“No God,no master,no SACEM.” What are the French punks doing with DIY?

Abstract

This article critically examines the scientific use of do it yourself (DIY) within the French punk scene, based on field observations of a specific sub-segment known as the “DIY scene.” It highlights a tendency in academia to replicate the punks' authenticity discourse and to essentialize their DIY practices as inherently political. Drawing from the sociology of artistic work and the history of punk in France, the article views these discourses as conditions to achieve a historically situated autonomy within the cultural field. In response to material constraints, punks collectively engage in an ambiguous process of distancing themselves from their roles as musicians in the name of DIY. DIY thus acts as a regulatory mechanism for punk behaviors and as a mean of valuing cultural products created within the scene.