>Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: Bulk >Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 12:09:06 -0400 (EDT) >From: Geoffrey F Sauer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: from Friday's _Chronicle of Higher Education_ > > >>From _The Chronicle of Higher Education_ >April 19, 1996 >page A14 > > >A SELF-CONSCIOUSLY RENEGADE 'ZINE': BERKELEY GRADUATE STUDENTS >HOPE THEIR ICONOCLASTIC JOURNAL WILL HELP INVIGORATE THE LEFT > >by Liz McMillen > >Berkeley, Cal. > >For a group of graduate students at the University of California at >Berkeley, _Bad Subjects_ is an academic 'zine' and an active on-line >community. It is also a state of mind. > >In its fourth year, Bad Subjects is devoted to what its organizers call >'political education for everyday life.' The project involves a journal >published both in hard copy and on the World-Wide Web >(http://english-www.hss.cmu.edu/bs), and an online discussion group, >where many issues of the day are hashed out. > >Whether dissecting academic life or taking on popular culture, _Bad >Subjects_ revels in a self-consciously renegade spirit. > >While the left is dominated by multiculturalism, the publication has >taken a critical stance against the excesses of identity politics. At a >time when the Soviet brand of socialism has been discredited, many >people associated with _Bad Subjects_ remain committed to Marxism and to >creating an alternative to capitalism. And while much of leftist >politics has been marked by cynicism, this gang is unabashedly utopian. > >POLITICS AND POPULAR CULTURE > >Published every five weeks during the academic year, _Bad Subjects_ has >featured articles on the cultures of cyberspace, the rise of >life-threatening viruses, alternative music, the political merits of the >movie _Pulp Fiction_, and, repeatedly, the role of the left in >contemporary politics. The next issue, which is due out on April 30, >will focus on issues of 'access and accessibility' in terms of language >and politics. > >By writing about politics and popular culture in ordinary language, _Bad >Subjects_ reflects the desire of many academics to speak as public >intellectuals. But more than anything else, what unites the _Bad >Subjects_ group is a disenchantment with progressive politics. They >believe that the left needs to rethink the connection between the >personal and the political. > >'We want to make the left popular again,' says Annalee Newitz, who, with >Jillian Sandell, is production director of _Bad Subjects_. 'One reason >that it isn't is that the left tends to become very cynical and bitter, >and to blame the masses. The right has learned from the left about such >things as grassroots organizing. Maybe it's time for the left to learn >something from the right.' > >_Bad Subjects_ is put together by a 14-member team. The project, which >began with the group of graduate students in the English department at >Berkeley, now also involves people on other campuses as well as >activists and other non-academics. > >The readership includes people in Europe, Canada, Israel, and New >Zealand, and the journal has even spawned a spoof, _Sad Objects_, by a >group of Berkeley undergraduates . >Ms. Sandell says providing free copies of the publication is part of the >project's utopian outlook. 'We realize that it is a privileged group who >have access to Internet. So we're also committed to having the hard >copies.' > >Although it has been supported by university funds in the past, _Bad >Subjects_ is considering an affiliation with a non-profit organization, >which would allow it to apply for private grants. The group may also >make its debut in book form: a selection of articles from the past four >years is under consideration at New York University Press. > >_Bad Subjects_ has the do-it-yourself feel of many zines which are >informally produced and circulated publications. But its members don't >appreciate being viewed as one. 'We're not considered hip or cool,' says >Ms. Newitz. 'We're an oddity among zines.' > >The publication's title is a nod to Louis Althusser, the French >philosopher who used the words to describe those who did not obey the >power of the state. He is quoted on the cover of each issue. '[The] "bad >subjects"...on occasion provoke the intervention of one of the >detachments of the (repressive) State apparatus. But the vast majority >of (good) subjects work 'all right by themselves,' i.e. by ideology.' > >'PRINCIPLED DEFIANCE' > >'We wanted to tip our hat to Althusser,' explains Ms. Newitz. "But it's >also supposed to be ironic.' As the first issue stated: 'Principled >defiance is part of what it means to be a "bad subject."' > >Six issues later "A Manifesto for Bad Subjects" described in detail the >group's complaint with the left. It is time for leftists to deal with >the limitations of multiculturalism and the tendency to celebrate the >very identities that have been created through oppression, the manifesto >said. > >'Both leflist academics and proponents of multiculturalism too often >fetishize their marginality,' it said 'seeing it as a source of their >"authenticity" and "power." They imagine themselves to he refusing >complicity with the mainstream or dominant culture when in fact their >insistence on their marginality only serves to reinforce the centrality >of what they oppose.' > >Disillusioned with actually changing society the left has retreated into >cynicism and ambivalence, the group argued. The left has focused its >energy on politicizing the consumption of goods rather than on their >production. 'Politics becomes a matter of making distinctions between >"good" and "bad" commodity choices, like choosing "politically correct" >coffee or "cruelty-free" cosmetics, or preferring "marginal" rather than >"mainstream" culture.' > >A politics of consumption is not what _Bad Subjects_ collective has in >mind when it talks about a progressive society. After all, a vision of >alternative shopping is not the same as a vision of alternative society. > >The problem with the left, according to the manifesto, is its failure to >provide a compelling vision of a better society. > >'Somewhere early on, I noticed that the term "badsubjectian" popped up, >and everyone seems to know what it is,' says Steven Rubio, a member of >the production team. 'It seems to me that we share goals, but not a >party line. I don't agree with everything that's in the journal, but >it's wonderful there's a place like this.' > >REACHING A LARGER POPULATION > >Another member of the team, Kim Nicolini, a poet and director of the >non-profit Bass Tickets Foundation, is sympathetic to _Bad Subjects'_ >political inclinations and its outsider status. But she would like to >see the publication become more accessible. 'A lot of the articles are >still fairly inaccessible to a large population,' she says. 'I teach >poetry and arts to inner-city kids, and I am convinced people can >understand complex ideas.' > >Initially, _Bad Subjects_ was available on the Internet only via Gopher, >a tool for organizing information. When the journal came to the >attention of Geoff Sauer, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon >University, he set up a home page for it and connected it to the >university's popular 'English Server' site on the World-Wide Web. In >March, the _Bad Subjects_ site received nearly 22,000 'hits' a week. > >Meanwhile, the on-line mailing list, which has about 250 members, has >featured discussions about such topics as the everyday politics of the >workplace, ethics, what constitutes political activism, and the >Unabomber. > >'What I like about the list is that it includes people who are not >academics but who are interested in some of the same things,' says >Charlie Bertsch, a member of the production team. 'There's a real >diversity. And you learn that what we consider work is different from >what non-academics consider work.' > >Jonathan Sterne, a graduate student in communications at the University >of' Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a long-distance member of the >production team. _Bad Subjects_ provides an important intellectual >community, he says. 'Rather than something I read, this is something I >do. I think of it as a hobby, and a way to think about abstract >intellectual problems.' > > >___________________________________________________________________ > Geoffrey F.K. Sauer > Literary and Cultural Theory Postmaster, the English Server > Carnegie Mellon English Dept. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 US http://english-www.hss.cmu.edu >___________________________________________________________________ > >
