Links and learning
May 6, 2007 at 6:13 pm (Links, activism, blog, blogosphere, learning, self-involved blather, thesis, writing)
I’ve signed up with del.icio.us so that I can store links in one spot. I’ve been thinking I might put together some online resources for certain topics, and I think del.icio.us would be perfect for that too. It’s amazing how much great stuff there is on the tubes, which doesn’t stand out until you look for it.
But in the meantime, I have to write a bunch of thesis, and I have two papers due. I’d love to be a superhero and manage to do all that and write hard-hitting, thought-provoking blog posts, but I’m being a bit realistic and I’m gonna have to regretfully say that they’re probably gonna be thin on the ground for the next couple of months, while I put my thesis together.
I’ll be bookmarking all the good articles I see with del.icio.us, though, which means you’ll still have lots of awesome theory and politics to read. I am fire_fly on del.icio.us. There’s a widget in my sidebar that lists my latest links, and apparently there’s a feed of my favourites (at http://del.icio.us/rss/fire_fly), but I’m not sure if it’s working or not.
In other news, the time and date for the anti-racism reading group I’ve been planning has finally been chosen. It’ll be during the time that the women’s collective usually holds their reading groups, which makes me feel I ought to give it a gender focus. The first chapter of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s Talkin’ Up to the White Woman is a good candidate, since it brings together race, gender, and an Australian perspective really well. Otherwise, it’ll probably be a US black or Chicana feminist reading, although that’s less relevant to Australia… I was thinking of going with something from Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks until the women’s collective volunteered their time and venue.
It’s funny how I have a thesis bibliography with at least 100 references on it, but when it comes to deciding on a reading to start up a student anti-racism activist collective, my mind comes up blank! I have a feeling it’s because all of the references deal with specific race issues, while none of them take all the issues on, and because I’m so immersed in this literature that, trying to see what will be most accessible and comprehensive to someone who isn’t writing a thesis on race, is nearly impossible!
Speaking of learning and activism, BFP has mentioned that she’s planning to write some posts on how to organise, and while I reflect on the direction this anti-racism collective will take, I really feel that some bloggy discussions on techniques, methods, strategies, and tactics in activism would be good (and timely!). After some stints in activist campaigns that left me feeling very negative about activism, I’d like to have a better-informed idea of what I’m getting into, as well as more ideas about how to do activist work. Publicity about diverse campaigns and strategies is great for getting ideas, but I’d love to see more ‘technical’ discussion of how to conduct activist organising. I think a lot of people would benefit from this kind of blog activity, and also that lots of people have something to contribute to a discussion like that. So, this is my official cheer to BFP, and any other bloggers who want to kick-start something like this.
I’ll put my money where my mouth is, and begin by talking about the anti-racism reading group we have planned for next week. Eventually, I’d like to organise and host a blog carnival about organising (but that may have to wait until I finish the big T). Who’s with me?
petitpoussin said,
May 6, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I’ve been writing/thinking about this quite a bit too, and I’m totally with you. Let’s talk!
Fire Fly said,
May 6, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Sweet! What’s on your mind?
For me, I feel like I’m worse than a novice when I try to get involved. I’ve been making excuses for myself for the past few years because I had such a negative experience, but it didn’t leave me with much other than a generalised phobia of activist space. Certainly not skills or practical knowledge.
I’d like to learn how to deal with factionalism. It’s something of an epidemic in student politics, and while I’m going to try to avoid it, I don’t think avoidance is the best way to deal with it. While I don’t think it’s as productive as other organising models, it’s the one I have the most experience with.
I always find myself on the outer when it comes to factions. Either I don’t like their style, or I’m too critical (including self-critical) to make the compromises I’d need to make to support a faction. Or it’s just that racism and sexism are encoded in their mode of operating, and I’m excluded/exploited on those grounds.
On the other hand, I have seen people use woc/indigenous caucuses for very productive ends, and I wonder if the activist community here is ready for an autonomous space like that. Even then, I’m not so good with falling into line, but I still believe that heterogeneity can be productive for activism.
brownfemipower said,
May 6, 2007 at 11:38 pm
oh lord, you have me all embarrassed–I’ve been running my mouth all over the place haven’t I?????
Ok, I’m going to do something. Everybody’s been inspiring me, it’s time for me to act on the inspiration!!!!
I’ll put something together by the end of the week.
brownfemipower said,
May 6, 2007 at 11:40 pm
btw. student organizing is incredibly difficult imo.
as a mother and a non-traditional student, i’ve *never* felt comfortable organizing with other students–there’s just something about the model that is *not* conducive any person who has a foot in the non-academic world in any capacity.
Five days until the Carnival of Creative Writing... « Truly Outrageous said,
May 7, 2007 at 3:02 am
[...] need creative thinking right now, as yet another person has said in the last few days… so fine. Write about the damn crocus if it’s what you [...]
Fire Fly said,
May 7, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I didn’t mean to embarrass you, BFP! Just to get other people thinking/writing about the same topic, so that knowledge gets shared.
I know what you mean by student activism being alienating for a lot of people. Unless you live out of home and in the University district, are on Youth Allowance or some other government support (i.e. you don’t have to work), and can spend all kinds of time on activism, then student activism is difficult to get involved with. But there are still some resources that student organisations have which can be used to our advantage, like access to academic libraries.
It just strikes me as a bit awful that student organisations at this university have NO engagement with the local indigenous population, who are fighting to keep their housing and community spaces, while student activists can loudly proclaim that ‘bigger’ issues like the war, climate change, access to higher education, are centrally important… and they do this ON INDIGENOUS LAND.
Anyway, I agree that it’s a very limited means of organising, but I still believe that something productive can come out of it.
brownfemipower said,
May 7, 2007 at 3:58 pm
anyway, I agree that it’s a very limited means of organising, but I still believe that something productive can come out of it.
I’m with you 100% I’ve seen a lot of good come out of student organizing even by the student organizations that most drive me crazy on my campus. a large part of my frustration stems from the fact that so much good does come out of their work, and I can’t be a part of it. you know?
at the same time, as you pointed out with indigenous communities–a lot of the time the communities students are claiming to be “helping” often have almost no say in the actual organizing or in creating the over *goals* of the organizing. So there’s been cases of socialist student groups organizing against sweatshop labor without addressing the fact that if you take away the income of an entire community without replacing it with something else, the community will be inherently worse off.
anyway, i’m really looking forwad to seeing what we can make of this carnival–and i’m glad you tickled me in the ribs to motivate me! :p
Fire Fly said,
May 7, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Yeah, there’s a classist dynamic occurring in those kinds of organisations, which the organisations themselves don’t address. Here, it’s because there’s the added focus of student council/union elections, and the fact that official positions in student organisations are a stepping stone to a career in formal politics. So, very classist but little scope for overcoming classism cos it’s too invested in class privilege to work on itself.
(And I’ve heard about the Mirrar community, and how they dealt with elitist crap from middle-class urban environment activists, when they were organising against the Jabiluka uranium mine in the 1990s. It’s a common theme.)
And although I don’t know the particular pain of seeing activism from the outside as a mother, I have felt alienated for other reasons (which I might go into in a post later), and I sympathise with your frustration. I know of lots of people who’ve been alienated from student activism for various reasons, and it’s a real shame, because other kinds of activism might suit them better, but they never find out cos they get burned and avoid it!
Blogging for Radical Action! « She who stumbles said,
May 13, 2007 at 4:00 pm
[...] Blogging for Radical Action! May 13, 2007 Filed under: activism, writing, blogosphere — Fire Fly @ 3:57 pm Before making the announcement that she’d be taking a break, BFP posted this announcement for a carnival of radical action, as discussed in the previous post. [...]
The First Carnival for Radical Action « The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum said,
May 27, 2007 at 3:27 pm
[...] this carnival to the phenomenal WOC blogger BrownFemiPower. This carnival idea is her brainchild. Fire Fly’s encouragement, along with these excellent submissions, gave it wings. So we thank her and all of you, first and [...]
First Carnival of Radical Action « The Blog and the Bullet said,
June 6, 2007 at 10:28 am
[...] this carnival to the phenomenal WOC blogger BrownFemiPower. This carnival idea is her brainchild. Fire Fly’s encouragement, along with these excellent submissions, gave it wings. So we thank her and all of you, first and [...]