“This machine kills fascists”: music, joy, resistance

ABSTRACT

Within this article we move amongst the varied relationships between music, feeling, and politics. We begin by exploring differences and interrelations between affect and emotion to forward a conception of joy as the intensification of life capacities. We then locate joy in music and draw from various musical artists, poets, and activists to advance a modest programme of joy as a form of micropolitics. Ultimately, the focus of this article is an affective reimagining of leisure with a Deleuzian brush through the political potential of punk. We call for the expansion of life capacities, for the revivification of the soul, for music as joy as an act of resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Music
• punk
• leisure
• affect
• joy
• resistance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. It must be acknowledged that conflicts exist, are sustained, and in some instances are intensifying globally, driven by a lust for power and control, as well as authoritarian actions and fascists tendencies (e.g. Nicaragua, Brazil, China, Tunisia, Mali, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Sudan, and Cuba). In some cases, religion is a point of leverage to further the oppression. Regardless, it is as if the entire world is ablaze. Even supposed bastions of freedom and liberal democracy (e.g. the United States, the United Kingdom, France) are not immune from such dire conditions and attacks against liberty and justice.

2. Several letters exchanged between Tolokonnikova and Žižek were translated and organised by Philosphie magazine and New Times. The version accessed for this article was sourced from The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/15/pussy-riot-nadezhda-tolokonnikova-slavoj-zizek.

3. John Jay Chapman was an American political critic and essayist. His work, Practical Agitation (1900), is instructive for political actions designed to counter dominant oppressive structures, paradigms, and systems. For further reading, see John Jay Chapman: An American Mind (Hovey, 1959); see also Causes and Consequences (Chapman, 1898/2019).

4. This quote was taken from a collection of responses the artist provided to questions posed by fan that was published online by The Guardian in 2018: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/live/2018/jan/18/toyah-willcox-webchat-derek-jarman-jubilee.

5. While punk certainly has a problematic history with certain fascist elements, our focus here is on the generative, affirmative, and resistive dimensions of punk as a movement of empowerment that celebrates diversity.

6. It is worth noting the gallery website has come under attack by pro-Putin hackers since the exhibit was installed. The gallery website may be viewed at http://this.is/klingogbang/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian E. Kumm

Dr. Brian E. Kumm is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation Management and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. His scholarship concerns questions related to affect theory, culture, and the arts.

Joseph A. Pate

Dr. Joseph A. Pate is an associate professor of Outdoor Leadership and the Chair of the Department of Outdoor, Sport, and Recreation Studies at Young Harris College. His scholarship involves exploring aesthetic experiences in the arts and outdoors to better understand the human condition.