Hardline (subculture)

Hardline is a subculture that has its roots in the vegan straight edge hardcore punk scene.^[1] It is commonly seen as a more extreme version of straight edge, with influences from deep ecology philosophy. From its outset, hardline adherents put out statements and literature pushing a biocentric view of the world, which advocated for veganism, animal rights, pro-life, anti-homosexuality, and a much more militant version of the straight edge philosophy, which advocates for a no alcohol, no drugs, no tobacco lifestyle.^[2]^[3] The hardline worldview has been accused by critics as ecoauthoritarian.^[4]^[5] Hardline co-founder Sean Muttaqi adamantly rejected racism and fascism.^[6]

A handful of hardline bands existed, the most well known of which were Vegan Reich^[7] and Raid.^[8] Earth Crisis was loosely aligned with the subculture, but were not necessarily classified as a hardline band.^[9]^[10]

The heyday of hardline was in the early to mid-1990s when hardline chapters existed in a number of cities across the United States as well in the United Kingdom and Germany. However, by end of the 1990s, the subculture had mostly faded out of existence.^[4]

^ XVX, Mittens (January 9, 2017). "Statement: From Anarcho-Punk to The Birth of Vegan Straight Edge". DIY Conspiracy.
^ Loadenthal, Michael (2022). "Feral fascists and deep green guerrillas: infrastructural attack and accelerationist terror". Critical Studies on Terrorism. 15 (1): 169–208. doi:10.1080/17539153.2022.2031129. S2CID 247161917. Retrieved April 26, 2022. Hardline politics borrow from deep ecology, biocentrist, vegan, Straight Edge, punk, and other movements and represents the pinnacle of performative moral purity and the avoidance of vice (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, abortion, casual sex, eating meat/dairy). It can be found most frequently in the 1990s hardcore punk scene, and bands such as Vegan Reich, Green Rage, Raid, Recoil, Pure Blood, and Uprisin
^ Staudenmaier, Peter (January 2005). "Ambiguities of Animal Rights". Institute for Social Ecology. Retrieved April 26, 2022. The "Hardline" faction grew out of the Straight Edge movement in punk culture, and combines uncompromising veganism with purportedly "pro-life" politics. Hardliners believe in self-purification from various forms of 'pollution': animal products, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and "deviant" sexual behavior, including abortion, homosexuality, and indeed any sex for pleasure rather than procreation. Their version of animal liberation professes absolute authority based on the "laws of nature".
^ ^a ^b Hughes, Brian (2018). "Reich vs. Reich: Libidinal Economy and the Hardline Subculture". Parasol: Journal of the Centre for Experimental Ontology: 76–117. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
^ Smith, Gabriel (2011). "White Mutants of Straight Edge: The Avant-Garde of Abstinence". The Journal of Popular Culture. 44 (3): 633–646. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00852.x.
^ Eeyore, Phoenix X (2022). "Total Revolution?: An Outsider History of Hardline". p. 78 and 83: Warcry Communications. Retrieved June 30, 2022. The first step would have to be a dictatorship by vegans who would help speed up the natural evolution process by re-educating those who can be, and weeding out those beyond help (1989). [and] Anyone who's followed Vegan Reich should know that we've always supported the Black Liberation Struggle and have always fought fascism in all of its forms (2020).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Cite error: The named reference vr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference raid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "The rise of vegan straight edge & Earth Crisis". ThePunkRockMBA. April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
^ Parkes, Alan (June 2014). "This Small World: The Legacy and Impact of New York City Hardcore Punk and Straight Edge in the 1980s". Forum Journal of History. 6 (1). doi:10.15368/forum.2014v6n1.9. Retrieved April 26, 2022. Buechner formed his band, Earth Crisis, in 1989 with both straight edge and veganism as primary focuses for lyrical content, endorsing direct action from such groups as the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. The ideas expressed by bands such as Earth Crisis would ultimately form a distinct social circle in hardcore known for militancy: hardline. Hardline and its strict vegan message developed a national following in the mid-1990s.

[1] XVX, Mittens (January 9, 2017). "Statement: From Anarcho-Punk to The Birth of Vegan Straight Edge". DIY Conspiracy.

[2] Loadenthal, Michael (2022). "Feral fascists and deep green guerrillas: infrastructural attack and accelerationist terror". Critical Studies on Terrorism. 15 (1): 169–208. doi:10.1080/17539153.2022.2031129. S2CID 247161917. Retrieved April 26, 2022. Hardline politics borrow from deep ecology, biocentrist, vegan, Straight Edge, punk, and other movements and represents the pinnacle of performative moral purity and the avoidance of vice (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, abortion, casual sex, eating meat/dairy). It can be found most frequently in the 1990s hardcore punk scene, and bands such as Vegan Reich, Green Rage, Raid, Recoil, Pure Blood, and Uprisin

[Staudenmaier-3] Staudenmaier, Peter (January 2005). "Ambiguities of Animal Rights". Institute for Social Ecology. Retrieved April 26, 2022. The "Hardline" faction grew out of the Straight Edge movement in punk culture, and combines uncompromising veganism with purportedly "pro-life" politics. Hardliners believe in self-purification from various forms of 'pollution': animal products, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and "deviant" sexual behavior, including abortion, homosexuality, and indeed any sex for pleasure rather than procreation. Their version of animal liberation professes absolute authority based on the "laws of nature".

[Reich_vs_Reich-4] Hughes, Brian (2018). "Reich vs. Reich: Libidinal Economy and the Hardline Subculture". Parasol: Journal of the Centre for Experimental Ontology: 76–117. Retrieved April 26, 2022.

[White_Mutants-5] Smith, Gabriel (2011). "White Mutants of Straight Edge: The Avant-Garde of Abstinence". The Journal of Popular Culture. 44 (3): 633–646. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00852.x.

[Eeyore-6] Eeyore, Phoenix X (2022). "Total Revolution?: An Outsider History of Hardline". p. 78 and 83: Warcry Communications. Retrieved June 30, 2022. The first step would have to be a dictatorship by vegans who would help speed up the natural evolution process by re-educating those who can be, and weeding out those beyond help (1989). [and] Anyone who's followed Vegan Reich should know that we've always supported the Black Liberation Struggle and have always fought fascism in all of its forms (2020).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[vr-7] Cite error: The named reference vr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[raid-8] Cite error: The named reference raid was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[The_rise_of_vegan_straight_edge_&_Earth_Crisis-9] "The rise of vegan straight edge & Earth Crisis". ThePunkRockMBA. April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2022.

[Parkes_2014-10] Parkes, Alan (June 2014). "This Small World: The Legacy and Impact of New York City Hardcore Punk and Straight Edge in the 1980s". Forum Journal of History. 6 (1). doi:10.15368/forum.2014v6n1.9. Retrieved April 26, 2022. Buechner formed his band, Earth Crisis, in 1989 with both straight edge and veganism as primary focuses for lyrical content, endorsing direct action from such groups as the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. The ideas expressed by bands such as Earth Crisis would ultimately form a distinct social circle in hardcore known for militancy: hardline. Hardline and its strict vegan message developed a national following in the mid-1990s.

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