Was talking to someone the other day, & the perennial topic of anarcho activist/scene jargon came up. So time to sort the lifestylers out from the class warriors, I think.......
damo@666
Aug 10 2005 12:33
I voted for the first one, but it's a trick question realy. Cause the 'space' u hang out in to bitch about The Man is there so u don't bump in to The Man while ur bitching.
Thora
Aug 10 2005 12:38
the button wrote:
Was talking to someone the other day, & the perennial topic of anarcho activist/scene jargon came up. So time to sort the lifestylers out from the class warriors, I think....... :wink:
I've never really thought before how "space" is used in scene jargon.
the button
Aug 10 2005 13:27
Thora wrote:
I've never really thought before how "space" is used in scene jargon.
The other one that really gets on my tits is "workshop." If I hear that word applied to anything other than light industrial manufacturing processes, I'm going to go on some sort of killing spree.
Steven.
Aug 10 2005 18:44
Thora wrote:
the button wrote:
Was talking to someone the other day, & the perennial topic of anarcho activist/scene jargon came up. So time to sort the lifestylers out from the class warriors, I think....... :wink:
I've never really thought before how "space" is used in scene jargon.
Really? It's so prevalent though and so fucking lame. Usually used in conjuction with "networking", which could be done in said "space".
It's weird how easy it is to get sucked into seeing these things as normal, as within activist circles your "normality" strays well away from what it was before you came into contact with the "scene". All too many people just get sucked up in it, and retreat into their own collective assholes.
pingtiao
Aug 10 2005 18:50
As my first contact with anarchism was through joining a "serious" organisation- the AF- I think I was sheilded from the more "scenist" and jargon-ridden elements.
I remember the first meeting I went to where people were using the word "comrade". I laughed inwardly at the affected nature of it- how it was terribly passe in the 21st century. I now find myself regularly using the word- as a mark of respect both to the past and to the people I feel a political kinship with. I'm happy allowing that word into my vocabulary.
...
Actually- the phrase "self-activity" is very jargony. Need to think of something to replace that with I reckon.
pingtiao
Aug 10 2005 18:58
well, 90% of what you write is, if that makes it clearer
darren red star
Aug 10 2005 20:34
............the gap between my ears
Garner
Aug 11 2005 11:10
Not only is 'self-activity' jargon, it's tautological as well. What's wrong with just plain 'activity'? Either way you still have to specify whose activity it is, don't you?
the button
Aug 11 2005 11:39
Yep, "self-activity" sounds like a bad translation from another language (probably German ).
lucy82
Aug 12 2005 10:42
a space is both.
this could become a game of activist bingo. always good fun spotting the most overworked terms that noone bothers to define.
sometimes in the past when i've been talking to not overtly political people ie. people who think politics is something other people do, i've listened to myself using terms which are commonplace in the subculture of activism and gone urgh ffs lucy shut up. so i did.
the button
Aug 12 2005 10:49
lucy82 wrote:
this could become a game of activist bingo.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
Thora
Aug 12 2005 10:53
Why cafe?
Can I suggest adding hacklab to the list.
the button
Aug 12 2005 10:54
Thora wrote:
Why cafe?
Because (and I stand to be corrected on this) it's an everyday word that has a different meaning when used in activist circles.
"hacklab" -- definitely.
lucy82
Aug 12 2005 11:02
i've never heard the word cafe used for anything other than a cafe
verticals and horizontals
Thora
Aug 12 2005 11:03
the button wrote:
Thora wrote:
Why cafe?
Because (and I stand to be corrected on this) it's an everyday word that has a different meaning when used in activist circles.
How is the meaning different? I'd have thought squat cafes were pretty similar to everyday cafes in that you go there and pay for a meal someone else has cooked
redyred
Aug 12 2005 11:09
Yeah, but most real cafes do nice food.
the button
Aug 12 2005 11:36
redyred wrote:
Yeah, but most real cafes do nice food.
.... is what I was getting at.
the button
Aug 12 2005 12:39
revol68 wrote:
self activity is not jargon! it refers to the working classes ability to short circuit the valorization of capital. :wink:
Well why don't you just fucking say so then!? FFS!
Lazlo_Woodbine
Aug 12 2005 18:17
the button wrote:
The other one that really gets on my tits is "workshop." If I hear that word applied to anything other than light industrial manufacturing processes, I'm going to go on some sort of killing spree.
I used to think that, but the other day I was talking to someone about a recent anti-occupation congress of Iraqis that they'd attended in Beirut, and he used the term 'workshop' to refer to one of the little meeting/discussion sessions that happened between the big assemblies. So there you go -- if people having fist-fights with Saddamist ex-secret police in the lobby of shell-scarred hotels use the term then I think it's Most Valid 8)
Steven.
Aug 12 2005 18:19
the button wrote:
lucy82 wrote:
this could become a game of activist bingo.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
AUTONOMOUS!!!
Deezer
Aug 12 2005 19:30
revol68 wrote:
self activity is not jargon! it refers to the working classes ability to short circuit the valorization of capital. :wink:
Jargon - y'know revol's the expert. In overuse of it that is
Deezer
Aug 12 2005 19:35
the button wrote:
lucy82 wrote:
this could become a game of activist bingo.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
valorisation
Thora
Aug 12 2005 22:59
Boulcolonialboy wrote:
valorisation
Never heard that one
Refused
Aug 12 2005 23:29
Boulcolonialboy wrote:
the button wrote:
lucy82 wrote:
this could become a game of activist bingo.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
valorisation
Garage.
redyred
Aug 13 2005 21:11
the button wrote:
lucy82 wrote:
this could become a game of activist bingo.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
How about a "read-between-the-lines" activist glossary:
Precarity: A concept which allows bums to make themselves feel properly oppressed.
Cafe: "Put 10p in the empty ice-cream tub, pull up a mattress and we'll give you some half-boiled pasta that's been going cold for three hours"
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Comments
Was talking to someone the other day, & the perennial topic of anarcho activist/scene jargon came up. So time to sort the lifestylers out from the class warriors, I think.......
I voted for the first one, but it's a trick question realy. Cause the 'space' u hang out in to bitch about The Man is there so u don't bump in to The Man while ur bitching.
I've never really thought before how "space" is used in scene jargon.
The other one that really gets on my tits is "workshop." If I hear that word applied to anything other than light industrial manufacturing processes, I'm going to go on some sort of killing spree.
Really? It's so prevalent though and so fucking lame. Usually used in conjuction with "networking", which could be done in said "space".
It's weird how easy it is to get sucked into seeing these things as normal, as within activist circles your "normality" strays well away from what it was before you came into contact with the "scene". All too many people just get sucked up in it, and retreat into their own collective assholes.
As my first contact with anarchism was through joining a "serious" organisation- the AF- I think I was sheilded from the more "scenist" and jargon-ridden elements.
I remember the first meeting I went to where people were using the word "comrade". I laughed inwardly at the affected nature of it- how it was terribly passe in the 21st century. I now find myself regularly using the word- as a mark of respect both to the past and to the people I feel a political kinship with. I'm happy allowing that word into my vocabulary.
...
Actually- the phrase "self-activity" is very jargony. Need to think of something to replace that with I reckon.
well, 90% of what you write is, if that makes it clearer
............the gap between my ears
Not only is 'self-activity' jargon, it's tautological as well. What's wrong with just plain 'activity'? Either way you still have to specify whose activity it is, don't you?
Yep, "self-activity" sounds like a bad translation from another language (probably German
).
a space is both.
this could become a game of activist bingo. always good fun spotting the most overworked terms that noone bothers to define.
sometimes in the past when i've been talking to not overtly political people ie. people who think politics is something other people do, i've listened to myself using terms which are commonplace in the subculture of activism and gone urgh ffs lucy shut up. so i did.
Now there's an idea.
On the card so far: -
Space
Workshop
Activism (as a term of abuse)
Self-activity
Precarity
Cafe (as in "We've got a cafe on Tuesday nights")
Any more for any more?
Why cafe?
Can I suggest adding hacklab to the list.
Because (and I stand to be corrected on this) it's an everyday word that has a different meaning when used in activist circles.
"hacklab" -- definitely.
i've never heard the word cafe used for anything other than a cafe
verticals and horizontals
How is the meaning different? I'd have thought squat cafes were pretty similar to everyday cafes in that you go there and pay for a meal someone else has cooked
Yeah, but most real cafes do nice food.
.... is what I was getting at.
Well why don't you just fucking say so then!? FFS!
I used to think that, but the other day I was talking to someone about a recent anti-occupation congress of Iraqis that they'd attended in Beirut, and he used the term 'workshop' to refer to one of the little meeting/discussion sessions that happened between the big assemblies. So there you go -- if people having fist-fights with Saddamist ex-secret police in the lobby of shell-scarred hotels use the term then I think it's Most Valid 8)
AUTONOMOUS!!!
Jargon - y'know revol's the expert. In overuse of it that is
valorisation
Never heard that one
Garage.
How about a "read-between-the-lines" activist glossary:
Precarity: A concept which allows bums to make themselves feel properly oppressed.
Cafe: "Put 10p in the empty ice-cream tub, pull up a mattress and we'll give you some half-boiled pasta that's been going cold for three hours"
etc