From: L-Soft list server at St. John's University (1.8c) To: Ian Pitchford Subject: File: "SCI-CULT LOG9606" Date: Sunday, September 27, 1998 12:24 PM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 19:08:16 -0500 Reply-To: jlhollin@mailbox.syr.edu Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: jude Subject: Must see web site: complexity threshold "The Complexity Threshold: a thesis by David Johnson and Eric Tachibana for the George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs Dept. of Science, Technology and Public Policy Master's Program" I'd like to share the following URL- http://www.eff.org/~erict/Personal/Prose/Complexity_threshold/ This appears to be a joint Masters thesis by two of the best programers on the internet (Selena Sol is the name one of the two goes by). It combines their actual thesis with chat rooms, bulletin boards, bibliography, and "net culture" research links. While the substance may not be of interest, log this one as a great example of the potential (actuality, even) of the web as a medium. All you really want for this site is Netscape 2. -jude -- Jude Lynell Hollins Doctoral Student, Cultural Foundations of Education Syracuse University 844.5 Sumner Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 315-423-3734 jlhollin@mailbox.syr.edu http://web.syr.edu/~jlhollin/ joseki1@aol.com Charter School Researching web-site http://csr.syr.edu/ Work: Educational Resource Center, SU School of Education 315-443-3800 http://soeweb.syr.edu/ erc@sued.syr.edu ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 14 Mar 1996 16:47:20 +0000 Reply-To: CSSSP CSEC E-List distrib Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: CSSSP CSEC E-List distrib Subject: Simulation & Science Studies - new email list started X-To: STS@CCTR.UMKC.EDU, mersenne@mailbase.ac.uk NEW EMAIL LIST ON SCIENCE STUDIES AND COMPUTER SIMULATION Since the 1950s, various computer simulation techniques have become increasingly important research tools across a wide range of natural (and social) sciences. Software packages based on these techniques are also widely used in more applied fields such as engineering, finance, or environmental management, often in connection with computerised databases and electronic data gathering devices. We are trying to get in touch with other people working in the broad area of Science Studies / ST&S / HPS, who are interested in the issues raised by these modelling techniques, and who would like to join a special interest email list. Our intention is that by having a relatively narrow focus to the list, there will be a good chance of having lively debate of interest to most subscribers. The list will be useful for: - exchange of ideas about computer simulation - passing on details of books and articles. - announcements of relevant conferences etc. To join the list, please send email containing only the words: subscribe simulist to the address majordomo@lists.lancs.ac.uk (No subject line necessary) Please pass on this message to anyone who may be interested. Thankyou, Andy Baxter, Centre for Science Studies and Science Policy, Lancaster University, U.K. (A.Baxter@lancaster.ac.uk) Deborah Dowling, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia (deb_dowling.hps@muwaye.unimelb.edu.au) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 14 Jun 1996 23:01:03 -0700 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: janet atkinson-grosjean Subject: SaC: 'Fragile X' screening Apologies for any cross-posting, but I'm surprised not to have heard more about this. Does anyone else find it distasteful, or am I overeacting? Jan There is an article in the (English) Sunday Times of June 9 1996 on proposed mass screening for a so-called *delinquency* gene. "One in 259 women is thought to carry the genetic premutation linked to a defect called Fragile X syndrome." The Health Department has commissioned a #100,000 study to investigate ways of testing all potential carriers, estimated to run into tens of thousands Because there is no treatment available for the genetic defect, critics are calling the proposed screening unethical and immoral, since the outcomewould be either abortion or social stigmatization. Further, all prisonerswill soon have to give DNA samples which will allow doctors to test for the incidence of Fragile X. Is anyone aware of any recent discussions of the ethical ramifications of this screening program? ========================================================================= Janet Atkinson-Grosjean Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Simon Fraser U. at Harbour Centre 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3 HOME: 18 Quebec Way, Point Roberts, WA, 98281 Phone/ Fax 360-945-0850 E-Mail: or ========================================================================== ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 21:05:31 +0200 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Arie Dirkzwager Subject: Re: SaC: 'Fragile X' screening At 23:01 14-06-96 -0700, Janet Atkinson-Grosjean wrote: >Apologies for any cross-posting, but I'm surprised not to have heard more >about this. Does anyone else find it distasteful, or am I overeacting? Jan > >There is an article in the (English) Sunday Times of June 9 1996 on proposed >mass screening for a >so-called *delinquency* gene. "One in 259 women is thought to carry the >genetic premutation linked to a defect called Fragile X syndrome." The >Health Department has commissioned a #100,000 study to investigate ways of >testing all potential carriers, -----Interesting from a pure scientific point of view, otherwise disgusting: might have quite immoral applications. Is the interest of the Health Departement purely scientific? Is the Justice Departement interested? And the police? Would reproduction with this gene be a crime? Arie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 10:41:15 -0700 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Mihai Christodorescu Subject: The multiple faces of "'Fragile X' screening" In-Reply-To: <199606150605.XAA22966@acme.sb.west.net> Hi all! I am not an expert in genetics. The experiments described below may be of some use only if they lead to a morally correct and socially efficient solution. If the so-called `deliquency' gene is really responsible for anti-social acts (whatever they might be), a really good solution will be finding a way to "cut" that gene off or at least diminish its action. That is, apply some genetic engineering to prevent the deliquents from developping. I don't know if at the current level of scientific advance this is possible. But I suppose in the (near) future it would be. Anyway, the social stigmatization and/or birth-control screening sound more like a concentation-camp experiment that a 90s medical & social program. Mihai Christodorescu email : mihai@west.net real mail : 221 Estancia Place, Camarillo, CA www page : http://www.west.net/~mihai - powered by Linux ............................................ . There are no data that cannot be plotted . . on a straight line if the axis are . . chosen correctly . ............................................ On Fri, 14 Jun 1996, Janet Atkinson-Grosjean wrote: > Apologies for any cross-posting, but I'm surprised not to have heard more > about this. Does anyone else find it distasteful, or am I overeacting? Jan > > There is an article in the (English) Sunday Times of June 9 1996 on proposed > mass screening for a > so-called *delinquency* gene. "One in 259 women is thought to carry the > genetic premutation linked to a defect called Fragile X syndrome." The > Health Department has commissioned a #100,000 study to investigate ways of > testing all potential carriers, estimated to run into tens of thousands > Because there is no treatment available for the genetic defect, critics are > calling the proposed screening unethical and immoral, since the outcomewould > be either abortion or social stigmatization. Further, all prisonerswill soon > have to give DNA samples which will allow doctors to test for the incidence > of Fragile X. Is anyone aware of any recent discussions of the ethical > ramifications of this screening program? > ========================================================================== > Janet Atkinson-Grosjean > Graduate Liberal Studies Program, Simon Fraser U. at Harbour Centre > 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5K3 > HOME: 18 Quebec Way, Point Roberts, WA, 98281 Phone/ Fax 360-945-0850 > E-Mail: or > =========================================================================== ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 08:51:11 +0200 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: sudent Organization: Informatikcentret Subject: Science-as-culture X-cc: dapu@ic.kk.dk I would like to subscribe to Science-as-culture anyway. Sorry for the inconvince. Christina Hansen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 07:35:32 EST Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: "AUDREY B. DAVIS" Organization: UNIVERSITY OF MD DENTAL SCHOOL Subject: Re: SCIENCE-AS-CULTURE Digest - 11 Jun 1996 to 15 Jun 1996 X-To: Automatic digest processor Why do you want to hide from the truth? If there is a gene for anything why shouldn't the bearer know about it, even if there is no so-called cure? If I bore a gene for aberrant behavior it would help me to know so that I could take steps to control or at least alert my friends and cohorts to help me deal with this potential problem before I got into trouble. As for the abortion issue if my mother knew that I was going to be born with a serious physical or mental problem which could not be treated satisfactorily and I had a say in the matter I would say she should abort me. We all have family histories which it would be well to understand and follow professional advice in preventing or minimizing future disasters. In my case diabetes, high cholesterol, etc have killed off many family members and it would be foolish for me to ignore this background and eat inappropriately, not exercise, and not keep my weight under control, difficult as these measures may be to accomplish. Audrey Davis ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 06:40:17 -0700 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Jeff Kane Subject: Aberrant Behavior Gene Let's suppose there is a cut-and-dried gene for aberrant behavior, just as we believed thirty years ago that the XYY pattern dictated sociopathy. What do we do with that info? Maybe we screen all fetuses and abort the positives, or stake out the homes of adults with that gene. My question is this: why do we confine our search to aberrancies and disease? Why don't we look for genius genes as well? Since in the rich human genome we all probably have some of these plus a few clinkers as well, the snuffing of aberrancies will eventually affect most of us. If we'd weeded out manic-depressives, for example, we'd never have heard Liszt's etudes or been dazzled by Van Gogh. We'll prune away "disease" without advancing our humanity. - Jeff Kane MD ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 09:07:49 -0400 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Lucas Parra Subject: Re: The multiple faces of "'Fragile X' screening" > On Fri, 14 Jun 1996, Janet Atkinson-Grosjean wrote: > > > Apologies for any cross-posting, but I'm surprised not to have heard more > > about this. Does anyone else find it distasteful, or am I overeacting? Jan I certainly do! From: Mihai Christodorescu > > If the so-called `deliquency' gene is really responsible for anti-social > acts (whatever they might be), a really good solution will be finding a way > to "cut" that gene off or at least diminish its action. That is, apply some > genetic engineering to prevent the deliquents from developping. The very notion that a single gene could explain a social behavior shows to me how far the mechanistic view on the human being has developed in the science community. We don't even fully understand the most simple truly mechanical processes in nature and dare to think the human psyche can be explained by a few molecules, please! Are we not just starting to understand simple "complex systems"? I would challenge any study that claims to prove any statistical correlation pointing to such a conclusion. Rather than thinking about the social and moral implications of such a result we should make sure the researches did their math properly. That would certainly be a appropriate "moral" response of a scientific culture. I'm not scared by the truth but by the ignorance. Lucas Parra PS: The human is defined by its ability to change its environment and his own nature, rather than by any given preconditions. Our historic horizon allows us to envision and work for or better world. Any limitation of the human to a given "nature" is dehumanizing. ---------- Sci.Opinions - http://humanism.org/opinions ---------- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 16:21:46 GMT Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Sally Wyatt Organization: University Of East London Subject: Is there a future for the sociology of scientific knowledge Conference announcement: IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE? Saturday, September 7, 1996, London, UK This one day conference will explore the direction and dynamism of SSK. It will begin with a morning plenary, opened by Steve Woolgar addressing the question posed by the title of the conference. Barry Barnes, Wiebe Bijker and Sandra Harding will respond before the discussion is opened to all participants. In the afternoon, there will be three streams: SSK and related disciplines; alternative epistimologies; and, the challenge of technology studies. Speakers include: Steve Woolgar, Is there a future for the sociology of scientific knowledge? Barry Barnes, Catching up with Robert Merton: social theory and the sociology of science Sandra Harding, The sociology of scientific knowledge and other local knowledge systems: issues and challenges Wiebe Bijker, Studying technological culture - moving SSK and technology studies to a new agenda Robert Evans, Simon Guy and Simon Marvin, Beyond the empirical programme of relativism: symmetry, neutrality and SSK in the policy- making process Michael Rustin, 'Give me a consulting room'... psychoanalysis and science studies Carlos Lopez Beltran, Epistemological and ethical debates in the core-periphery debates in the history and sociology of scientific knowledge Mammo Muchie, Is a reconciliation between enlightenment science and non-western science possible? Les Levidow, Biotechnology risk regulation: de/politicising uncertainty? Richard Hull, The role of critique in SSK: governmentality and the techno-economic paradigm The conference is organised by the Departments of Innovation Studies and Sociology, University of East London. The language of the conference is English. For fuller details of the programme and a registration form, please contact: Joan Tremble, East London Business Services, University of East London, Longbridge Road, Dagenham, Essex RM8 2AS, England tel: +44 181 849 3460 fax: +44 181 849 3619 email: tremble@uel.ac.uk Fee: stlg.29.50 (incl. VAT & lunch) Sally Wyatt, Dep't of Innovation Studies, University of East London, Maryland House, Manbey Park Road, London, E15 1EY, UK tel: +44 (0)181 849 3675/6 fax: +44 (0)181 849 3677 Sally Wyatt, Dep't of Innovation Studies, University of East London, Maryland House, Manbey Park Road, London, E15 1EY, UK tel: +44 (0)181 849 3675/6 fax: +44 (0)181 849 3677 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 09:21:52 -0700 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Ron Roizen Subject: Re: Aberrant Behavior Gene Jeff Kane wrote: >Let's suppose there is a cut-and-dried gene for aberrant behavior, >just as we believed thirty years ago that the XYY pattern dictated >sociopathy. What do we do with that info? Maybe we screen all >fetuses and abort the positives, or stake out the homes of adults >with that gene. > >My question is this: why do we confine our search to aberrancies and >disease? Why don't we look for genius genes as well? Since in the >rich human genome we all probably have some of these plus a few >clinkers as well, the snuffing of aberrancies will eventually affect >most of us. If we'd weeded out manic-depressives, for example, >we'd never have heard Liszt's etudes or been dazzled by Van Gogh. >We'll prune away "disease" without advancing our humanity. >- Jeff Kane MD > Hi Jeff... You raise an important question. It is much easier to define "problems" than "aspirations" in a democratic, secular state and society. Both kinds of defining acts of course involve normative dimensions, aesthetics, etc.--if we pushed our analysis to an abstract-enough level, they become the same acts. But public "problems" in effect mask their normative dimensions and engage consensus (or at least public acquiescence) better than public "aspirations" do. It is easier to be against crime than for art, against disease than for the space program. The public need to address an evil is regarded as more compelling than the public need to further a good. Moreover, efforts to further a good often fall prey to rhetorical attacks footed in this differential: "Isn't it more important that we address [fill-in problem assertion] before we [fill-in proposed aspiration enterprise]." There is something profound and fundamental in this asymmetry -- and I can't help but feel that it supplies one of the deep sources of the cultural ennui that the secular state and secular civil society are prone to. The growth of knowledge on genetics and the popular attention to this domain has provided perhaps the clearest symbolic venue for this dilemma. For another view of the issue you might take a look at Troy Duster's book, _Backdoor Eugenics_--which makes the argument that addressing genetic research toward the cure of heritable illness is also and inevitably an exercise in "eugenics" and ultimately raises the ugly problems associated with that long-discredited term. Ron -- Ron Roizen voice: 510-848-9123 fax: 510-848-9210 home: 510-848-9098 1818 Hearst Ave. Berkeley, CA 94703 U.S.A. rroizen@ix.netcom.com -- Ron Roizen voice: 510-848-9123 fax: 510-848-9210 home: 510-848-9098 1818 Hearst Ave. Berkeley, CA 94703 U.S.A. rroizen@ix.netcom.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 10:48:27 -0600 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Lisa Rogers Subject: SAC 'Fragile X' I doubt that a reasonable assessment of the 'evidence' would find any alleged association between any gene and 'delinquency' to be supportable. It seems to be a common belief that genes specifically control behaviors, perhaps more so among politically conservative cop-types than among biologists. Of course there is money available for funding such "research" because... ?? Perhaps because some people are interested in trying to justify the present class system. Blaming the victims and pretending that there is nothing we can do is simply to support the status quo. If social organization has nothing to do with behavior, then we don't have to worry about changing any social factors. Everything we _do_ have stacks of evidence about shows that there are already known things that have major, obvious effects on delinquency that are not genetic at all. But the social factors that _are_ known to have huge effects are the very things that some dominant forces in the culture and government do not want to address. The search for genetic causes of delinquency distracts attention from the real causes, and so is not a "good solution". Lisa Rogers Mihai Christodorescu wrote: I am not an expert in genetics. The experiments described below may be of some use only if they lead to a morally correct and socially efficient solution. If the so-called `deliquency' gene is really responsible for anti-social acts (whatever they might be), a really good solution will be finding a way to "cut" that gene off or at least diminish its action. That is, apply some genetic engineering to prevent the deliquents from developping. [snip] Mihai Christodorescu ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 15:37:01 +0000 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Robert Maxwell Young Subject: Support the journal I write to urge all subscribers to the science-as-culture email forum to become subscribers to the hard copy print journal of the same name. If you already subscribe, please get your institution to do so, persuade your friends, make a gift of a subscription to a friend or lovedone. We are very proud of the journal and believe that its readers value it highly, but we need to bring up the subscription base to an economic level. Please support our work in this tangible way and please do so now. _Science as Culture_ explores the role of expertise in shaping the values which contend for influence over the wider society. The journal analyses how our scientific culture defines what is rational, and what is natural. SaC provides a unique, accessible forum for debate, beyond the boundaries of academic disciplines and specializations. Contributors have included: Vincent Mosco, Donna Haraway, Richard Barbrook, Langdon Winner, Michael Chanan, Sarah Franklin, Michael Shortland.Steve Best & Douglas Kellner. Roger Smith, Mary Mellor, Scott L. Montgomery, Roger Silverstone, Bruce Berman, Ashis Nandy, Jack Kloppenburg, Jr, Les Levidow, Christopher Hamlin, Philip Garrahan & Paul Stewart, Maureen McNeil, Barbara Duden, Andrew Ross, Dennis Hayes, Kevin Robins & Frank Webster, David Pingitore, Jon Turney, Stephen Hill & Tim Turpin, Chunglin Kwa, Joel Kovel, David Hakken, Robert M. Young. The journal has published articles on mass-media representations of expertise, the political role of radio, human and agricultural biotechnologies, cultures of workplace automation, the metaphors central to scientific knowledge, artificial intelligence, images of the scientist in film and theatre, etc. Twenty-five issues have appeared so far. Editor: Robert M. Young Managing Editor: Les Levidow Board: Sarah Franklin, Pam Linn, Maureen McNeil Advisory Panel: Tom Athanasou, Roger Cooter, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Stephen Cross, Norman Diamond, David Dickson, Karl Figlio, Marike Finlay, Donna Haraway, Ludmilla Jordanova, Anne Karpf, Douglas Kellner, Sonia Liff, Vincent Mosco, Dorothy Nelkin, David Noble, Don Parson, Barry Richards, Eveleen Richards, Kevin Robins, Roger Smith, Tony Solomonides, Judy Wajcman, Gary Werskey, Judith Williamson, Langdon Winner _Science as Culture_ is published quarterly, and each issue contains 160 pages. Subscription may begin with any issue. (L1.00 British pound sterling = about $1.55) Subscriptions for United Kingdom: L25 individual for four issues, L42.50 for eight issues; L50 institutional for four issues, L85 for eight issues Overseas: L30 for four issues, L50 for eight issues. All prices include postage. Air Mail L10 extra. Orders to Science as Culture, Worldwide Subscription Service Ltd., Unit 4, Gibbs Reed Farm, Ticehurst, TN5 7HE, England. Tel. +01580 200657 Fax. +01580 200616. Payment should be in sterling or US dollars or by credit card (Visa/Barclaycard/MasterCard/Access/Amex). If payment is made in another currency, add the equivalent of L5. to cover conversion charges. Subscriptions for the USA, Canada/Mexico: $30 individual USA, $45 Canada/Mexico; $65 institutional USA, $80 institutional Canada/Mexico. All prices include postage. Order from Guilford Publications, Inc., 72 Spring Street, New York, N. Y., USA. Tel. (212) 431 9800; (800) 365 7006; Fax. (212) 966 6708. Payment should be in US dollars or by credit card (American Express/MasterCard/Visa). Send for a free sample copy and for a free list of contents of all issues, specifying which are still available. Back issues are L7.50 each for non-subscribers, L4.00 for subscribers; LL0.75 for institutions. Available from Science as Culture, 26 Freegrove Road, London N7 9RQ. Tel. +44 171 607 8306 Fax. +44 171 609 4837 email pp@rmy1.demon.co.uk. A web site associated with the forum holds articles from back issues of the journal, as well as submissions under consideration (not obligatory), whose authors may benefit from constructive comments for purposes of revisions before the hard copy is printed, as well as longer piece not suitable for the email format which forum members may wish to discuss: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/rmy/sac.html Future issues include: 'Sex in the age of virtual reality' by Slavoj Zizek 'Living in the MUD' by Sherry Turkle' 'Naming the Heavens' by Scott Montgomery 'Policing expertise' by Derrick Purdue 'Constructing Engineers' by Gary Lee Downey 'A Spoonful of Blood: Haitians, Racism and AIDS' by Laurent Dubois 'Death Comes Alive: Technology and the Re-Conception of Death' by Karen Cerulo 'Suppression of Invention' by Stephen DeMeo 'Ecologists as Environmental Consultants' by Richard Emery 'Male Infertility' by Kirsten Dwight 'The Water Closet' by Marja Gastelaars 'The Californian Ideology' by Richard Barbrook & Andy Cameron 'The Good, the Bad and the Transgenic' by eather Dietrich 'Psychiatry as Social Control'by Richard Gosden 'The Chances of Losing Your Baby' by Birenbaum-Carmeli & Carmeli 'Reading Biosphere 2' by Megan Stern 'The Social Construction of Farm Pollution' by Philip Lowe and Neil Ward 'Laughing Gas: Democracy without Feeling' by Santiago Colas Back issues are (British pounds sterling) L7.50 each for non-subscribers, L4.00 for subscribers; L10.75 for institutions. Available from Science as Culture, 26 Freegrove Road, London N7 9RQ. Tel. +0171 607 8306 Fax. +0171 609 4837 email pp@rmy1.demon.co.uk The editors welcome comments on the journal and suggestions for topics to be pursued. Send your articles and notes. Volunteer to review for it. Support the project, please. Bob Young, Editor robert@rmy1.demon.co.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 10:06:27 +0000 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Robert Maxwell Young Subject: History of Science and Medicine Refgerence Sources A web site providing a bibliography, approx 70K, of various reference sources on the history of science and history of medicine, not including names/addresses of current journals, can be found at http://gort.ucsd.edu/ds/initial.html __________________________________________ | Robert Maxwell Young: robert@rmy1.demon.co.uk | 26 Freegrove Rd., London N7 9RQ, England | tel. +44 171 607 8306 fax. +44 171 609 4837 | Professor of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Studies, | Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies, University of Sheffield | Home page and writings: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/ | Process Press publications: | http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/process_press/index.html 'One must imagine Sisyphus happy.' - Camus ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 14:00:31 +0000 Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Robert Maxwell Young Subject: Kellner on Postmodernism & Critical Thepory Web site of Douglas Kellner: Postmodern Theory; Critical Theory: Douglas Kellner, Dept of Philosophy, Univ of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 kellner@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu fax: 512 471-4806 Web sites: Postmodern theory= http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~kellner/pm/pm.html Critical theory= http://www.uta.edu/english/dab/illuminations/ __________________________________________ | Robert Maxwell Young: robert@rmy1.demon.co.uk | 26 Freegrove Rd., London N7 9RQ, England | tel. +44 171 607 8306 fax. +44 171 609 4837 | Professor of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Studies, | Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies, University of Sheffield | Home page and writings: http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/ | Process Press publications: | http://www.shef.ac.uk/~psysc/process_press/index.html 'One must imagine Sisyphus happy.' - Camus ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 18:23:18 PDT Reply-To: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture Sender: Sci-Cult Science-as-Culture From: Benjamin Bratton <6500benb@UCSBUXA.UCSB.EDU> Subject: SPEED: Airports and Malls SPEED: AN ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA AND SOCIETY ----------------------------------- http://www.arts.ucsb.edu/~speed *** _speed_@alishaw.ucsb.edu ----------------------------------- Bulletin: June, 1996: Please Forward *** 1. SPEED 1.3: AIRPORTS AND MALLS HAS ARRIVED 2. CALL FOR PAPERS: SPECIAL ISSUE ON PAUL VIRILIO 3. CALL FOR PAPERS: FETISHISM: HOW CYBORGS FUCK? 4. ABOUT SPEED/ WHAT, WHO, HOW? ----------------------------------- "Postmodern cyber criticism collides with cyber cool in this smart, savvy, and, dare I say, hot looking journal of technology, media, and society. The intention of _SPEED_ "is to contribute toward a democratic discourse of technology and media, one that is always focused upon the material conditions of life that technologies and media constitute and demand, and yet does not lose sight of the power of ideas to change those conditions." That is, wired culture gets self-reflexive, and it's about time." --from GNN, on-line Whole Internet Catalog 1. SPEED 1.3: AIRPORTS AND MALLS HAS ARRIVED "The globe shrinks for those who own it; for the displaced or dispossessed, the migrant or refugee, no distance is more awesome than the few feet across borders or frontiers." -- Homi K. Bhabha. "This version of the SPEED periodical/software concerns the transformation of social space by information technologies, and the value of dystopian mapping practices in accounting for the re- locations of personalized politics that those transformations demand.... "A sheer centralization of aesthetics signals an empowered domain of inhabited information. Perhaps no social space serves to exemplify this development more so than the airport. It stands for the globalization of participant space under the sign of hegemonic capital circulation, and of the standardization of capital and circulation under the sign of information. The mechanical and totemic work that it does in such service wishes to succeed at, and complete, a utopian theater. But something is still messy. For Us, the story that it, as a place, tells about itself and asks us to play a part in, suffers a vanity of false resolution and improper closure. Its utopian infantilization of our bodies which it mediates does not finally succeed in convincing us that the global system of temporized space it links is quite truly so seamless and resolved. For most, this was never even a question. For all, this is part of the rude claim made by the infomatic revolution in the built environment....." -- from "SUR-Urbia: An Introduction to Airports and Malls." VERSION 1.3 "AIRPORTS AND MALLS" INCLUDES: BENJAMIN BRATTON (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) "SUR-Urbia: AN INTRODUCTION TO AIRPORTS AND MALLS" JOHN THACKARA (NETHERLANDS DESIGN INSTITUTE) "LOST IN SPACE - A TRAVELER'S TALE" BOBBY RABYD (BROWN UNIVERSITY) "AIRPORT NOVEL" JUSTIN STINCHCOMBE (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) "FLY AWAY LITTLE BIRDIE" JEFF GATES (EYE to I) "IN OUR PATH: ESSAYS" JASON BROWN (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) AND GABRIEL WATSON (ECHO IMAGES)"PROSTHESIS" MARK BURCH (UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII) "PLATEAUS OF CONSUMPTION: THE BIOSEMIOTICS OF CONSUMER FASCISM" CARINA YERVASI (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN) "PRE/SUB/URBAN SPRAWL: NINETEENTH-CENTURY PARISIAN PASSAGE AS URBAN MALL" JENNIFER SMITH (McMASTER UNIVERSITY) "THE MALL IN MOTION: A NARRATIVE STROLL THROUGH THE OBSTACLE COURSE" "THE FLESH MADE IMAGE, LONG LIVE THE NEW IMAGE" A CONVERSATION WITH JEFF HARRINGTON OF iDEAL oRDER/PSYCHIC TV "BIOSPHERE 3: AUDIENCE WITH/OF THE MALL OF AMERICA" A CONVERSATION WITH HERB SIMON OF SIMON AND ASSOCIATES WITH ARTWORKS BY: JEFF GATES (EYE to I) "IN OUR PATH" ROBERT NIDEFFER (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) "TERMINAL CIRCLES" JASON BROWN (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) "MOVING PICTURES" MICHELLE WAKIN (U.C. SANTA BARBARA) "FOR YOUR SAFETY" ----------------------------------- 2. SPEED 1.4: SPECIAL ISSUE: ON PAUL VIRILIO We are currently reviewing abstracts and proposals for articles for a future transmission of _SPEED_ (WWW-specific projects encouraged) on the critical significance of the work of Paul Virilio. In extremely diverse arenas Virilio's cybernetic systems theory of the social has arranged the horizons of wildly unlikely moments of questioning. As his vision of interpretation/accusation crosses the spectrum of disciplinary knowledges (while being at "home" in none), we now hear literary critics speaking of the military origins of the city-state, newscasters phrasing a "Nintendo War," historians of science commenting on the phenomenology of electronic banking, architectural theorists conceiving "the velocity" of airport space, and computer industry professionals discussing the political history of the film projector. Certainly these peculiar arrangements are not to be entirely credited to (blamed on?) Virilio, but they do suggest that his vocabulary is significant beyond the relatively narrow concerns of a "Virilio Studies." We hope, therefore, to both interrogate and expand what it is possible to make "Virilio" say. ----------------------------------- 3. SPEED 1.5: FETISHISM: HOW CYBORGS FUCK? "Object Relations" becomes a difficult strategy for love in a virtualizing world. Difficult, but still preferred. "Fetishism: How Cyborgs Fuck?" will cut between the technologies of fetishism and the fetishisms of technology -- from the techno-eroticism of B/D and S/M to the B/D and S/M of postmodern advertising. Future Sex? Yes, thank you. As long as we can keep our black patent-leather Newton PDA's! "That's a big hard drive you've got there, General!" The issue is desire, or rather desire transformed into technology's modes of enframing and poesis. The moments that these actions are made for "devices" ("ooh, it's so smooth") and not "technologies" ("we've got 98% efficiency, sir") become even more to the point. This issue will include projects relating to, but not exclusive to, Cyborg Studies, techno-psychoanalysis, transfeminism, S&M Studies, CyberSex, the cinematics of just-in-time alienation, and all other general economies of dissemination. WWW-based proposals are particularly encouraged. ----------------------------------- 4. ABOUT SPEED SPEED provides a forum for the critical investigation of technology, media and society. Our intention is to contribute toward a democratic discourse of technology and media, one that is always focused upon the material conditions of life that technologies and media constitute and demand, and yet does not lose sight of the power of ideas to change those conditions. We feel that as media of various kinds become more ubiquitous, what it means to live with and talk about a "medium" changes and expands, and so do the critical vocabularies of interpreting what those transformations indicate. Our primary goal in that effort is to foster a cross- fertilization of ideas between communities of people in the "academy" and "industry" too often separated, not by interest or common concern, but by artificially imposed disciplinary and organizational boundaries. We think that _SPEED_ is a promising step toward making these institutional boundaries more permeable, and a critical politics of "mediated sociality" more powerful. ----------------------------------- EDITORIAL BOARD FOR SPEED 1.3 Benjamin Bratton Laura Grindstaff Robert Nideffer TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION Interface Design: Jason Brown Robert Nideffer Links and Links Text: Benjamin Bratton .GIF and .JPEG: Jason Brown Robert Nideffer Adam Zaretsky MIDI: Ken Fields .AIFF and .AU: Ken Fields Nathan Freitas Robert Nideffer JAVA and VRML Scripting: Nathan Freitas Terminal Modeling: Rand Eppich ----------------------------------- ** TO SUBSCRIBE TO _SPEED_, send e-mail to _SPEED_@alishaw.ucsb.edu with "subscribe" in the subject header. In addition to receiving all future issues, you will be kept up to date on developments regarding the journal. ----------===============---------- HOW TO CONTACT _SPEED_ e-mail: Please send all submissions, criticisms, praise, suggestions, or anything else you have on your mind to: _SPEED_@alishaw.ucsb.edu. snail-mail: If for whatever reason you need to communicate with us via the U.S. Postal Service, please send your correspondence to: _SPEED_ c/o Robert Nideffer Department of Art Studio University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA. 93106 ----------===============---------- ISSN 1078-196X ---------------------- Benjamin Bratton Department of Sociology University of California, Santa Barbara 6500benb@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu SPEED: An Electronic Journal of Technology, Media and Society http://www.arts.ucsb.edu/~speed speed@sscf.ucsb.edu ----------------------