X

Description

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.

Sujets

• Xse
• DIY culture
• Harm reduction
• Zine
• Anarchism
• Vegan
• Tempérance

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 6
• EAN13: 9781629637709
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Straight edge culture is very diverse, and parts of it had always a strong emphasis on emancipation and equality, also with regard to gender and sexuality. It s good to have a book acknowledging this.
-Jenni Ramme, Emancypunx Records

Forget the cliches, straight edge isn t just about buff white dudes-Kuhn s book shows that it s a multifaceted social movement rooted in the intersection of DIY culture and political resistance.
-Lori Black Bear, Sprout Distro

Sobriety has historically played an important-and often overlooked-role in many social movements. As usual, Gabriel Kuhn tackles his topic with breadth and finesse. He manages to simultaneously address internal issues in straight edge circles as well as demonstrate the relevance of sobriety and straight edge outside of the relatively narrow confines of punk and hardcore scenes. Highly recommended and a great way to take necessary conversations about addiction and struggle for social justice to the next level.
-Anthony T. Fiscella, author of Varieties of Islamic Anarchism

Kuhn once again brings a razor-sharp eye to straight edge, powerfully illuminating the gamut of liberatory possibility in the choice to not only reduce harm to oneself and this world but, crucially, experiment with caring, consensual social relations and spaces too.
-Cindy Milstein, editor of Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief

X: Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety
Edited by Gabriel Kuhn
2019 the respective authors
This edition 2019 PM Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
We have made every effort to identify and properly credit the images used in this book, but it is possible that errors and omissions may inadvertently remain. Notice of such should be sent to the publisher so that the necessary corrections may be made in any future editions.
ISBN: 978-1-62963-716-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019945458
Cover by John Yates / www.stealworks.com
Interior design by briandesign
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PM Press
PO Box 23912
Oakland, CA 94623
www.pmpress.org
Printed in the USA.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Gabriel Kuhn
Glossary
Timeline
ARTISTS
We Are Everywhere
Interview with Martin Sorrondeguy
Total Liberation
Interview with Eva Genie Hall
It Means Revolution
Interview with July Salazar
Acoustic Vegan Straight Edge
Interview with Keegan Kuhn
More Than Just White-Male-Privileged Straight Edge Hardcore Punk
Interview with xFirstWorldProblemx
2-0 to the Arsenal
Interview with Kaila Stone
Pinoy Straight Edge
Interview with Tweety
Drug Free Youth Malaysia
Interview with Khai Aziz
From Below
Interview with xMontagx
Black X
Interview with MArk X Miller
Anarchist Straight Edge Hip Hop
Interview with GAEA
Friendship Never Ends
Interview with Eat My Fear
Not Gay as in Happy but Queer as in Fuck You
Interview with Jara Pohjonen
Hails from Parts Unknown
Interview with UltraMantis Black
COLLECTIVES
Cooperativa Straight Edge Libertaria
Interview with Julian Vadala
Straight Edge City: Bandung, Indonesia
Frans Ari Prasetyo
Straight Edge Sankt Pauli
Interview with SXE FCSP
Spreading the Message
Interview with Warzone Distro
In Response to an Increase of Fascist and Racist Activity
Midwest Straight Edge Antifa
Straight Edge Radicals Under Fire: The Case of Straight Edge Madrid
Gabriel Kuhn
Is This DIY? Straight Edge and Sweden s Sobriety Movement
Interviews with Jens Wingren, Staffan Snitting, Stockholm Straight Edge, and Karin Holmgren
Left, Right, Unpolitical : The Straight Edge Maze of Russia
Sergey, Ruslan, Vitalik, Anton, and Evgeny
SCENE REPORT
The Fuck Hardcore Shows Proclamation
Jen Twigg
Alcohol and Solidarity
Ane V.
When Straightedge Walked the Earth / Straightedge Means I Have No Friends / Not Going to the Earth Crisis Gig
Laura Synthesis
Not for Me
Elina
SPECIAL INTEREST
Straight Edge and Religion
Interview with Francis Stewart
The Joys of Zine-Making
Interview with Kat
Straight Edge and Design
Interview with Jan T lva
Sober but Not Straight Edge
Interview with Jon Active
DEBATE
The xo HeartLine ox Manifesto
Anonymous
Anarcho-Straight Edge
mj
Identity Crisis: Reclaiming and Reasserting Radical Vegan Straight Edge
Anonymous
Straight Edge: An Anarchist POC Perspective on Resisting Intoxication Culture
Hellrazor xvx
An Indigenous Anarchist against Intoxication Culture
Sarambi
Straight Edge Anarchy: The Danger of a Sober Insurrection
Anonymous
How to Make Sense of Straight Edge Nazis
A conversation with La Terre d abord
Weaponizing Sobriety: Feral Anarchy against Intoxication Culture
Blitz Molotov
Queer Edge Manifesto
SAFT-Sober Anarchist Feminist Trans Crew
RECOVERY
A Sober Queer Community to Heal and Progress
Sober Coven
Change the Things You Can t Accept: A Primer to Radical Sobriety Montreal
J.
Dreaming New Meanings for Sobriety
Clementine Morrigan
I Stopped Drinking and I Hate You All
Laura Dinosaur
Diary of a Straight Edge Junkie
Tom O Brien
Alcoholics Autonomous: Addiction and Sobriety Beyond Recovery
Jack Fontanill
All Nighter
Kent McClard
Hitting the Streets
Reeves Hankins
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
Gabriel Kuhn
Ten years ago, I was working on the book Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics . It was published by PM Press in 2010. I had always wanted to do a book on straight edge and radical politics, as I felt passionate about both but had to acknowledge that they weren t necessarily connected. Straight edge is politically undefined and open to all sorts of interpretations. Besides, there have always been strong streaks of machismo and self-righteousness within the culture. My intention was to strengthen the culture s progressive currents and provide a platform for often overlooked and marginalized voices within it.
My passions haven t changed. The need for radical politics most certainly remains, and straight edge is today more diverse and colorful than ever. Under the term radical sobriety, questions of substance use and recovery have also become widely discussed in radical circles. Out of this came the idea to put together a sequel to Sober Living .
X: Straight Edge and Radical Sobriety essentially follows the same premise: exploring the overlaps between straight edge and radical politics, but Sober Living is not required reading for appreciating its contents. The books supplement one another but stand on their own. X differs from Sober Living in three main ways: There is an even stronger focus on the grassroots and the international scope of straight edge culture. The boundaries are a bit softer. While the vast majority of contributors are and identify as straight edge, this does not apply to everyone. The term radical sobriety is also used by people who have very little (or nothing) to do with straight edge. But since many of them have things to say that are highly relevant for radical straight edge folks, their voices are included here. It is important to note, however, that this is still, first and foremost, a book about straight edge. A book about radical sobriety or radical advocates of drug-free living would look very different. It would have to account for a wide range of radicals, from Andalusian anarchist teetotalers to the MOVE organization to indigenous activists advocating sobriety. This is beyond the scope of what I ve been able to cover. X contains a chapter on harm reduction and recovery. Some readers of Sober Living pointed out that they missed contributions by people with a history of substance use and a discussion about what straight edge has to offer to them-if anything. The last chapter of this book is dedicated to this very question, looking at addiction, recovery, and support for people intending to change consumption habits.
HANGOUTS AND BEER TENTS: PERSONAL COMMENTS
There is yet another difference to Sober Living , although it s primarily a formal one. I m going to try my luck with a more personal introduction. This has two reasons. First, a Sober Living review in Classic Rock magazine stated that it s not a promising start; the preface reads like an Open University textbook. Point taken. More importantly, however, I thought-probably naively-that I as a person was of no relevance for the book. I saw myself as little more than the fellow who collected material and interviewed people. Yet some of the criticism of Sober Living focused exclusively on who I was-or, at least, on who people thought I was. In a review by a respected and longstanding punk rock zine, the author wrote: My first question was whether the editor was qualified to compile this book and conduct these interviews, given his experience with hardcore or lack thereof . Given some of the other books he s worked on, his background seems to be more in sociology and radical politics, and I am always weary of anyone with a cultural studies background attempting to document punk.
Well. Allow me to try clarify a few things. To begin with (since it often seems silently assumed), I do not work in academia and never have. The