Re: <eyebeam><blast> diversity and national net.arts

["J. Thorn" <jjthorn@sirius.com>]

RE: scattered speculations on scope and diversity

Although one could argue that something which is the same on its face
but different inside is either diverse or merely scopic, two things
stand out in the conversation.
the first is that the sign- the coke bottle may be the same.  But that
sign has difference within sameness- whether as meaning or actual
content the signifiers are promiscuous. More than linguistic
relationships and captial formations we need to investigate social
process as well.  Any discourse is double edged. 
 Globalization is often an assumption for Westerners whereas in
countries who have only been the objects of the conversation, the
possibility of participation globally is not necessarily negative,
rather it is frought with possible perils. Localization is a way of life
for many countries. The search for lost uniqueness of localized product
is discussed through the western system as reclaming history, pastiche,
and nostalgia. This is the heart of the western postmodern problem of
philosophy- Meyer is wise to remind net readers that the way things are
is quite different when the options are different, whether we are in
Paris or San Francisco or Chiapas.  The Zapatista commandeering of the
Government  of Mexico's web site is a crucial piece of intervention,
using the technology which westerners are finding problematic-- to
exciting ends. Perhaps the problem is that we dont really care about
what is happening to groups of Maya in Chaipas. :ife is often separated
from theory in the Western ideological system.  It is not an abstraction
for Maya who have experienced systematic destruction of their cultural
system for more than 500 years. They are fighting not so much against
tyranny as for life, even though those two things may intersect. That is
not to say that we should not address the world from our point of
understanding, but others may not see it the same way who do not operate
within the same system of values that we have. We need to hear them
speak.  For that we need a common language--.  For them as well as us,
the one world idea may well be utopian- 
The one aspect of diversity that is constant is change within systems of
power.  Cubans have a saying: the thing  is not to die. Although the net
may become a stranglehold a bit further on from now, it provides at this
moment a possibility for carnival and expression. The substance of the
conversation on this site has been productive- using the very tools we
are critiquing.  
judith thorn
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