Resisting and Refusing is the Key to Emancipation: Notes on Activism against Mistreatment and for Animal Liberation in the Hardcore-Punk Counterculture (1986-1998)

Abstract

In this article we are interested in delving into the links between the Hardcore-Punk counterculture and activism against mistreatment and for animal liberation. We propose to make visible and analyse different actions that took place between the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, from marches against McDonald's, notes against animal suffering and the spread of vegetarianism to the actions of affinity groups and collectives such as the Straight Edge Libertarian Cooperative. We argue that animal liberation activism was not a secondary issue for those who felt challenged by the Hardcore-Punk counterculture, but was part of the struggles against the system. From the analysis of fanzines, flyers and interviews we are interested in emphasising the networks and intertextualities deployed through time and space.