Rate My Professor Sean Martin-Iverson

Dr. Sean Martin-Iverson is a Lecturer in Asian Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Murdoch University. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology and Sociology from The University of Western Australia in 2012, based on ethnographic research into the politics of cultural production in the DIY hardcore punk scene in Bandung, Indonesia. He previously obtained a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the same university in 2002. Martin-Iverson's research specializations include Indonesian politics and culture, urban Southeast Asia, urban anthropology, and cultural production. His academic interests center on the politics of creative labour, the social organisation of underground music scenes—particularly Indonesian hardcore punk—global social movements, contested urbanism, DIY ethics, value theory, authenticity, and precariousness in cultural practices.

In his academic career, Sean Martin-Iverson has been affiliated with The University of Western Australia and currently serves as a lecturer at Murdoch University, where he supervises graduate research, such as the 2024 Master's thesis 'Shifting the balance of power: Reclaiming agency in disaster response.' His major publications encompass 'The value of the underground: punk, politics, and creative urbanism in Bandung, Indonesia' (Cultural Studies, 2021); 'Punk positif: The DIY ethic and the politics of value in the Indonesian hardcore punk scene' (DIY Cultures and Underground Music Scenes, 2019); ''DIY or DIE': Do It Yourself Production and the Struggle for an Autonomous Community in the Bandung Hardcore Punk Scene' (The Punk Reader: Research Transmissions from the Local and the Global, 2017); 'Autonomous Youth? Independence and Precariousness in the Indonesian Underground Music Scene' (The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 2012); and 'Playing under the Fly Over: A Collaborative Creative Community in Bandung,' co-authored with F.A. Prasetyo (Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015). Additional contributions include book reviews, conference presentations, and blog posts such as 'Manusia Buatan Live @Sumedang Edgefest 2023' – Reflections on the Value of an Indonesian DIY Hardcore Video on YouTube (In Media Res, 2025). His work examines political performance and creative communities in urban Southeast Asia.