preserving and why? And for whom?

• Personal histories – what do they tell us?

• Revival, restoration and remastering: as ‘everything’ finds its way 
into the recorded domain,

how much do we need? And how many versions?

• What, if anything, does being (a) punk mean now?

• Punk and other musical and cultural forms: folk-punk, punk-metal, 
afro-punk; do such hybrid forms

preserve and extend punk or dilute it?

• Punk as global form.

• Punk in 2076 – will it eventually be the province of antiquarian 
interest or still a living thing?

• Legacy acts – what happens when all the original members are dead?

We particularly welcome papers that address these concerns from 
perspectives beyond the academy and from scholars working in areas other 
than musicology or cultural studies: papers combining punk and 
philosophy, punk and language, punk and wellbeing (or ill-being!) are 
all welcome, as are papers that address the themes obliquely.

Proposals for individual papers (20 minutes) or themed panels of three 
papers should be sent by *10th July 2025 *to *(psn2025conf /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(psn2025conf /at/ gmail.com)>*. Abstracts for individual papers should 
not exceed 250 words along with a biographical note (50 words). 
Proposals for panels should include abstracts for all the papers, along 
with a brief introduction to the panel theme and biographical notes for 
all the participants.

*Submission deadline: 10th July 2025*

*Decision will be sent by: 7th August 2025*

*Please send proposals to: (psn2025conf /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(psn2025conf /at/ gmail.com)>*

www.punkscholarsnetwork.com
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