Epilogue: Decolonising Disco—Counterculture, Postindustrial Creativity, the 1970s Dance Floor and Disco

This epilogue challenges a number of the political and cultural assumptions made about disco in New York City (NYC), laying the ground for future scholarship on the genre. It rethinks disco in relation to its mythological antagonists, punk and hip hop, noting points of intersection as well as distinction. Exploring the work of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri as well as David Harvey, it draws on the personal and philosophical journey of Sylvère Lotringer to argue for the progressive potential of DJ culture, disco and other breakthrough forms of postindustrial culture and practices, and against the idea that they paved the way for inevitable neoliberalism. Finally it calls for an expansion of the definition of disco that re-embraces the sound's diverse and international origins and acknowledges the colonial logic that led to become almost exclusively centred around North American and European studios and record labels.