[Air-l] Fwd: closing shop here

[Radhika Gajjala]

fyi



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>Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 09:07:48 -0500
>To:     postcolonial at lists.village.Virginia.EDU
>From:   Radhika Gajjala <radhika at cyberdiva.org>
>Subject: closing shop here
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>Dear all,
>
>It has been a pleasure to learn about listing and moderating and to engage 
>in discussion here on the postcolonial list these past 9 years since I 
>took up the task of facilitating the list. I am now leaving Spoon and will 
>also no longer be moderating the postcolonial list. I have various 
>interfaces already in existence that are mutations and per - mutations of 
>my interests in postcolonial theory and the internet etc and those exist 
>outside spoon and will continue in  various form(at)s - so I am not 
>altogether disappearing from cyberspace.
>
>My work with the spoon collective has allowed to me to continue 
>investigations regarding the email list interface, management, moderation 
>and communication. I have encountered all sorts of people and machines. I 
>started the third-world-women list, women-writing-culture list and the 
>sa-cyborgs list because of spoon (some histories of these spaces are 
>available in my book cyberselves) - all these are now silent and closed 
>down by default sorta. I may consider re-starting an offshoot of 
>sa-cyborgs via yahoo or something sometime next year - or not. Meanwhile 
>those interested are welcome to participate in my blogspaces, my 
>theoryhead formations and so on (see links in sig file).
>
>Below is a message from Malgosia Arkansas of Spoon explaining our 
>collective decision to shut down:
>
>
>>This decision is part of a wider set of decisions having to do with the
>>present circumstances of the Spoon Collective.  The Collective, of which I am
>>the sole surviving founder, has been operating continually for over 10 years.
>>Of the 8 people who currently constitute it, 3 have been in it basically from
>>the very beginning, and almost all the others for almost as long.
>>
>>When the Spoon Collective was originally created, a crucial aspect of its 
>>life
>>was our own passionate involvement in the lists we created or took over.
>>As  vehicles for bringing into mutual contact and confrontation thinking
>>people from all over the computerized world - people from astoundingly
>>different walks of life and with astoundingly different ways of thinking,
>>but with a shared passion for more accurate perception and deeper 
>>understanding
>>- these lists seemed to us to present a stupendous potential for evolving
>>new modes of thought and new modes of life.  And it is essential to note that
>>when we were motivated by a thirst for new modes of thought and life, it was
>>for _ourselves_ that we wanted them.  Our project was not about providing a
>>public or academic or political service, discharging a societal duty, or
>>providing platforms for this or that political organization or orientation -
>>rather, it was about changing life - the life we think and live - right 
>>at the
>>present moment.
>>
>>Over the years, however, our relationship with our lists gradually changed,
>>and we now find our collective endeavor basically reduced to an indifferent
>>performance of a not-excessively-bothersome piece of labor.  The reasons for
>>this are undoubtedly complex - the first and simplest one, perhaps, being 
>>that
>>the same group of people has been doing the same thing for 10 years.  If our
>>goal had been less the stability of existing lists and more the preservation
>>of our own passion, we probably could have done better.  In any case, we find
>>ourselves a bunch of burnt out and apathetic bureaucrats.
>>
>>I personally find thie prolongation of this situation no longer tolerable or
>>sensical.  As a result, I have (1) announced that I am quitting the Spoon
>>Collective; (2) decided to close down a number of lists that I have been
>>responsible for; and (3) declared the end of the Spoon Collective as a
>>certain historic formation, and stipulated that the name no longer be 
>>used for
>>whatever the present members may undertake in the future.
>>
>>A number of the other members of Spoon have expressed an interest in either
>>continuing their present lists or initiating other collective projects at
>>Virginia.  We very much hope that no matter what develops, the Spoon 
>>archives,
>>which, in large part, constitute an eminently useful and fascinating 
>>resource,
>>can continue to be housed in their present location.  In addition, a copy
>>of the archives is being installed at the domain driftline.org, where they
>>will soon be accessible over the Web.
>>
>>Yours,
>>Malgosa Askanas
>
>
>Radhika Gajjala
>http://www.cyberdiva.org
>blogs: http://www.cyberdiva.org/cyberdiv/october
>research and teaching: http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik
>Collaborations on Theory heads, MOOing and tinymushing -
>http://lingua.utdallas.edu:7000/4425
>"Object Stares Back" at http://cyberdiva.mudmagic.com/
>http://www.pmcmoo.org:7788/16287
>
>
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