[-empyre-] Lobal Gestures

Thu Dec 11 06:12:29 EST 2014

Since the historical importance of the electronic media in its various
incarnations derives from a tripod, communication, information, control, an
analysis of ideas (as parts of communication and information) is essential.
I may be in the minority, but I do not think the Occupy movement was a
wasted effort. It was, I think, instrumental in making inequality part of
the political discourse in the United States. Even the Wall Street people
admit that the inequality of income (the flattening of wages for the 99%)
is a problem that "some day" has to be dealt with even, though this
awareness has resulted in no political action. That is why there was
cheering even among some wall street people when the last job report showed
some increase in wages instead of a knee jerk panic about inflation. Ideas
are slow, their power of a different sort. But that does not mean it is
unreal or futile. I think the discussion should include some specific
analyses of the way ideas (or propaganda, the other face of the beast)
function in the electronic media. Here again, ISIL presents a very
interesting case. A small but significant number of people from different
countries are joining ISIL in Iraq or Syria, often to die. To what extent
are these people drawn by ISIL's ideas and to what extent by the power
these ideas gain, in my view, because of the exaggerated importance the
West attaches to it? As far as I can see, the idea of the caliphate as an
imperial concept, a la the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, is pure
phantasy. What will happen to it if the West had ignored it? Will the
people joining ISIL still find it as attractive? I don't know the answer to
that.
Murat

On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 11:56 AM, Ricardo Dominguez <rrdominguez at ucsd.edu>
wrote:

> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> Hola Murat,
>
> These gestures can of course be used by any entity at any level of
> global/local scale.
> That why it is important, as you do in you analysis, is to consider the
> uniqueness of different actions, different community responses, and the
> use of multiple platforms-and yes all of these events can be used by
> nations-states, para-states, and local/global powers for purposes other
> than what my sympathies might be. And they without a doubt participate in
> using something like a lobal process to do it.
>
> The difference between the lobal networks I am attaching the politics of
> the question to and the premeditions of power that are working at
> nation-state scales (Putin) or local acts of violence (ISIL) or the
> NSA-often function almost completely with a politics of the answer frame.
> And they all have deep funding to do long term research to establish not
> just a lobal gestures, but long term premediation-as-research to stop any
> lobal gestures happening  and out the control of politics of the answer.
> (This is one of the reasons Occupy annoyed a number of communities because
> they were not offering an answer, but embodying a question)-but back to
> research:
>
> "...in 2008 – the year of the global banking crisis – the DoD 'Minerva
> Research Initiative' partners with universities "to improve DoD's basic
> understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces
> that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the US...Among
> the projects awarded for the period 2014-2017 is a Cornell University-led
> study managed by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research which aims
> to develop an empirical model "of the dynamics of social movement
> mobilization and contagions." The project will determine "the critical
> mass (tipping point)" of social contagions by studying their "digital
> traces" in the cases of "the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the 2011 Russian
> Duma elections, the 2012 Nigerian fuel subsidy crisis and the 2013 Gazi
> park protests in Turkey." Twitter posts and conversations will be examined
> "to identify individuals mobilized in a social contagion and when they
> become mobilized."
>
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/12/pentagon-mass-civil-breakdown
>
> At least for me the lobal gestures that I am attaching the term to-do not
> have this type of funding. But I think that what Diana was touching on was
> the need to establish something like it. We often do premediation-research
> on the fly and on the cheap.
>
> Ricardo
>
>
> > Hola Ricardo,
> > One thing Putin did in response to the sanctions by the United States is
> > to
> > force MacDonald places to shut down "for health violations" in Russia, or
> > ISIL wants to shut down all western institutions, or someone blowing
> > himself/herself up in the middle of a market in Iraq or Afghanistan.
> > Aren't
> > all these (and the list goes on) attacks against local institutions for
> > one
> > reason or another? My assumption is they do not necessarily share your
> > ideology or have your sympathies, but are they not lobal responses?
> > Murat
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Ricardo Dominguez <
> rrdominguez at ucsd.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> Hola Diana and Tod at s,
> >>
> >> I am in agreement about the strategic nature of the politics of the
> >> answer
> >> and
> >> that it should be pursued and connected to the local answer as well.
> >>
> >> And I do think that multiple communities on the ground and on-line in
> >> from
> >> Mexico to Hong Kong understand these networks of violence in terms of
> >> the
> >> scales of the strategic global targets-those networks of command and
> >> control that profit from the violence on a local level. But other parts
> >> of
> >> these movements the local violence overwhelms the global connections,
> >> and
> >> people may not want to dislocate their local concerns beyond that-which
> >> is
> >> not necessarily a bad thing to do.
> >>
> >> To a certain degree I feel that the lobal politics of the question is
> >> perhaps more sharable and open to the possibility of local-conditions
> >> becoming global-strategic actions-than the reverse. The strategic
> >> connection resonates more from a lobal expression and connection when
> >> the
> >> singular qualities of the local are not completely negated by the
> >> politics
> >> of the answer on global scale.
> >>
> >> Abrazos,
> >> Ricardo
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> > Ricardo--
> >> > thanks for this. I would add that the violence produced by
> >> neoliberalisms
> >> > also works in this networked fashion. The disappearances in Colombia,
> >> the
> >> > expulsion of minoritarian communities in Honduras and Guatemala, or
> >> the
> >> > massacre of the students (and so many more) in Mexico, police killings
> >> of
> >> > black men and so on are not isolated events, but they are also not
> >> causal.
> >> > To the politics of the question--how can we make for a more equitable,
> >> > just
> >> > society? the politics of the answer seems shockingly
> >> similar--eliminate
> >> > those who challenge our authority or stand in the way of profits.
> >> Banks,
> >> > businesses, the drug trade, and the politicians these all control
> >> tacitly
> >> > endorse the glocal gestures that are enacted locally, both online
> >> > (Argentina) and on the streets (Ayotzinapa).
> >> > Just a thought!
> >> > Diana
> >> >
> >> > On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 6:00 AM, Ricardo Dominguez
> >> <rrdominguez at ucsd.edu
> >> >
> >> > wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> >> Hola Tod at s,
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks for inviting me to participate and meditate on local/global
> >> >> platforms of care, resistance, and activation. Especially in terms of
> >> >> the
> >> >> back and forth quality of activist real-bodies in the streets and
> >> >> data-bodies interacting with one another and amplifying one another.
> >> But
> >> >> for the moment I would like to make a more general presentation on
> >> the
> >> >> idea of lobal gestures.
> >> >>
> >> >> One of the main projects of Electronic Disturbance Theater 1.0/2.0
> >> and
> >> >> b.a.n.g. lab is that neoliberalism(s) often function within the
> >> >> trajectory
> >> >> of the glocalÃ¢â‚¬â€ that is transnational corporations parachute
> >> their
> >> >> agendas,
> >> >> economies, stores, on a global level to the local level. Starbucks,
> >> >> McDonalds, they're like the cathedrals of old; they are centers of
> >> >> command
> >> >> and control on a glocal level. So the gestures that we have
> >> participated
> >> >> in might be named or located around what we name the lobal, and the
> >> >> lobal
> >> >> isn't about trying to establish a field of homogeneity, say, like
> >> >> McDonaldsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s golden arches, but more specifically to share a
> >> condition
> >> >> of
> >> >> the local to local, as a peer-to-peer gesture, on a global scale.
> >> >>
> >> >> This is perhaps not so much about materialization of the
> >> social-as-copy,
> >> >> but a conceptual sharing of a politics of the question. For instance,
> >> we
> >> >> could look at the Zapatistas as a lobal network that spreads a
> >> question
> >> >> about the nature of what a local in response might be to the golden
> >> >> arches
> >> >> that neoliberalism(s) drop on us and embed into the local space-time
> >> >> continuum. Each response is different for each locality. The local
> >> >> response in San Diego, California to this question is different than
> >> the
> >> >> one in Chiapas in terms of seeking alternative forms of living beyond
> >> >> Ã¢â‚¬Å“capitalist realism(s).Ã¢â‚¬
> >> >>
> >> >> Then (and still today) we are faced with the glocal movements of
> >> >> neoliberalism(s), so we had to imagine how we could, on a local
> >> level,
> >> >> respond to, trespass, or access conflicts transpiring globally. So
> >> those
> >> >> involved in the Zapatistas movement would say, Ã¢â‚¬Å“We share
> >> peer-to-peer
> >> >> the
> >> >> politics of the question: Ã¢â‚¬Ëœwhat are savage neoliberalism(s)
> >> doing
> >> >> where
> >> >> you are?Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  But the response or the tactics of both
> >> creative
> >> >> resistance or,
> >> >> for us, of disturbance, would be different, because what happens in
> >> San
> >> >> Francisco, what happens in Chiapas, or what happens in Mumbai has a
> >> >> material difference on the local level.
> >> >>
> >> >> So lobalism(s) share the politics of the question of what one can
> >> >> access,
> >> >> what one can trespass, disturb, and manifest as alternative
> >> conditions
> >> >> that oppose glocal neoliberalismsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ answers to every question
> >> and
> >> >> problem.
> >> >> Along with the Zapatistas and other activists, we contend that
> >> another
> >> >> world is possible beyond the deep state of glocal neoliberalism(s),
> >> and
> >> >> we
> >> >> continue to ask, Ã¢â‚¬Å“How can one disturb and shift the flows of
> >> >> capitalist
> >> >> realism in oneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s neighborhood?Ã¢â‚¬
> >> >>
> >> >> > ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> >> > Thanks, Richard, for your succinct and thoughtful comments on
> >> >> > premeditation.  I'D be interested to hear more about your thoughts
> >> of
> >> >> > resistent usages of new media platforms, from Ricardo's efforts at
> >> >> flood
> >> >> > netting to viral medial forms of protest whose efforts are to "claw
> >> >> back"
> >> >> > (as we used to say in television theory) the very kinds of
> >> >> premediation
> >> >> > you identify.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > All the best,
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Tim
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Timothy Murray
> >> >> > Professor of Comparative Literature and English
> >> >> > Director, Society for the Humanities
> >> >> > http://www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/
> >> >> > Curator, Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media
> >> >> > http://goldsen.library.cornell.edu
> >> >> > A D White House
> >> >> > Cornell University,
> >> >> > Ithaca, New York 14853
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >> > On 12/9/14 2:22 PM, "Richard Grusin" <rgrusin at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> >>----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> >> >> >
> >> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> >> > empyre forum
> >> >> > empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> >> >> > http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> Ricardo Dominguez
> >> >> Associate Professor
> >> >>
> >> >> Visual Arts Department, UCSD
> >> >> http://visarts.ucsd.edu/
> >> >> Principal Investigator, CALIT2
> >> >> http://bang.transreal.org/
> >> >>
> >> >> email: rrdominguez at ucsd.edu
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> empyre forum
> >> >> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> >> >> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Diana Taylor
> >> > University Professor
> >> > Professor, Performance Studies and Spanish
> >> > Director, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics
> >> > Tisch School of the Arts
> >> > NYU
> >> > 721 Broadway,6th fl.
> >> > New York, NY 10003
> >> > tel 212 998 1620
> >> > fax 212 995 4571
> >> > http://hemi.nyu.edu
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Ricardo Dominguez
> >> Associate Professor
> >>
> >> Visual Arts Department, UCSD
> >> http://visarts.ucsd.edu/
> >> Principal Investigator, CALIT2
> >> http://bang.transreal.org/
> >>
> >> email: rrdominguez at ucsd.edu
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> empyre forum
> >> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> >> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
> >>
> >
>
>
> --
> Ricardo Dominguez
> Associate Professor
>
> Visual Arts Department, UCSD
> http://visarts.ucsd.edu/
> Principal Investigator, CALIT2
> http://bang.transreal.org/
>
> email: rrdominguez at ucsd.edu
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
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