Although ethnographies dealing with anti-capitalist activism, veganism or the
punk scene are far from uncommon, until recently the temptation has been to view
these groups as separate and distinct, rather than diffuse and overlapping. Using
data gathered during interviews and participant observation in some parts of urban
New Zealand, this study offers a sketch of the boundaries of the Community
embodied by that overlap. Participants' own definitions for key terms such as
anarchism, punk and capitalism/consumerism are presented and scrutinised in
order to provide a starting point for this analysis. A lineage of thought is
juxtaposed with each of these terms, with the intention of contesting some of the
popular stereotypes surrounding them. The Community's own sense of difference
is then explored through the responses of participants, which are analysed and
some commonalities suggested. The most critical of these is the perception
amongst participants of a greater engagement with their choices than they
generally considered to be the case within the mainstream. Finally, some internal
divisions within the Community are noted and a model for the radicalisation and
mediation of dissent is suggested to explain this
