Mimicry Of Marginality In Soft Authoritarian Identity Politics

Do good for its own sake. Do well out of spite. ✨🌈

My new motto for the fascist era.

The Importance of the Act of Reading

First, I would like to reaffirm that I always saw teaching adults to read and write as a political act, an act of knowledge, and therefore as a creative act.

Freire, P. (1983). The Importance of the Act of Reading. Journal of Education, 165(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748316500103

Protecting Libraries as Safe(r) Spaces

What Not to Do

- Do not remain neutral when a hate group attempts to infiltrate the library. [...]

Hopefully an uncontroversial opinion: In these situations, "remaining neutral" isn't "neutral" at all.

Western States Center (2022). Confronting White Nationalism in Libraries: A Toolkit. https://www.westernstatescenter.org/libraries

Knowledge

intellectual work, such as research (the creation of new knowledge) and learning (the creation of new knowledge within oneself)

Jonsson, B., Nunnally, T., & Cuir, G. D. (2001). Unwinding the Clock: Ten Thoughts on Our Relationship to Time (Unabridged Edition). Audio Literature.

Klimaungerechtigkeit

[...] da wir gelernt haben, »unsicher« in der Wissenschaft mit »keine Ahnung« zu übersetzen. Das Gegenteil wäre korrekt.

Es gibt kein brisanteres Beispiel dafür, dass ein Wort in der Wissenschaft eine andere Bedeutung hat als in der Alltagssprache und welche weitreichenden Konsequenzen das nach sich ziehen kann.

Was es zu retten gilt, ist nicht das Klima oder die Menschheit. Es geht schlicht und einfach darum, die Würde und Rechte der Menschen – und zwar aller Menschen – zu retten.

Das wird gerade von jenen nicht verstanden, die argumentieren, das Klima sei auch früher schon mal so warm gewesen und wahlweise die menschengemachte Klimaerwärmung daher kein Problem sei oder die gegenwärtige Klimaerwärmung gar nicht menschengemacht wäre. Insbesondere letzteres, also die Frage nach den Verursachenden, verblasst im Kontext des Zitats zu einem irrelevanten Aspekt eines gesellschaftlich relevanten Problems, das es dringend zu lösen gilt. Die Frage nach den Verursachenden gewinnt jedoch enorm an Bedeutung, wenn es darum geht, eine verantwortliche Rolle bei der Lösung der Gerechtigkeitskrise zu übernehmen und den am stärksten Betroffenen zu helfen.

Der kolonialfossile Klimawandel ist daher im Wesentlichen weder Klimakrise noch Klimakatastrophe [...], sondern eine Gerechtigkeitskrise. Diese Gerechtigkeitskrise durchzieht die Geschichte der Menschheit und findet nicht erst statt, seit der Klimawandel ein Thema ist. In Kombination mit den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels hat diese Gerechtigkeitskrise jedoch eine neue Dringlichkeit und globale Dimension erreicht, die nur mittelbar mit Physik zu tun hat.

Die menschengemachte Klimaveränderung mag zwar ein naturwissenschaftliches Problem sein. Die Herausforderung und damit auch die Krise, die sich daraus ergibt, ist jedoch eine gesellschaftliche.

Dies ist zum einen dem Selbstverständnis der meisten Naturwissenschaftler*innen geschuldet, die sich als »neutral« und damit außerhalb politischer Zusammenhänge sehen – was in meinen Augen eine Illusion ist. Daher klammern viele Forscher*innen eher politisch konnotierte Inhalte wie Schäden und Verluste von vornherein aus ihrer Arbeit aus.

Dieses Zitat kann man direkt mit meinem Post What and how we research in Zusammenhang bringen.

Otto, F. (2023). Klimaungerechtigkeit: Was die Klimakatastrophe mit Kapitalismus, Rassismus und Sexismus zu tun hat. Ullstein.

A Call for Constructive Engagement

As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education. We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding. [...]

Signed by so many leaders of colleges and universities, even by some high profile ones such as Yale, Princeton and Brown.

https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructive-engagement

Fascism thrives on ignorance and anti-intellectualism. Here are some ways you can combat it:

There is an ongoing literacy crisis. Teach kids how to read phonetically (other methods produce poor literacy) and introduce them to fun books, both fiction and educational non-fiction.

Teach kids about critical thinking and the scientific method.

You can also introduce kids to edutainment like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, The Magic Schoolbus, Bill Nye The Science Guy, Beakman's World, etc.

Help kids develop media literacy skills by asking them literary analysis questions about the media they engage with. Even very young children can begin learning literary analysis if the questions are phrased in words they can understand.

Learn and help other people learn information literacy, ie, how to locate and evaluate information.

Learn the red flags of pseudoscience, and educate other people about them.

Educate people and share media on real science and real history, because fascist narratives are full of pseudoscience and pseudohistory. (Miniminuteman, Gutsick Gibbon and Bart D. Ehrman's YouTube channel are great, by the way!)

Make learning a joyful experience, and show people the beauty and wonder of what's real. Being a discouraging killjoy will spoil your efforts.

I cannot begin to explain to you the disappointment I felt on finding out that “match my freak” was a sexual thing and not a level of how insane you are with your friends

Queering Libraries

While libraries have always been queer, libraries have not always been openly queer. And they still aren’t, although we’ve made some small strides.

What do you think it is that makes libraries (openly) queer?

[...] the white cishetallopatriarchy that continues to be the accepted norm in libraries, despite the harm it causes.

What are your thoughts on how we can change this?

Smith-Cruz, S., & Howard, S. A. (Hrsg.). (2024). Grabbing Tea: Queer Conversations on Identity and Libraries. Volume One. Library Juice Press.

My thoughts

What is it that makes libraries (openly) queer?

It's the diversity of collections, the tags and classifications used to make collections accessible, the way collections are presented, the way libraries present themselves, the way libraries and librarians engage in reflection on societal norms as well as their own, and the way they speak out to support and care for the most vulnerable communities they serve. The line between being queer and being openly queer seems to be blurred. For some it's already being open to actively use queer tags. For others, it starts with reflection and open engagement. I certainly lean towards the latter. It's about self-reflection, engagement and using their institutional voices.

How can we change this?

Firstly, you cannot do it alone. Not as a single library, not as a single person. You need a community. You need communities. Not just to make change happen, but to understand what needs to change and how. Secondly, you need to listen to those who raise their voices on issues and aspects where your first reflex is to say that cannot be considered at the moment, or not until other issues or aspects have been addressed. It's not about doing everything at once, it's about adjusting plans, taking into account multi-faceted and multi-layered perspectives, planning ahead together and giving everyone a say. Third, don't let differences of opinion divide your community. Don't let differences of opinion divide your communities. Look at the bigger picture together. Care for all vulnerable communities. We are all human beings.

When I teach my library and information science students, that's the kind of library I envision, and I hope to inspire them to create it.

people talking about "lesbian rights" going "U CAN'T BE A TRANSMASC/TRANS MEN LESBIAN THAT'S LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE YOU ARE THREATENING ALL OF THE LESBIANS AROUND U!!!!!!!" meanwhile i was at the library earlier and saw one of the staff members with a shaved head had a water bottle with a sticker saying "cultivate lesbian JOY!" and so i decided to go "hey nice i'm a lesbian too!" and that person & the transfem next to them both erupted with joy. nobody got mad about my beard. nobody got mad about how deep my voice is. those two, who are very used to seeing me there as that's where i print labels for my job, were overjoyed to see another lesbian.

i didn't get 20 questions. i didn't get "your voice is deep are you a MAN????" nobody bitched about my facial hair. nobody got mad that a person passing for a cis man at the time said it was a lesbian. instead i received nothing but joy, the others giggling and saying that we were the Lesbian Corner. nobody got mad, there was nothing but joy. a transmasc lesbian & a transfem lesbian shared the exact same joy it it bothered no one. no fighting. NONE. no being mad about my appearance or my voice. this is what lesbian community is REALLY about. diversity among lesbians. accepting lesbians no matter how they look, sound, or what their gender is.

this is the spirit of lesbianism, not getting angry when someone is a lesbian "wrong".