on defending raw nerve books or white racial solidarity building

on 7 september 2009 raw nerve books announced that the edited collection "Out of Place: Interrogating Silences in Queerness/Raciality" (2008) was out of print alongside a correction and apology to infamous white gay activist peter tatchell. tatchell, for those who dont know, has long been criticized by queer activists of colour and other anti-islamophobic individuals and communities for his liberal human rights discourse which continually demonizes islamic values and practices. for a quick peek go to www.islamophobia-watch.com and search 'tatchell.' in short, tatchell has warned against "...the muslims'...grand plan to promote fundamentalist Islam in Britain. The Islamists want to undermine liberal humanitarian values, which they see as corrupt and decadent". of course tatchell will be the first to point out that he qualifies his claim by asserting that, "Not all Muslims support fundamentalism. Many share our human rights agenda" (www.petertatchell.net).

according to tatchell, muslims - both "fundamentalist" and "moderate" - need to be ushered into the enlightened place of western liberal values. tatchell propagates and extends imperialist islamophobic groundwork by constructing islam as an unchanging, monolithic, homophobic, sexist, and distinctly barbaric worldview. for tatchell, discrimination is inherent to muslim ontology. as a result, muslims are hopelessly backward and need the saving hand of a gay white human rights activist to show them the way towards freedom offered through united nations charters and annual pride parades.

but tatchell is not my point of focus here.

raw nerve books describe themselves as "...an independent, not-for-profit feminist press publishing controversial, under-represented and experimental work." they published the book and then issued it "out of print" after tatchell cried wolf over content in one of the chapters which characterised him as islamophobic. in an apology that could only have been written by tatchell, raw nerve disgustingly retracts such allegations (made by the authors) and then re-frames tatchell as distinctly anti-racist, listing a smattering of work he has done in "africa" (ignoring the 'public statement of warning' written by african lgbti human rights defenders about working with tatchell) and with anti-fascist groups in the uk. might i just say, great "anti-racist" work there tatchell, actively silencing queers of colour who dare challenge your politics.

some have claimed that raw nerve was in a tricky position because of the potential threat of possible legal action* which, if they had had to fight, could have cost them the press itself due to their meager economic positioning. this argument supports raw nerve's decision as a strategic way of ensuring the longevity of other alternative publications that the press will continue to print long after this whole "nasty" affair has blown over. as a result, what we see here is not the "publication of controversial work" but the publication of work that is distinctly not controversial - work that fits the mold of the established white liberal feminist and queer movements. moreover, this is not just the come-to-be-expected institutionalized publication scheme that continually publishes largely white middle class feminist academics. raw nerve actively hung these authors out to dry. and unfortunately for those hoping this will all just go away, this episode stands as a poignant analogy for the close relationship between racism and contemporary queer and feminist politics. dissenting voices of queers of colour are silenced for what is always characterized as the "larger" goals of the "movement". the argument that defends raw nerve books in their decision is part and parcel of a technique of white racial solidarity building.

i started writing this post with the view to discuss the importance of publishers who understand the significance of standing by their authors and of feminist and/or 'alternative' independent publishing for the dissemination of critical dissent. raw nerve claims to operate on these principals but buckled when push came to shove. of course, some may say that we shouldnt expect institutionalized publishers to be anything other than a state apparatus, bowing down to the threat of legal action or monetary pressure in the service of state-endorsed dissent (aka tatchell's liberal human rights discourse). but if we believe in "asking questions that might indeed touch a 'raw nerve'" - which might include challenging white racial solidarity building practices of queer and feminist movements - we must demand it to be so.

for a great response to the censorship, read xtalk's statement.

* tatchell has publicly claimed that he did not threaten raw nerve with libel but merely "objected" to the contents of the chapter in question. the possibility of legal action was purely speculation on these commentators' parts.

harper's doing good work these days

on september 26, 2009, canadian prime minister steve-o harpsies announced to the rest of the suits at the g20 conference in pittsburg, and the AFP who were listening at the door, that canada has "no history of colonialism". he continued, "we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them" (Calgary Herald, 26 Sept 09).

as you can imagine, this has resulted in a few polite letters to the editors of history, penned by folks who would like to diplomatically draw monsieur harper's attention to the few hundred years or so of complex, overlapping, violent, and - significantly - ongoing, colonial history that really is quite quintessentially 'canadian'. but i say, don't censor the poor man - let him speak!

no, this is not a libertarian defense of freedom of speech, bemoaning the waning of individual liberties in the name of political correctness. i stand by the fumbling national mascot for different reasons.

harper's blatant disregard for history and especially for diplomatic relations between communities and individuals who call for institutional attenuation of the legacies (including the ongoing project) of colonialism, exposes the gap between capitalist liberal-democratic promises of good governance and "justice". his outrageousness is a potential catalyst, of which we could use many, in galvanizing a public - or at least a portion of the public - into thinking seriously about the limits of our current social and political organization. maybe his shocking lack of self-awareness and outright denial of history, will drive people into revolt. perhaps communities and individuals will decide they've had enough and dismantle themselves from the current civic terrain, bringing the nation state crashing down with it!

of course, i am giving little stephen jo-jo too much credit. people have been organizing their own social and political communities for a long time now. indeed, they have long-since given up on their faith in those of monarchical lineage and their respective promises. however, i make this point here because as many of us interweb-addicted info-sharers get our little html panties in a knot about harper, we miss out on pointing out that his words have stirred up more discussion about colonialism in canada than we can say about our do-gooding friends (myself included) at say, softer nationalist institutions like the cbc. critiques of harper's outlandishness have a latent republicanism undergirding them that i want to be suspicious of - what exactly are we whining about? would we like him to have a better speech writer so he can poetically avoid mentioning the little blip of bloody violence that is the foundation of the canadian nation-state?

let's face it, harps, or whoever is wearing the crown for the day, is never going to be able to address the history and ongoing project of colonialism outside of a language of liberal-democratic state-talk. so isnt it better that what he does say garners it a little more attention than whatever status-quo settler speak we've come to expect from the state and its colonial apparatuses?

marxism2009 - zizek/callinicos part one

i havent actually listened to this talk yet. i purchased the cd after missing the lecture on saturday night. i have heard that, despite my recent endearment to him, zizek has gone and made me have to re-re-reconsider why i continually listen to him, by making - and subsequently defending - a joke about rape during this talk. apparently someone makes an intervention during the question period but zizek's response is - again, this is liminal-space gossip - somewhat lacking.

i think it is important for sympathetic feminists to be at zizek and other machomachine rockstar talks to offer some interventions when all the rallying boys are about to cream in their pants over whoever is orchestrating the international that day. i am also not about to totally write him off...i like a lot of his work and disagree with other parts...i just wish that in some of our discussions about 'communist culture' and 'socialism for the 21st century,' that we could have some hard discussions about the failings of past movements in a gesture towards a better future marxist project.

i used to think that picking the right academics was part of an overall academic aesthetic - me, get caught at a zizek - or worse yet, david harvey - talk?! of course, swimming in the red sea does require a lot of critical interventions to unsettle the unspoken white straight male subject and its dichotomistic trappings (when the subject is troubled it is always through essentialist feminism), but i appreciate the disagreements so much more now. just like i can finally admit to myself that i disagree with some of my old and new feminist icons...and it feels so much smarter and politically relevant to disagree. of course, i recognize that some disagreements are welcomed and even fostered in feminist spaces while beefs about transphobia or secular imperialism at marxist events are often not...and that my white, gendered-bodied privilege is maintained and fostered as some critical discussions - esp. on race and trans issues - are sidelined.

for me, the most productive and rewarding parts of a lecture are the interventions, the disagreements, and the contestations - without which, the substance of the material sits comfortably in a monologic cavity. this is not to privilege the reductionistic conception of 'dialogue' which i think is ultimately a false sense of mutual engagement that fails to consider hierarchical social, political and economic conditions between conversants. further, the notion of 'dialogue' falsely reduces the conception of a conversation as ultimately between two parties, actively erasing the presence of multiple other actors (especially non-human) from the social sphere. nor do i promote the act of disruption for disruption sake. i definitely do not mean to contribute to the ever-growing anti-intellectual demonization of academic talks that - drawing on dangerous structuralist readings - over-emphasize the supposed 'violence' of the unidirectionality of conventional lectures. these requiems for the 'lost experience' of dialogic encounters include a strong aura of structuralist sentimentality that exhault an essential experience of listening, hearing, and engaging.

what i do mean to say, however, is that it can be useful to guard against the pressure of agreeing for the sake of aesthetics. for me, it has lead to an increase in intellectual stimulation and creative academic pastiche. besides an aesthetics of disagreement is so much hotter.

alas, without much further ado about nothing...

alibi baby, in the treetop

i posted a tirade about book burning in december 2008. this week i posted a flyer and announcement about a dj gig i recently acquired at the kenton pub in hackney. four months have passed in between these two events. for some reason i am compelled to account for that time.

i am not compelled to testify to some imaginary audience that might be reading this blog but i am compelled to testify to myself. i would like to reflect on the time that has passed as 'productive', or 'directed', or at least not as a total write off. and so i write frantically, attempting to excavate something from the silence that has pervaded my blog - and this certainly part of a larger pattern of simultaneous silences and supernovas in other parts of my life - for the past 16 weeks. making it public lends it some legitmacy that i need. permit me a bit of self indulgence here.

court is in session.

after a long trip home to canada in december and january, i returned to be completely swamped with preparation for upcoming conferences and a relocation of my long lost lover to london for march 1st. add one move to london and another trip to america for yet another conference, stir, and that almost brings us to the beginning of may. and yet, although i can submit this evidence in support of my unannounced virtual absence for the last third of a year*, i sense there is something else that has kept me away. or rather somethings.

#1. lack of inspiration or lack of perspiration?

i think this is either as a result of not sitting still long enough to develop a coherent thought (don't you just hate how transcontinental travel stifles your creative processes?), or because my engagement with ideas has been changing over the past half of a year. both my interests and my method of critique is morphing into a much more contemplative, dare i say stoic, approach. i have always been critical of my tendency to snarl my way in and out of debates, but recently i am much more (philosophically) interested in considering the limitations of such hostile, self-righteous techniques. and it is not a patronizing performace of tolerance that i am edifying here, but a genuine realization that i have been caught in a self-woven web of moral righteousness that offers intellectual security through intellectual stagnation. in other words, me and my brain have just signed up for a one-year subscription at the local YMCA. i hope they have rowing machines.

#2. fear?

some cliche deep inside me made me write this.

#3. time?

both time passing and not enough time. by 'time passing' i refer to that often referenced fear that 'too much time has passed' and now it is impossible to go back and set things right (i.e., rather than post four months late, it would be easier to just start a new blog, or to move to dubai, change your name, and when asked, refuse to ever acknowledge the existence of anything called 'the internet'). and, of course, there is the jessie spano syndrome, that not only speaks but sings, all of our deepest anxieties about never having enough time to devote to 'extra-curricular' activities.

all of these alibis are, of course, bogus and yet the stronghold they have on my inclination to write is fantastic. my explanations are fundamentally limited by the language i have to make sense of thoughts and feelings and as a result, will inherently be misrepresentative. this however, is inadmissable reasoning at a trial and so i will stick with my original alibi and hope that the performance of this ritual will clear the air of any bad feelings between myself and myself. besides, it is the ritual - not a hopeless attempt to define a genuine truthfulness behind my lack - that i need.

*converting months into their relative relationship to the overall year is a sure way to induce heart-stopping panic attacks.

radio rebelde.

a live dj night at the kenton pub.
38 kenton road, hackney, e9

first friday of every month.
www.kentonpub.co.uk

*electronic*newindiesounds*feminist

punk*dubstep*pop*americanoldies*rap*alternativerock*mashups*specialguestappearancesbytheironlady&otherpoliticaldinosaurs*

____________________

Mayday!Mayday!

FRIDAY MAY 1st
8 to 11pm

Finish off the day-long celebration of workers’ struggles with us at the Kenton.