[ecrea] Call For Papers - No Sir, I Won’t: Reconsidering the Legacy of Crass and Anarcho-punk

No Sir, I Won’t: Reconsidering the Legacy of Crass and Anarcho-punk

Friday 28th June 2013



Organised by Oxford Brookes’ Popular Music Research Unit (PMRU)

in association with the Network of Punk Scholars (NPS).



20 years since legendary anarcho-punk group Crass released their highly 
challenging LP Yes Sir, I Will, this symposium will explore the impact 
and long-lasting legacy of Crass and anarcho-punk. Crass are widely 
perceived as ‘reluctant leaders’ of the anarcho-punk scene; an ironic 
title for self-proclaimed anarchists, of course. The central question, 
for this study day, is: were Crass and anarcho-punk scene significantly 
effective politically or, alternatively, was the anarcho-punk scene 
surreptitiously more about clothes, music, image and ‘symbolic 
rebellion’ (to use Adorno’s term)?



Newspaper articles, journalist/fan publications and a growing body of 
scholarly work on Crass and the anarcho-punk music scene has been keen 
to celebrate the fact that such groups sold many thousands of records 
(more than a million in total in Crass’s case, reportedly), contributed 
substantially to the rise of anarchistic strategies on the Left and the 
revitalization of CND in the UK, drew the attention of the UK 
establishment including the House of Commons and were eventually 
prosecuted under the Obscene Publications act.



Recent scholarly work on punk has challenged classic academic accounts 
of punk such as Dick Hebdige’s Subculture: The Meaning of Style. 
Querying the legitimacy of such accounts has been a specific intention 
of the nascent Network of Punk Scholars, for example. This symposium, 
however, would offer a counter-challenge to post-Hebdigean scholars: 
what is the meaning and politics of punk? What have bands such as Crass 
done, beyond the ‘bricolage’ which Hebdige describes? What are (were) 
the limits to their efficacy as agitators? Was/is anarcho-punk really 
about more than music? If so, was music the best possible vehicle for 
the forms of agitation which Crass undertook?



Within the study day, in addition to presentations from members of the 
Punk Network of Scholars and any other interested parties, an afternoon 
panel combines the views of Penny Rimbaud (the vociferous drummer of 
Crass), Sarah MacHenry (Crass fan, 1in12 member and ex-Witchknot/Curse 
of Eve drummer) and George McKay (author of Senseless Acts of Beauty 
discussing examples of correspondences he had with Crass in the early 
1980s).



Themes for papers might include (but are not limited to):



Specific discussions of Crass

Discussions of other bands from the anarcho-punk milieu

Comparisons between anarcho-punk and other punk sub-genres

Anarcho-punk as a subculture

Anarcho-punk as a political ‘culture of resistance’

Continuities between hippies, punks, ‘eco-warriors’, ravers and so on.

Music versus Politics

Anarchism versus Marxism

Underground versus Mainstream

Pacifism versus Violence



The deadline for proposals for papers is Monday 15th April



The symposium will be free of charge and will run all day. A free lunch 
will be provided. However, spaces are limited and interest is expected 
to be high so it is recommended that you book a place early to avoid 
disappointment. Those interested in giving a paper or wanting to book a 
place should contact Dr. Pete Dale at Oxford Brookes University, 
(pdale /at/ brookes.ac.uk) c/o School of Arts, Richard Hamilton Building, 
Headington Hill, OX3 0BP. Please do not hesitate to contact Pete if you 
are at all interested in this symposium event.



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