Variant, issue 26, Summer 2006

Variant, issue 26, Summer 2006
http://www.variant.org.uk
...the free, independent, arts magazine. In-depth coverage
in the context of broader social, political & cultural issues.

text : full issue
http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/issue26.html
pdf : full issue http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/
ALL_Variant26.pdf

* Front cover : ScotVEC Module
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/CoverVariant26.pdf

Content

* Ker-Plunk!
Daniel Jewesbury
Belfast city centre has miraculously moved, whilst Ormeau Baths
Gallery has stubbornly remained stationary; it was discovered by Arts
Council of Northern Ireland consultants that it is therefore no
longer conveniently located. Coincidentally, the new city centre is
on land owned by private developers and speculators...
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/OrmeuaB26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/OrmeuaB26.pdf

* Irish Connections: Immigration and the politics of belonging
Bryan Fanning
"Claims of mutual solidarity between different post-colonial
societies with a history of oppression play well as ideological
politics but when tested - say, by the presence of migrants - reveal
the racism and discrimination of one's own society."
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/BFanning26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/BFanning26.pdf

* Nobody has to be vile
Slavoj Zizek
"Liberal communists are top executives reviving the spirit of contest
or, to put it the other way round, countercultural geeks who have
taken over big corporations. Their dogma is a new, postmodernised
version of Adam Smith's invisible hand: the market and social
responsibility are not opposites, but can be reunited for mutual
benefit. As Friedman puts it, nobody has to be vile in order to do
business these days..."
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/SZizek26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/SZizek26.pdf

London Review of Books http://www.lrb.co.uk

* "The Scottish Executive is open for business"
Chik Collins
Focusing attention on the neo-liberal agenda for a step change in
opening up Scotland's communities to private sector penetration,
Collins lays bare the 'fit' between the Scottish Executive's latest
regeneration statement and the economic perspective laid out by the
Royal Bank. "An agenda that can do immense damage across Scotland -
but with particularly unsavoury implications for the poorest
communities in the shorter term."
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/CCollins26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/CCollins26.pdf

illustrations by Peter Kuper - http://www.peterkuper.com

* Turning Things Around
Peter Suchin
Considered review of four pamphlets published in connection with the
South London Radical History Group -- Down with the Fences!: Battles
for the Commons in South London; Nine Days in May: The General Strike
in Southwark; Poor Man's Heaven - The Land of Cokaygne: A 14th
Century Utopian Vision; Reds on the Green: A Short Tour of
Clerkenwell Radicalism.
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/PSuchin26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/PSuchin26.pdf

* Comic & Zine Reviews
Mark Pawson
The pick of an armful of publications from London Zine Symposium and
Reading Frenzy @ Horse Hospital, including: Gum, Nervous System,
Babylon By Bike, Paul's No Good Comics, Savage Messiah, Beat Motel,
Xtra Tuf, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, DIY in PDX, Beyer's Beasts.
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/ComicZine26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/ComicZine26.pdf

http://www.mpawson.demon.co.uk

* Social Capital and Neo-Liberal Voluntarism
Alex Law and Gerry Mooney
Law & Mooney argue that, notwithstanding the near hegemonic use of
the neologism, in its very vacuity lies the widespread ideological
appeal of social capital. In providing a highly circumscribed way to
think and act in terms of social and political mobilisation, its
dominance has had, and is having, worldwide repercussions.
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/LawMooney26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/LawMooney26.pdf

Critique journal : www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/03017605.asp

* Prison Radio versus Panopticism
Tom Allan
Having been a volunteer on Wandsworth prison radio station project, a
thoughtful reflection on its role in seeking to develop prisoners'
personal & technical skills to project their points of view through
the media, and to strengthen the positive bonds connecting them to
society.
Photography by Miguel Ciriza
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/TAllan26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/TAllan26.pdf

* The Internet and Democracy: Beyond the Techno-libertarian Rhetoric
Ann McCluskey
"If engaging with a computer enables 'liberation' and by extension,
democratic good health, then no-one and nothing else need struggle to
maintain a polity. ... But beyond the rhetoric of freedom, and in
light of its commercial as well as social applications, what are the
real possibilities for Internet technology in a democratic realm?"
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/AMcCluskey26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/AMcCluskey26.pdf

accompanying artwork by alhena katsof: and_
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/alhena&whitegrey.pdf

* Showing Rage and Resistance: Bristle
Jamie Dockery
A sharp look at the publication 'Bristle' : political street images &
actions produced in Bristol.
text http://www.variant.org.uk/26texts/bristle26.html
pdf http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue26/bristle26.pdf