I'm coming back from a really intense weekend of reflection and discussion with other anti-authoritarians about our "movement" and its relationship to front-line struggles. And I've once again had the opportunity to watch people encounter the concept of anti-oppression, and even the dubious privilege of being identified as a resource on that struggle.
For geeks like me, running into a new political or philosophical concept like that follows a curve that is a lot like a long-term high-school couple. After a brief, early peak of intensity the whole thing sorta blends into your life and you stop noticing how important or central it's become, until you run into other folks with that same spark in their eyes and you think "Woah, I remember that!"
This weekend was that moment for me and a chance to really think about the lessons and questions I've learned over the years. So I'm going to challenge myself to write about it. I'm planning a series of posts on the following topics, but first I want to position myself in writing about this.
I'm a mixed race cisgendered male, queer, often passing as straight and white. I also identify as a geek, which is to say a member of group of labourers who I believe are making a transition into a position of power in a technocracy. I also have a complex set of beliefs around economic and social realities that I like to sum up with the phrase "Communiste Libertaire", translated as Anarcho-Communist. Finally, I have poor vision that is correctable with glasses and struggle with repetitive strain injuries. I am an atheist. And I really really like robots.
And now for the posts.
Confessions of a Race Spy
So many problems with just the title of this piece. We'll start with the word "race" and all that it implies, and move on to why I feel I am a spy exactly. This is by far the most personal of my posts - so much of how I understand privilege and oppression has been evolved through this lens. Uncomfortable, subversive, sad and strange.
Politically Correct? Or Language of Ðomination?
Anti-authoritarians have had a really interesting relationship to politically correct language over the years, and I think there's something to learn about it. I am gonna write here about cultural appropriation and the language of domination, and why I think they are too often superficial or mechanical approaches to these questions. I am going to talk about negotiation and sensitivity here too.
Allies, Leadership and Initiative
Advice for allies, thoughts and reflections as an ally. What I feel good about, and what I don't. This is the place where I undertake most of my daily work in anti-oppression struggle.
Riot Nrrd
Why the fuck I think I have any right at all to use the term Riot Nrrd, and what it means to me. This is where I talk about video games, folks. Also, why I feel that the class and status of computer geeks is changing, what I fear it means, and why I think it's urgent for hackers to start thinking about their oppression and privilege as a group, and become riot nrrds, of course.
Sound good?
