Gregg, Qin and Crawford's article, "Circuits of
Labour" notes the representation of women in the workforce in relation to
networks. They explain formal circuits as hierarchical and capitalistic while
informal circuits connect communication and creativity. The coexistence of
these two circuits are called short circuits, which then branches off into
survival labour. Survival labour refers to when the unrepresented population of
workers come together to create their own alternative space. This alternative
space is counterculture in its own right, and can exist in the form of feminist
ezines. For example, the Broken Pencil is an independent feminist ezine that
tackles various issues such as race, science, history and indy culture. The creators
of the Broken Pencil allow submissions to be sent in, however the guidelines
state that they are strictly trying to promote independent and alternative
culture. This is a strong example of a group that felt excluded from formal
circuits and mainstream media, and created an alternative that represented
their interests.
http://www.brokenpencilarchive.tuesdayafternoon.net/view.php?id=4058
By setting guidelines that state that submissions should be
about independent/alternative culture, could The Broken Pencil be closing
itself off from being an informal circuit?
I believe that with the Broken Pencil setting such guidelines they are becoming less and less informal. It does come across as a bit capitalistic. The underrepresented population coming together to create their own alternative space is a great concept, however, as you asked, it is rather easy for their conglomerated ideas to stray from their original conceptions. Co-existance is important, however, diplomacy, hierarchy, and democracy seem to drive a great portion of the western world.
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