Urban rock music is a genre that has long been associated with rebellion, anarchist politics, and marginalized urban youth. While London, Los Angeles, and New York are all cities that may come to mind as centers of punk countercultures, this genre also traveled south to cities like Medellin, Lima, and Santiago. In the first session, Shane Greene (Indiana University) will discuss the role of punk scenes in Lima during the armed conflict of the 1980’s; Hyejin Nah (NYU) will discuss urban Mapuche punks, or “Mapunkys,” in Chile; Joshua Tucker (Brown) will talk about the back-and-forth interaction between traditional Andean music (including huayno and related indigenous styles) and the “tropical” and pop styles through which contemporary artists refract from those genres; and Karl Swinehart will discuss will discuss Bolivian hip hop. For the second session, there will be a showing of Victor Gaviria’s 1990 docudrama of the punk scene in 1980s Medellin, Colombia, Rodrigo D No Futuro, followed by an informal discussion. See details about the second session here. 

Free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the International House Global Voices Lecture Series and the University of Chicago Center for Latin American Studies.