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Start your own revolution: agency and action of the Riot Grrrl network

Caroline K. Kaltefleiter (Department of Communication Studies, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, New York, USA)

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

ISSN: 0144-333X

Article publication date: 10 October 2016

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Riot Grrrl activist network in the USA and highlight historical anarchist actions of the Washington, DC chapter by examining the nexus of feminism and anarchism on a continuum of youth activism, and by paying attention to anti-war campaigns, food distribution programs, free clinics and girl culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper historically contextualizes Riot Grrrl within the Situationist International literature and cultural resistance as well as Donna Harraway’s work on cultural workers. Ethnographic work incorporates participant observation and semi-structured interviews as well as textual analysis of rare Riot Grrrl artifacts. Focus is given to the production of zines as mechanisms for communicating and deconstructing anarcho-grrrl culture.

Findings

This paper charts the influence of Riot Grrrl with particular attention to anti-war demonstrations to contemporary activist projects that illustrate tenants of anarchism such as non-hierarchical leadership, direction action, cooperation, mutual aid and volunteerism.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on the Riot Grrrl network in the USA, with a focus on the Washington, DC chapter. Subsequent Riot Grrrl chapters emerged around the world and future research might attend to regional impact these groups made in their communities.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper resides not only in its ethnographic approach to the essence of being a Riot Grrrl, but also includes the author’s own reflections of involvement in this girl-centered activist collective. Further, the author acknowledges Los Angeles performance artist Exene Cervanka, whose anti-war writing and activist work was influential to the Riot Grrrl movement. This essay examines actions to (re)organize, and to disrupt preferred meanings and interpretations of organization and protest so as to mobilize knowledge and to affect authentic social change. This paper commemorates the 25th anniversary of Riot Grrrl and the Mount Pleasant Riots.

Keywords

Citation

Kaltefleiter, C.K. (2016), "Start your own revolution: agency and action of the Riot Grrrl network", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 36 No. 11/12, pp. 808-823. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2016-0067

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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