Hi everyone, thanks so much for all your reading suggestions and feedback on the Getting Started post.
Based on your feedback, we propose a cluster of readings that relate to race and technoscience, centered on a new book by Ruha Benjamin, which a number of you expressed an interest in reading: Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code (Polity, 2019).
Target reading
(Introduction and Chapter 1 only)
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Supplementary readings
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Reading pdfs are available to group members as attachments to the Doc at https://hcommons-staging.org/docs/reading-list/
To do
- Please read the target reading and one of the supplementary readings and make one (or more) written contribution to the site by the end of January. Formally speaking, anything goes, of any length: comments/replies to this post, summaries, reviews, blog posts, fully fledged essays, suggested pathways through the proposed readings, further reading, listening examples, etc.
- Let us know with a Humanities Commons DM if you are able to make Wednesday February 5 at 12 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. GMT for a planning videoconference. It shouldn’t last longer than an hour this time. We hope this time slot can work for most of our members, which are currently split over a number of timezones. Attendance is not a condition of group membership, but is strongly encouraged.
Notes
These readings, you’ll notice, do not address sound or music head-on. This is by design. We’d like to provoke written responses to any of the themes in the readings with an ear for sound and/or music, and your own expertise/interests.
Some starting provocations (please suggest/modify as needed)
- How does consideration of the (technologically mediated) musician/listener enrich, complement, or complicate recent race-critical writing about technology?
- Conversely, where can race-critical strategies and outlooks be found in recent writing about (technologically mediated) sound, music, and listening? More critically, where are they missing?
- Where do specific examples of work and/or play with sound fit into all of this?
Meta/Group admin
- A full code of conduct is forthcoming. In lieu of that, please bear in mind the following principles and policies: Behave justly; never engage in, tolerate, or condone harassment of group members – of any kind – on or off this platform. The group admins reserve the right to remove any posted material or group members at any stage and for any reason.
- Our current idea is that a selection of readings (of comparable heft to the above) will be chosen and go live (“now playing”) for a month or so, after which time, we’ll switch to another cluster of readings (decided by the group).
- During the month, the readings are the focal point for online and offline discussion by group members. Some months may see group members elect to take on a peer-leadership role, especially where the topics of the proposed readings intersect with their personal expertise(s).
- Midway through each month, we’ll have an “all-hands” videoconference where we can discuss our progress so far, plan for the month ahead, and deal with any admin things that arise.
- We’ll use Google Hangouts (for which you’ll need a GMail account) for now because we’re most familiar with it but if you have suggestions for an alternative platform that can deal with 6-10 video participants reasonably well, please let us know.
- These organisational principles are subject to tweaking as we understand the needs and preferences of the group, and all suggestions for change are welcome.
- If you’re just joining the group, please leave a comment introducing yourself over at the Getting Started post and/or message Eamonn or Ezra on Humanities Commons if you need any help or have any question at all.
— Eamonn and Ezra