Re: <eyebeam><blast> MAI '98

[Tim Jordan <tjordan@myriad.its.unimelb.EDU.AU>]

>The same question, minus the irony:
>
>Can those of us with the knowledge and privilege to use this medium turn
>some effort to the creation of culturally based forms of political
>resistance, on an international scale?
>
>
>Brian Holmes
>The further question is, do those of us with the knowledge and privilege 
to use this medium understand the politics this medium involves us in? 
Every time I help a friend get online or, more generally, use their 
computer, I wonder whether I am really helping them (especially those 
who look forward to working at home, invading all their private spaces 
with the productivity demands of their workplace)? What changes does 
email, the Web and its underlying technologies bring? Embedded in the 
technologies that create cyberspace are many peoples' creations and 
work, done in their particular way for their own reasons; what politics 
results from all these creations?

There is no doubt (see Electronic Zapatismo post) that politics can be 
'done' simply using the net's technology. The question of the net's 
politics can be refused or, out of necessity, ignored, but its 
particular politics then simply continue invisibly.

A distinction between online and offline needs to be drawn, for no other 
reason than to allow the possibility that there are fundamental 
differences between the two (not just in politics either). Only once the 
two are separated and explored, which also means exploring their 
connections, can we confidently discuss the politics of resistance in or 
about the net.

Brian Holmes' question is, for me, the most important one that can be 
asked, but it also need to be asked in a way that does not presume 
politics travels unchanged across the divide between online and offline. 



Tim is in Melbourne, Australia until July 1998, when he will be back in
London.
His virtual home remains t.r.jordan@uel.ac.uk before, during and after 
his
stay in Melbourne. All mail sent to t.r.jordan@uel.ac.uk is 
automatically
forwarded to him. You can use the email address on this email but 
remember
it expires at the end of June 1998.
Snail mail can be sent to HPS, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3052,
Victoria, Australia, again until June 1998.
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