Help Fund the Punk Scholars Network Website

As some of you might know, the cost of the Punk Scholars Network (PSN) website is £350 per annum. As the PSN is a DIY-run, not-for-profit organisation, the cost of funding the website often falls upon a small group of individuals.

The website is an integral part of the network, in that it archives - and advertises - the many events that are organised globally, alongside key contact information for those wishing to get involved with the network. The website also hosts our email and blog, both of which are essential for the everyday running of the network.

Formed in 2012, the Punk Scholars Network has transformed into an international forum for academic and scholarly debate, conferences, publications, talks and public exhibitions. Punk is a conflicting and diverse culture, and the network aims to mirror this multiplicity through a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to our subject and the contribution and participation of punk scholars, fans and enthusiasts within and outside traditional models of academia. To date, the Punk Scholars Network has delivered workshops, symposiums and conferences in Reading, Oxford, Leicester, Birmingham, Northampton, Bolton, Los Angeles, Lincoln, Newcastle and London. The PSN organised a global online conference involving regional groups across three continents in 2020 and 2021, including the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Australia and Iberia, before returning to in-person events from 2022 onward. These events have reflected a broad range of critical themes including global, historical and contemporary punk scenes, punk pedagogy, DIY, punk and spirituality, identities and sexualities, punk art and aesthetics, curatorial practices, punk and noise, punk resilience and the social and political legacy of the 1980s anarcho-punk movement.

The PSN is therefore an academic platform that fosters a rigorous, scholarly approach to the study of punk and post-punk. With a global and academically diverse membership, the network encourages, and embraces, methodological approaches towards punk from a myriad of academic disciplines, including film studies, history, cultural studies, sociology, musicology, art and design and religious studies. Moreover, the PSN endeavours to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of academics, including those of any age, gender, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability and ethnicity. Core to the values of the PSN, therefore, is the creation of an environment where anyone, from any background, can feel safe in presenting, discussing and disseminating their research in the areas of punk and post-punk.