What were the conditions of possibility for art and music-making before the era of neoliberal capitalism? What role did punk play in turning artists to experiment with popular music in the late 1970s and early 1980s? And why does the art and music of these times seem so newly pertinent to our political present, despite the seeming remoteness of its historical moment? Focusing upon the production of post-punk art, film, music, and publishing, this book offers new perspectives onan overlooked period of cultural activity, and probes the lessons that might be learnt from history for artists and musicians working under 21st century conditions of austerity.

Contemporary reflections by those who shaped avant-garde and contestatory culture in the UK, US, Brazil and Poland in the 1970s and 1980s. Alongside these are contributions bycontemporary artists, curators and scholars that provide critical perspectives on post-punk then, and its generative relation to the aesthetics and politics of cultural production today.

Why does post-punk and its related aesthetics seem sorelevant today? Does it have a contemporary equivalent and what lessons are there for artists and musicians working under austerity today?

Contributors include: Gavin Butt, Sue Clayton, Kodwo Eshun, Mark Fisher, Green Gartside, Dominic Johnson, Lydia Lunch, Eliete Mejorado, Laura Oldfield-Ford, Agata Pyzik, Tom Vague, Gee Vaucher, Bruno Verner, and Michal Wolinski.