Sweden II

Interview with Gabriel Cárdenas

Gabriel Cárdenas is the initiator of the Stockholm Vegan Straight Edge Crew, representing a new generation of Swedish straight edge activists. (Image 10.1)

Image 10.1: Stockholm Vegan Straight Edge Crew, May 1 Demonstration, 2009 “Don’t drink away the class struggle: drug-free organizing!” mang (mang.se)

When did the Stockholm Vegan Straight Edge Crew form?

We got together a couple of years ago. But it’s mainly a name for individuals who share similar ideas. We’re not that active as a group.

It still seems to be an indication that the straight edge movement is alive in Sweden...

Yes, definitely. I guess it’s not as big as it was in the 1990s, when I was too young to be a part of the scene. But there were still straight edge bands when I started going to hardcore shows in 2004, and I think it’s gotten stronger again in recent years.

So when we talk of the Swedish straight edge movement today, does this automatically mean vegan straight edge, or are not all of the straight edge kids vegan?

In Stockholm most kids are vegan, or at least vegetarian. But that might be different in smaller towns.

In the 1990s, the Swedish straight edge scene was pretty much centered in the north of the country. Is this still the case?

No, I think it has diversified. There is probably a stronger legacy of the 1990s scene in the north. For example, it seems pretty accepted within the left not to drink there—or there might even be a majority of left-wing folks who don’t drink. It’s not the same in Stockholm. When the Stockholm Vegan Straight Edge Crew announced its plans to bring its own banner to this year’s syndicalist May 1 demonstration, there was quite some resistance from other leftist activists. This might not happen in a place like Umeå.

However, as far as self-identified straight edgers go today, it’s not that much centered in the north anymore, it’s pretty spread out. There are bands and crews active in various places: from Lund, which is in the very south, to Gothenburg, Jonköping, Linköping, Stockholm—and of course you still got straight edge bands in Umeå too, like Forever Young.

Do most people in the straight edge scene see themselves on the left politically?

At least for Stockholm I’d say that’s definitely true. Despite the resistance I mentioned, we did have our own little bloc at this year’s syndicalist May 1 demonstration. So in Stockholm the connections between straight edge and leftist politics are really strong. Me personally, I’ve grown up with leftist politics. My father, Gabriel Cárdenas Schulte, was a high-ranking activist in Peru’s Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement—he’s serving a life sentence for his involvement in revolutionary politics. Not everyone has that kind of a personal connection, but all the straight edge activists I’m in touch with here in Stockholm identify as leftists. I think that’s pretty much true for the rest of the country too, but I can’t say for sure ‘cause I don’t know the other scenes that well.