MayDay Rooms is pleased to launch its new Anarcho-Punk archive — a growing collection tracing how anarcho-punk helped reignite anarchism in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s.

At a moment when anarchism appeared politically marginal and disconnected from everyday life, anarcho-punk transformed it into a lived, participatory culture rooted in DIY organisation, direct action and collective experimentation. Through gigs, zines, benefit shows, squats, tape trading and self-organised networks, a generation of young people translated anarchist ideas into something tangible, immediate and accessible — building radical infrastructures that extended far beyond music itself.

Drawing on flyers, posters, correspondence, recordings, zines and ephemera, the archive explores how bands and activists created new forms of political participation outside traditional institutions, mobilising around anti-fascism, animal liberation, anti-war organising, squatting and mutual aid. Music became a conduit for political action — reconnecting culture, friendship and everyday survival to collective struggle.

To mark the launch, researcher Seth Wheeler will be joined by Dunstan Bruce of Chumbawamba for a conversation exploring punk’s impact on anarchist organising and radical politics during this period. The evening will also include archival material on display alongside a listening session of anarcho-punk recordings, examining how these songs articulated political ideas, built networks of solidarity and helped mobilise political support for a range of social movements.

Further reading: https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/collateral-damage/against-the-grain-archiving-anarcho-punk