Conference Presentations by Sean Martin-Iverson
Keynote paper presented to the Shifting Undergrounds in East and Southeast Asia Conference, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 2018
The notion of 'the underground' is a slippery one, contested and shifting in its definitions and ... more The notion of 'the underground' is a slippery one, contested and shifting in its definitions and relationship to 'the mainstream'. Yet, as indicated by the vibrant punk scenes that continue to creatively reshape urban life across Southeast Asia cities, undergrounds remain a significant cultural and political force. Drawing on my own research into hardcore punk in Bandung, Indonesia, while reflecting on the role of punk and other underground scenes across the region, I argue for the continued salience of 'the underground' for understanding the politics of cultural production in urban Southeast Asia (and elsewhere). Beyond the relational identity politics of 'the underground' versus 'the mainstream', underground scenes are key sites for the production and transformation of social as well as aesthetic forms. Though not reducible to a one dimensional anti-authoritarian politics, undergrounds are inherently political, playing a role in reshaping social identities and relations, producing new aesthetic and social forms, and transforming and contesting urban space. The precarious autonomy of underground scenes expresses a creative social insurgency as well as familiar processes of repression, appropriation and accommodation. Underground scenes can be understood as spaces produced through and sites of struggles over value, in the context of wider processes of urbanization, class recomposition, and generational change. I argue that this politics of value approach helps us to understand the significance of 'the underground' as a radical social imaginary as well as the role of specific underground scenes in the transformation of creative work, urban space, cultural identities and political movements in the region.
Paper presented to the first Keep it Simple, Make it Fast! International Conference; edited version published in DIY Cultures and Underground Music Scenes (A. Bennett and P. Guerra eds. 2019), 2014
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with the Kolektif Balai Kota, a DIY hardcore organising collect... more Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with the Kolektif Balai Kota, a DIY hardcore organising collective in Bandung, West Java, this paper explores the value politics of DIY production, both in the specific context of Indonesian hardcore punk and as a more general strategy for creative autonomy and social transformation. These DIY activists position DIY hardcore as a form of " positive punk " , putting into practice the values of community and autonomy which constitute the DIY ethic. Through their non-profit hardcore performances and other practices of DIY production and exchange, they are attempting to sustain an autonomous community outside of capitalist circuits of value. However, while they have been quite successful in establishing a cultural commons of shared value and evading many forms of alienated labour, the autonomy of the DIY hardcore community remains partial, precarious and contested. Furthermore, I argue that this form of " positive punk " remains within a dialectical value struggle connected to an anti-capitalist politics of antagonism and negation.
Draft paper from 'Encountering Urban Diversity In Asia: Class and Other Intersections' Workshop (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore), 2014
Since the 1990s, punk has become an increasingly visible part of urban youth culture in Indonesia... more Since the 1990s, punk has become an increasingly visible part of urban youth culture in Indonesia. Demonstrating that punk remains more than a mere fashion, Indonesian punks have engaged in diverse forms of contestation, accommodation, and at times open political conflict in order to carve out their own spaces in the urban terrain. They also make assertive claims to a global, modern working class identity, often connected to a combative anti-capitalist political stance as well as a cosmopolitan urbanism which transcends many of the social divides which structure Indonesian cities. The social composition of Indonesian punk is somewhat ambiguous – including urban poor, creative workers, student activists and assorted ‘middle class’ dropouts; however, I argue that the identification of punk as ‘working class’ expresses more than a symbolic political affiliation, and instead constitutes a precarious but potentially powerful class alliance grounded in the neoliberal transformation of urban capitalism in Indonesia. While this alliance incorporates diverse experiences and competing interests, it also serves as a critical response to the dislocating and disempowering experiences of capitalist development, with the potential to contribute to a wider recomposition of working class politics in Indonesia. While they may not be directly engaged in workplace struggles, I argue that Indonesian punk goes beyond subcultural identity politics to enact a form of urban working class politics, organised around autonomous cultural production and reclaiming the urban commons. Yet their spatial and cultural practices contribute to as well as contesting the neoliberalisation of Indonesian cities, demonstrating the weaknesses as well as the strengths of punk’s ‘anti-work’ politics as a form of working class struggle while reflecting the contradictory dynamics of the wider processes of class recomposition within which Indonesian punk is situated.
The Pasupati flyover (Pasteur-Surapati) connecting Bandung to Jakarta has become a new symbol for... more The Pasupati flyover (Pasteur-Surapati) connecting Bandung to Jakarta has become a new symbol for the city. Recent policy has made the space located under the bridge, transformed from ‘dead space’ into a socially-significant urban space for marginal people governed by many stakeholders and consequently a contestation of multiple and conflicting interests including the governmental and corporate interests. The community interests are only one amongst many who invested in this space. This paper draws on a participatory research method to explore the lived experiences and creative activities held under the bridge, with a particular focus on the urban activism of Komunitas Taman Kota (Urban Park Community) and their collaborative work with local communities. In this paper we argue that through reclaiming the ‘flyover’ under space, community activists are asserting rights of the local community and the wider interests of the people of Bandung, against domination of state or neoliberal privatization.
Kampung Dago Pojok is a local neighborhood within the Dago area of Bandung, an area wellknown for... more Kampung Dago Pojok is a local neighborhood within the Dago area of Bandung, an area wellknown for its cultural and artistic activities which have contributed significantly to the development of Bandung as a 'creative city' in the early 2000s. However, Kampung Dago Pojok has largely been excluded from this development and the wider creative atmosphere of the city. In response to this, the community art activist group Komunitas Taboo has collaborated with local kampung communities to adapt the 'creative city' concept to local conditions and forms of social organization, establishing it as a 'creative kampung'. This paper draws on a participatory research method to explore the lived experiences and creative practices of those who make use of the kampung, with a particular focus on the urban activism of Komunitas Taboo and their collaborative work with local communities. It describes how the 'creative kampung' is expressed and produced within the daily 'traditional activities' of Kampung Dago Pojok residents, as well as the community organizing work carried out through Komunitas Taboo. These activities draw on local knowledge and practices, and the kampung's social, economic and geographic position within the Dago area and the city of Bandung, to produce value for the community and to build a social movement for the 'creative kampung' as a localized counterpart to the 'creative city'.
Kampong Dago Pojok is a local neighborhood within the Dago area of Bandung, an area well-known fo... more Kampong Dago Pojok is a local neighborhood within the Dago area of Bandung, an area well-known for its cultural and
artistic activities which have contributed significantly to the development of Bandung as a ‘creative city’ in the early 2000s. However, Kampong Dago Pojok has largely been excluded from this development and the wider creative atmosphere of the city. In response to this, the community art activist group Komunitas Taboo has collaborated with local kampong communities to adapt the ‘creative city’ concept to local conditions and forms of social organization, establishing it as a ‘creative kampong’.
This paper draws on a participatory research method to explore the lived experiences and creative practices of those who make use of the kampong, with a particular focus on the urban activism of Komunitas Taboo and their collaborative work with local communities. It describes how the ‘creative kampong’ is expressed and produced within the daily ‘traditional activities’ of Kampong Dago Pojok residents, as well as the community organizing work carried out through Komunitas Taboo. These activities draw on local knowledge and practices, and the kampong’s social, economic and geographic position within the Dago area and the city of Bandung, to produce value for the community and to build a social movement for the ‘creative kampong’ as a localized counterpart to the ‘creative city’.
Their vision for this community work is to develop a more sustainable and equitable future for this neighborhood, establishing the creative kampong as a vital part of the ‘creative city’ while also posing an autonomous challenge to the dominant forms of neoliberal urban development associated with it. At the same time, the forms of urban activism and artistic production associated with the creative kampong are themselves open to being drawn into such forms of development, producing forms of creative labor and social capital that contribute to the commodification of the creative community. Through revealing such conflicts and contradictions in the creative kampong project, this case study points to new ways of thinking about processes of urban kampong development in relation to community activism, the creative industries, the informal economy, and localized social networks.
Music On the Edge – 2007 IASPM/ANZ Proceedings, 2008
This paper draws on my PhD research into the politics of cultural production in the underground m... more This paper draws on my PhD research into the politics of cultural production in the underground music scene in Bandung, Indonesia, where I carried out participant observation fieldwork in 2004 and 2005. I am focusing here on the activities of a small hardcore punk organising collective, the Kolektif Balai Kota, and their attempts to establish an autonomous community based on participatory 'Do-It-Yourself' (DIY) principles while also making their performances politically meaningful. Their musical performances express the tension between their goals of community-building and social critique, yet perhaps also point to some possible paths to resolution.
Sociology for a Mobile World: Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association, 2006
Straight edge' is a subcultural identity and lifestyle of strict abstinence associated with some ... more Straight edge' is a subcultural identity and lifestyle of strict abstinence associated with some styles of hardcore punk music; it is prominent in the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) hardcore scene in Bandung, Indonesia. In this paper, I use the Bandung straight edge discourses of 'revolusi diri' ('self-revolution') and 'personal choice' to critically examine some influential individualising trends in subcultural theory; specifically, Widdicombe and Wooffitt's (1995) model of the positional and discursive construction of subcultural authenticity and Muggleton's (2000) model of subcultural identities as fragmented, fluid and 'postmodern' style.
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Conference Presentations by Sean Martin-Iverson
artistic activities which have contributed significantly to the development of Bandung as a ‘creative city’ in the early 2000s. However, Kampong Dago Pojok has largely been excluded from this development and the wider creative atmosphere of the city. In response to this, the community art activist group Komunitas Taboo has collaborated with local kampong communities to adapt the ‘creative city’ concept to local conditions and forms of social organization, establishing it as a ‘creative kampong’.
This paper draws on a participatory research method to explore the lived experiences and creative practices of those who make use of the kampong, with a particular focus on the urban activism of Komunitas Taboo and their collaborative work with local communities. It describes how the ‘creative kampong’ is expressed and produced within the daily ‘traditional activities’ of Kampong Dago Pojok residents, as well as the community organizing work carried out through Komunitas Taboo. These activities draw on local knowledge and practices, and the kampong’s social, economic and geographic position within the Dago area and the city of Bandung, to produce value for the community and to build a social movement for the ‘creative kampong’ as a localized counterpart to the ‘creative city’.
Their vision for this community work is to develop a more sustainable and equitable future for this neighborhood, establishing the creative kampong as a vital part of the ‘creative city’ while also posing an autonomous challenge to the dominant forms of neoliberal urban development associated with it. At the same time, the forms of urban activism and artistic production associated with the creative kampong are themselves open to being drawn into such forms of development, producing forms of creative labor and social capital that contribute to the commodification of the creative community. Through revealing such conflicts and contradictions in the creative kampong project, this case study points to new ways of thinking about processes of urban kampong development in relation to community activism, the creative industries, the informal economy, and localized social networks.