Date of Graduation

5-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

History

Advisor/Mentor

Cleveland, Todd

Committee Member

Pierce, Michael

Second Committee Member

Banton, Caree

Third Committee Member

Bentley, Christa

Keywords

Global South; Intersectionality; Music; Punk; South Africa; Subcultures

Abstract

The 1970s in South Africa were plagued by systematic racial segregation, widespread political violence, and fervent censorship under the apartheid regime. Political tensions were rising precipitously in the final years of the decade, stoked by the brutal police response to the Soweto Uprising (1976) and the murder of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko (1977). It was amidst this atmosphere of profound oppression and increasing political unrest that punk made its South African debut. Apartheid South Africa served as a fertile breeding ground for punk’s inherent culture of defiance and anti-authoritarianism. Remarkably, punk has demonstrated the power to transcend sociodemographic boundaries such as race, class, language, and gender, even in the context of apartheid. This phenomenon is exemplified by bands such as National Wake, the country’s first multiracial punk band, Leopard, an all-female punk band to emerge in Durban in the late 1970s, and the Voëlvry tour in which young Afrikaners appropriated their mother tongue in a defiant act against the apartheid regime in its final years. This study examines the evolution of South African punk over the past five decades, considering how the subculture has shaped and been shaped by shifting political, social, and sonic landscapes during the apartheid years and in the decades following democratization. Through an analysis of DIY culture, fanzines, and independent record labels, this study highlights how grassroots networks fostered political solidarity and cultural identity. By considering South African punk through an intersectional framework, this work examines how overlapping identity factors have influenced individual experiences within the punk subculture to emphasize racial, ethnic, linguistic, and gendered diversity in the history of South African punk. In so doing, this work builds off of previous studies on South African punk that have focused predominantly on White male participants, specific locations, or narrow timeframes in an effort to provide a more nuanced understanding of the history of South African punk. This study is part of a growing body of research on punk in the Global South, which has long been eclipsed by scholarly examinations of punk in Europe and the United States. By drawing from a range of archival sources and newly conducted oral histories, this project will contribute to future research on punk and other subcultures in previously underexamined locales.

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