IHR Derek Keene London Lecture 2025 | “I think punk is an overused word, as a matter of fact”: London, England, 1975–76
- Event type
- Lecture
- Address
- IHR Wolfson Room NB01, Basement, IHR, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
- Speakers
- Matthew Worley (University of Reading)
- Event dates
- Contact
- ihr.events@sas.ac.uk Email only
This lecture looks back to the formation of British punk, before the term transformed into cliché and became a touchstone for anything mildly rebellious or outré. Using rare and archive sources, it traces some of the influences – cultural and political – that coalesced to inform the shop SEX owned by Malcolm McLaren and Vivien Westwood, the band the Sex Pistols, and the milieu who gathered in-and-around both. The objective is to recover the initial provocations of what became British punk and to locate these within the context of London in the mid-1970s.
Matthew Worley is professor of modern history at the University of Reading. He has written widely on aspects British politics and youth culture, including articles on new romantics (Journal of British History), skinheads (Twentieth Century British History) and punk's de Sadean impulses (Contemporary British History). As part of the Subcultures Network, he has been involved with edited collections on punk, fanzines, pop music and sex. His latest monographs are No Future: Punk, Politics and Youth Culture in Britain, 1976-84 (2017), Zerox Machine: Punk and Post-Punk Fanzines, 1976-88 (2024), and the co-authored Our Subversive Voice: The History and Politics of English Protest Songs, 1600-2020 (2025).
The lecture series commemorates the work of Prof. Derek Keene (1942-2021), a leading scholar of London and comparative urban history, and founding director of the Institute of Historical Research’s Centre for Metropolitan History. Co-founded by the Institute and the Museum of London in 1988, the Centre carried out numerous research projects in the history of London and other cities, as well as pioneering work in environmental history and digital humanities. The Centre’s work is now continued by the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community.
The lecture sits alongside the IHR London Summer School: Rebels, running from 14 - 18 July 2025. The IHR London Summer School offers a unique opportunity to explore London’s stories and historic places from our home here at Senate House in the heart of Bloomsbury. Guest lectures from world-renowned experts and interactive workshops will focus on topics from London’s earliest history to the present day – as well as visions and policy debates around its future.
Site-specific work will take us out to archives and museums, as well as offering special access to some of London’s most fascinating historic sites. Students will have access to the remarkable London collections in the IHR’s Wohl Library, including maps, rare books and a range of important primary and secondary sources. Alongside programmed content, IHR academic and library staff will be available informally for consultation and bespoke support.
From medieval uprisings to religious dissent and political subversion, from radicals and visionaries to punk, placards and protests… Discover London’s rebellious histories through lectures, workshops, trips and visits.
All welcome- This event is free to attend, but booking is required.
