Abstract

This thesis investigates how and why members of the Hiphop and Punk scenes were using the spatial terrain of New York City as a site of cultural struggle and survival between 1979 and 1985. It engages discourses on race and class with respect to the dominant culture with which Hiphop and Punk would find themselves in constant tension. This examination of the Hiphop and Punk scenes uses concepts from cultural studies in space, 'logics of change' and disciplined mobilization. Further, it highlights the crossovers that occurred between musicians and artists in the Hiphop and Punk scenes, often addressed separately in previous literature, with a particular interest in the unique and groundbreaking film Wild Style (1982).