Punk Rock, Thatcher, and the Elsewhere of Northern Ireland: Rethinking the Politics of Popular Music

Abstract

This essay focuses on the political efficacy of popular music to critique dominant ideologies concerning nationhood and personal identity. During Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as prime minister of Britain, punk rock and post-punk music flourished as a mode of expression to challenge the ways in which Thatcher’s conservative agenda affected British social life. This study examines the theoretical possibility that punk rock can serve as a mode of critique and addresses how punk rock music in Northern Ireland attempted to disrupt the Thatcherite position on the conflict in Northern Ireland (also known as The Troubles).