"Retirement Plans": Aging Anarchists and Folk Punk Scene Participation

Abstract

Folk punk emerged in the early 2000s as a blend of anarcho-punk and U.S. folk revivalism. Many of the genre’s original adherents are now in their thirties and forties. As they establish families, homes, and careers, these self-identified “aging” folk punks form new ideas about the sustainability of anarchist practices originally associated with scene membership, particularly that of dropping out of capitalist society to engage in train-hopping and drug use. Rather than distancing themselves from new members, many remain active in local, translocal, and virtual folk punk scenes as musicians, organizers, forum contributors and more, negotiating alternatives to the destructive lifestyle associated with the genre. Through their continued participation, aging folk punks (re)shape what it means to identify as folk punk and anarchist not only on an individual level, but for the next generation of musicians, listeners, and activists as well.