Punks and Skins United : Identity, Class and the Economics of an Eastern German Subculture

Germany has one of the liveliest and well-developed punk scenes in the world.

However, punk in this country is not just a style-based music community.

This book provides an anthropological examination of how punk reflects the larger changes and contradictions in post-reunification Germany, such as social segmentation, east-west tensions and local politics.

Punk in eastern Germany is a reaction to the marginalization of the working class.

As a cultural, social and economic niche, punks create their own controversial “substitute society” to compensate for their low status in mainstream society.