RAR was an organization that was initially formed in response to a drunken outburst by Eric Clapton at a Birmingham concert in 1976, but which quickly developed into a dynamic movement that sought, with debatable success, to combat racism within British society at large. A factor that is often uncritically referred to is the obvious relationship between punk rock or “new wave” and Rock Against Racism (RAR). Both characterize punk as a movement with distinctly anti-authoritarian and cosmopolitan leanings, almost to the point of naiveté. This has perhaps been emphasized in the public consciousness, particularly in light of recent retrospectives such as the 2007 film Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, or the 2005 documentary Punk: Attitude. It has often been accepted that the political orientation of the movement and its outcomes are decidedly located on the left wing, including, in particular, a strong anti-racist agenda. The punk-rock movement or youth subculture of late seventies Britain was and is, even today, the cause of much controversy.
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