To:

Zcom_simple
Home » Z Blogs » Justin Agnostic's Blog » Gender, Race and Znet: Concern about our demographics

Hello,

Blogs are a familiar feature on the internet - where users post content in an accumulating manner, with comments, and search options, etc. They facilitate expression and exploration, and via attached comments, also debate and synthesis.


Reading and
Navigating Blogs

Our blogs are quite powerful. Each writer can post, as is typically the case. Sustainers who have the option can also post, however. All Blogs appear in the blog system, and sometimes also in content boxes the top page of ZNet - and always via the left menu of the top page - and can be found via searches, etc.

Commenting on blogs follows the blogs, attached at the bottom, and blog comments, like all others, are also visible in many places that show comments including in the forum system. In addition, the entire blog system gathers content for everyone - but one can look at the accumulating content in many ways.

  • For example one can look at one writer's efforts - so one is seeing what is effectively a blog system for that one writer, or Sustainer.
  • One can also look at the content by topic, seeing blogs that are tagged as being about a certain topic - or place, as well. Thus, when doing that, it is a blog system about a topic, or a place, with many contributors.
  • One can look at only writer blogs, or only sustainer blogs, as well.
  • One can look at blogs for particular Groups, too.

All this is easily done using the left menu. Searches allow even more variables and refinements.


Creating Blog Posts

If you are a Sustainer with permission, and are logged in, you will see a link in the left menu for you to post a blog - and you can use that to post one, and then tag it various ways (such as with a topic or place, or a group tag), and once you do, it is in the system with you as the author.

You can also use the console button to the left to post a blog - anytime and from anywhere in the site, as long as you are logged in.

Meanwhile, enjoy the blogs - and, by the way, if you are a Free Member or a Sustainer with a ZSpace page, of course you can put one or more content boxes on it, pulling blog links of any sort you may want to filter for, for example, by you or by your friends or by others - and by topic, about places, for groups, etc.

Blogs

589149

Justin Agnostic's Blog

Web Address: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/justin.agnostic
Bio: I am of a Socialist, on the more libertarian side of the socialist spectrum.       (More)

All Agnostic Blogs

Recent Agnostic Content

Zblogpost_icon Blog Posts

Gender, Race and Znet: Concern about our demographics

By Justin Agnostic at Mar 26, 2008

PDF Version

Printer Friendly Version
Change Text Size a- | A+

Let me make first make a disclaimer, the factual basis of this article is only my impressionistic take on the names and photos of z-sustainers, as well as those of the Znet writers:  I take it to be distinctively white and male, with a significant international presences, but lacking the voices of both women, and people of color from the United States.  Second let me say that I think that Znet is currently functioning as a new critical theory developing community.  It concerns me that if my impression is correct that we the Zmag community are missing out on the input and perspectives of people of color and women.

Race, gender and class are all independent but overlapping structures of power and opression.  Not only does a lack of focus on gender and race leave oppression that a great mass of people face undelt with in theoretical sense, but since power and class have a racialized and gendered character class theory developed without sufficient imput by people who study, and are themselves oppressed by gender and race heirachies will likely missunderstand  how class actually functions in most peoples lives and even how class functions as a channel of power in society.  If we the Znet community are engaged in reformulating class theory and politics (which is what I think Znet is doing) that project should really involve more people of color and women.

I am not accusing Znet of class reductionism.  Nor do I think that white men should not participate - I myself am a white male heterosexual lefty intellectual, exactly the demographic I think is most present in the Znet community.  I just think we should take the issue seriously and try to recruit more women and people of color to join as sustainers and writers in Zmag.  Perhaps we should create a focused forum on caste either race or gender based or both, that could have a similar place in Znet as the ParEcon project has currently.  That is just an off the cuff suggestion - please feel free to comment and/or suggest other tacts for dealing with the issue.


Justin

Comment On This Blog Post  See All Comments (3)

589149

Re: Gender, Race and Znet: Concern about our demographics

By Agnostic, Justin at Mar 28, 2008 01:06 AM

To Michael Albert:

I do not think your work or the dominant impulse of Znet/mag is economistic, on the contrary I have found the work here, largely to be self consciously dynamic and rigorous in critique of distinct but intertwined structures of power.

I am glad to hear that the community is cognizant off and has taken corrective action to correct the problem.  It might be all the more disturbing though to know that disparities continue to persist despite this.

Justin

 

Reply this comment

1

Re: Gender, Race and Znet: Concern about our demographics

By Albert, Michael at Mar 27, 2008 07:10 AM
The imbalance is very disturbing to us as well... by us I mean the people who work at Z, ZNet, etc. But honestly, it certainly doesn\'t derive from our editorial inclinations. Quite the contrary - essays by constituencies that are oppressed - including but not confined to women and people of color, are far more likely to appear than similar essays by people from more dominant communities. The problem is a lack of submissions... which is even more upsetting. Explaining it is quite hard, I think, and an open issue. But if you look at my work and that of a great many other people who regularly contribute to our online and print publishing, I think you will see that it is aggressively anti economistic and, instead, strongly oriented to what we might call a holistic approach of the sort you desire. In fact, I would go so far as to say we have been in the forefront of that effort as far back as the late 1960s and right to the present. Why then, there aren\'t more women and people from oppressed communities submitting pieces - honestly, I don\'t know. But of those who are, the percentage accepted is far higher than for white males.

Reply this comment

Z

By George, Justin at Mar 27, 2008 06:00 AM

Hi Justin,

Ive noticed this too, but I haven\'t really explored the sustainer pages past those that appear on the top page of ZNet or who post blogs.

Perhaps sustainer incentives should be available to women and people of colour? More access or less costs to sign up? Perhaps advertising or interaction with other websites or magazines that cover women or race specific issues?

Id be curious if this is just impressions or the actual case with the new ZNet launch and if so, what Znet staff and sustainers may already be doing to help correct the situation. Perhaps created a forum topic asking for ideas or as a means for discussion\\

Cheers

Justin

Reply this comment

Loading_border