A-Infos (en) Canada, Common Cause Linchpin, March April 2013 - Rebel Fest 3: Building a Culture of Anarchism within Punk Rock by REBEL TIME RECORDS, Kitchener

Taking place April 26-27th at This Ain’t Hollywood in Hamilton, Rebel Time Records proudly 
presents Rebel Fest 3. With performers including Spanner, Hold A Grudge, The Fallout, 
Mayday, Action Sédition, The Class Assassins, plus tons more, Rebel Fest 3 will showcase 
some of the best political punk in Ontario and Quebec. Many of the band’s members are 
actively engaged in anarchist organizing, and provide a great example of the vibrant 
intersection of anarchism and punk rock. ---- A project of Rebel Time Records, Rebel Fest 
aims to highlight pressing issues within the music scene and society at large, and to 
celebrate a growing culture of resistance in Ontario. We know what you’re thinking, not 
another article about a subculture, let alone punk rock! We can already imagine eyes 
rolling, and the term “lifestylist” quickly coming to mind.

There are good reasons for such a reaction, and in
many ways it is a welcoming sign – it demonstrates
that some in the anarchist movement have realized
the limitations of solely fighting for social change
within the confines of a radical subculture. That is,
they have realized that the form their political action
takes, as well as its location, is of crucial significance.
Within the punk scene, this means realizing that punk
subcultures often create an exclusionary environment
that can be quite alienating for some people. The punk
scene shares similar demographics to the anarchist
milieu in North America – mostly white, male,
suburban, and middle class. Even in instances where
someone is coming from a working class background,
they still are able to blend in, and benefit from the
current makeup of the punk scene by default of their
white skin privilege. The overall race and class make-
up of the punk scene is admittedly limited.

In addition to issues regarding race and class,
patriarchy is another ongoing issue within the punk
scene. Harmful language and sexist behaviour is
commonplace – from machismo in the dance pit, to
the fact that it is quite common to see a show with 4-5
bands consisting of all males, to the dominance of men
in positions of power, there are countless examples. It
is important here to acknowledge that any movement
against capitalism must incorporate an analysis of the
lived realities of white supremacy and patriarchy, and
work to build a collective response capable of tackling
these issues. Whether in the punk scene, or outside of
it, this means working in collectives and organizations
that use directly democratic and/or consensus-based
models to organize around these issues.

Rebel Fest celebrates the expression of working
class people using music as a medium to voice ideas of
social change, and part of this means facing the issues
mentioned so far. We’ve outlined the clear limitations
of punk rock and politics, and part of the work of Rebel
Time Records is to continually work on addressing
these issues. And while the limitations are substantial,
we also identify with many experiences of subcultural
punk spaces, and see the important role they play in
attracting youth to radical politics. We also love the
music, and have a deep appreciation for its history.

Whatever subculture we may find ourselves in, we
need to fight off apathy and apolitical attitudes, while
also stressing community organizing and working for
social change. As the saying goes, “punk can’t change
the world, but punks can!”

For more information: www.rebeltimerecords.com

--------------------------------------------

COMMON CAUSE // anarchist organization

COMMON CAUSE is an Ontario-wide
anarchist organization with branches active
in Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo,
and London. We publish Linchpin monthly,
along with additional content online. To
find out more about our work get in touch
with a local branch in your area:

Toronto
commoncausetoronto@gmail.com

Kitchener-Waterloo
commoncausekw@gmail.com

Hamilton
commoncausehamilton@gmail.com

London
commoncauselondon@gmail.com
Struggle Changes Everything
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