Punks, Monks and Politics

Julian CH Lee is Senior Lecturer in Global Studies at RMIT and a member of the Centre for Global Research. He is the author of Second Thoughts: On Malaysia, Globalisation, Society and Self, and the editor of Narratives of Globalization: Reflections on the Global Human Condition. Marco Ferrarese is an independent researcher and freelance writer. He is author of Nazi Goreng, and Banana Punk Rawk Trails: A Euro-Fool's Metal Punk Journeys in Malaysia, Borneo and Indonesia, and has reported from all over Asia for a number of international publications including BBC, CNN and National Geographic Traveller.

• Introduction, Julian CH Lee and Marco Ferrarese / Section 1: Malaysia / 1. Heavy Metal Nothingness: Alluring Foreignness and Authenticity Construction in Early 2010s Malaysian Metal, Marco Ferrarese / 2. Religiosity as a ‘Currency’ of Authenticity: Islam and Group Identity Formation in Malaysia, Frederik Holst / 3. Close Encounters of the Authentic Kind: Exploring Love, Sex and Intimacy among Gay-Identifying Malaysian Men, Joseph N. Goh / 4. Ini Bukan Budaya Kita: This is not our Culture, Julian CH Lee / 5. A Postscript – Ini Budaya Kita: This is our Culture, Nikkola Mikocki-Bleeker, Julian CH Lee and Ceridwen Spark / Section 2: Indonesia / 6. Emplacing Punk: Subcultural Boundary Work and Space in Indonesia, Erik Hannerz / 7. ‘Punk Sejati’: The Production of ‘Do It Yourself’ Authenticity in the Indonesian Hardcore Punk Scene, Sean Martin-Iverson / 8. Authenticity and the Textiles of Sikka: An Essay on the Apposition of Values, E Douglas Lewis / 9. Culture as Art: From Practice to Spectacle in Indonesia, Greg

Punks, Monks and Politics takes you on an excellent and timely exploration of contemporary struggles for and with authenticity in Southeast Asia. Despite discussions over many years about authenticity in the region, the debate on how to define authenticity in a global context is still underdeveloped. This volume advances the debate significantly, by revealing how the dynamics and politics of authenticity arises at the seams between performative insider vs. consumptive outsider positions, and between some people’s desire to remain connected with the past and other’s desire to produce culture that is true to their self-experience in the globalised now. The book also shows how, despite of all this diversity and contestation, authenticity remains central as a social currency and a fundamental value.