From Zines to MySpace: A Case Study of Media Infrastructures and Counter-power in the Puerto Rican Underground Punk Scene

Resumen

I examine the role of different media technologies in the construction of a punk media infrastructure inPuerto Rico. While punk cultures have always relied on media self production for sustaining a space thatis explicitly against capitalist modes of production, the use of digital technologies such as Myspace haveenabled the creation of meaningful networks of cultural production, seemingly resulting in media“counter-power.” However, punks’ use of digital technologies foregrounds an inherent tension ofresisting within capitalism, as networks of information and exchange emerge, obey, and are sustained bya logic of globalized capital and its implications. I contend that this inherent tension must be theorized inorder to build upon a useful ontology of resistance in capitalism.

Keywords: Network society, punk, Myspace, DIY culture, social networks, new media, digitalproduction, counter-power

Submission date: 2012-01-30

Acceptance date: 2012-02-15