 By Marlaina Thorslev, Wasted Ink Zine Librarian For the month of July at WIZD, the zine library has featured anarcho-zines for visitors to peruse. Political activism is and has historically been central to zine culture. Disseminating information about global and local movements, philosophies, and strategies is necessary work that requires DIY and do-it-together networks of writers, activists, printers, and community members to work in collaboration to accomplish. One of the features of zines as a rhetorical and artistic format is a lack of oversight from a publisher. Zinesters are free to write what they want and disseminate it where they want. Dissolving hierarchies, promoting self-governance, and strengthening independent publishing are core anarchist aims. Traditional publishing utilizes a central governing body (the publisher) to selectively platform authors and texts, censor content, and take a commercial approach to the publication of their author’s works.  In the WIZD library you will find anarcho zines about feminist critiques of gendered assault, experiences with mail-order HRT, and commentary about violent attacks on queer communities. There are zines about police violence and the exploitation of incarcerated laborers and zines about civil wars and guerrilla efforts. These zines span decades and borders. Zines are being scrutinized, as they always have, as materials which threaten government power and hegemony through writers’ use of critical analysis and messages of dissent. Especially in light of Des Revol’s recent arrest and sentencing to 30 years in prison for transporting anti-fascist zines in the trunk of his car, anarchist zines are receiving greater mainstream attention. “Zines, like other forms of alternative or radical print media before them, operate with the central objective of evading - and, as a result, subverting - the engines and processes of mass media.” — Of Anarchy and Amateurism: Zine Publication and Print Dissent by Sheila Liming Zines are not intended to profit creators financially. In controlling all aspects of production (e.g., content, materials, assembly, and distribution), creators are solely responsible for what exists in their zines and need not cater to the whims of the market. There is no fear of being demonetized or deplatformed when one is in charge of the creative material from ideation to completion. Political and social trends become nigh irrelevant in zine spaces. Criticism of government and social systems, political dissent, contentious views, and alternative ideologies thrive without the limitations present in traditional publishing or privately-held online platforms. Stories of global resistance to fascism are suppressed, directly and indirectly, by the state and the media, leaving independent actors and groups responsible for disseminating critical information. Zines hold interviews with political prisoners who share their experiences, thus preventing total exile and erasure of incarcerated voices. Resistance movements in countries which are infrequently elevated to the global stage share their struggles and successes in zines.  “Where the Internet creates fragments of ‘users’ complicit with the structure of capitalist society, zines have always been invested in engineering producer/consumer communities meant to disrupt, and disable, that structure. This is the critical difference they bring to the history of print media, and this is the critical angle by which they continue to operate.” — Of Anarchy and Amateurism: Zine Publication and Print Dissent by Sheila Liming
Zines exist in dialogue with one another and the production of a single zine feeds a greater ecosystem of published works which grows as readers become creators. The lack of fixed form and lack of standardization are key components to zines which enable anyone to craft and disseminate their own. Come read from our zine library at Wasted Ink Zine Distro. Our reading library is free to explore during our open hours and we hope that you will spend time learning, thinking, and creating in the spirit of these zines. Next in our Zine Library highlights will be Educational Zines for August. Note: If you would like to send mail to Des to show your support and keep him in community, please refer to the following guidelines and information. Please address your letter to Daniel, Dani, or Des. Interests: Animals/nature, tattooing/drawing, veganism/cooking, motorcycles Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada #95099-511 FCI Victorville Medium II Federal Correctional Institution PO Box 3850 Adelanto, CA 92301 Write only in blue or black ink. Use white, unlined paper. Write only on one side of each sheet. No stickers, glitter, or whiteout. Include his first and last name as well as his ID number, page numbers, date, and a return address at the top of each sheet, as shown below. Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada #95099-511 Page number x/x Date Return address
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |