Berlin, February 04, 2017, http://transmediale.de
First the three panelists each had 10-15 minute presentations, followed by a longer discussion, all moderated by Krystian Woznicki.
Jutta Weber talked about technology, the fact that technology is not neutral. She talked about databases and their never-ending-list-like structure that is very different from the narrative storytelling inherent in prior, non-digital forms of media (ref. Lev Manovich). I felt by this she was hinting at the lack of a grand narrative (ref. Jean-Francois Lyotard), but also at the disintegration of narrative communication reduced to binary selections on the local community level.
Natalie Fenton talked about the internet, the hopes that were put into it, and the disappointment that followed. In fact, the internet just reproduced existing social divides, even worse, it emphasized them. Her response is a turn towards a grassroots activism and participatory practices: Academics cannot “tell” the disenfranchised that they are, but they must go into the field, and help where help, material help, is needed. Generating just a slight improvement can hopefully lead to emancipatory situations inducing the disenfranchised towards pulling themselves out of the swamp by pulling their own hair.
Robert Latham was the political theorist among the three. He presented a nice overview of more or less failed approaches that the left tried out in countering capitalism. The most viable and least discredited seemed the one focusing on the creation of localized ruptures and temporary zones with the hope of slowly enlarging the holes within the net of capitalist relations.
In the end, the three of them, together with the audience, discussed how to move toward the leftist dream. The idea of local activism and community engagement seemed important. Latham and Fenton also emphasized that one needs to have a long term view, and be willing to acknowledge that the left struggle might go on for a long time if not for ever. Seeing it as a never-ending process prevents the disappointment that one gets when results don’t materialize. I saw this as a very nice thought, especially within the festival full of radical artists and doers, who are often much too impatient to see “results”. Extrapolating on the line of thought, I think that even the idea of “results” and “quick solutions” is something that has been transplanted into our brains via a capitalist ideology of ever-continuing growth. Not scrambling for quick “results” might be the best answer the left can give to the urge of the extreme right and the overall capitalist logic to do so. The struggle will go on forever, and must go on forever. Because neither a totalitarian left nor a totalitarian right is what we need.
