(Almost) Four Decades of Punk in Portugal: A Culture Still Young?

It's been nearly four decades since the emergence of the first punk movement - in the UK and USA – and, since then, the ‘movement’ has deeply changed at different levels. One key aspect of this transformation of the punk has to do with how it has been globalized and differently appropriated by urban youths from different parts of the world. What were, at the beginning, the key milestones and who were the original Portuguese punk players? How the punk movement allows us to read and understand the evolution and transformation of Portuguese society over the past four decades, in their aspirations, expectations and weaknesses? Why punk still is, until nowadays, a relevant reference point for some Portuguese youths, persisting as a relevant and dynamic urban culture? And, on the other hand, how is it possible to get older in the 'scene' and still claim to be punk? Here, will be deeply analyzed a wide range of interviews conducted with dozens of participants in the Portuguese punk scene, from different generations. This approach focuses on a social theory argument – one that has been delayed, although is a rather relevant one - around the following question: the subculture concept is still heuristic regarding the understanding and explanation of the youth resistance ritual practices or, in the other hand, we are standing before a context of explaining opportunity of the post-subcultural theories as we emerge in a context of change, transience, neo-tribalism, bands and scenes? In times of growing economical and social easing, we discuss here the complex processes of youth identity construction around the punk, that global mediascape. This multifaceted landscape of the musical youth cultures, made of multiple expressions and references, finds meaning in an also plural ontological landscape.