REVIEW: Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture

Here's the review I did of Stephen Duncombe's Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture for Maximum Rocknroll (issue #312, May 2009).

[UNEDITED]

Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture
By Stephen Duncombe
Microcosm Publishing
http://www.microcosmpublishing.com/

Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture is not only a history of zines, but an attempt to theorize the existence and meaning of zines throughout this history. Originally released in 1997 by Verso, it has been re-released in a new edition for 2008 by Microcosm Publishing. Stephen Duncombe traces the zine movement back to sci-fi fanzines of the 1930s, and even the early political pamphleteers.

WE DID IT!

[photos via for the birds collective]

Cross-posted with FOR THE BIRDS:

The Queer Eye for the DIY workshop we did at Visions in Feminism was a major success! There was super-smart audience participation, we received really great feedback, and we even got interviewed by The Nation and the Washington City Paper! We also met a bunch of nice folks and sold lots of stuff at the distro table. Thank you DC, for such an awesome Saturday. Photos from the workshop can be found on For the Birds' flickr, or on the gallery of our website.

REVIEW: Terror in the Heart of Freedom

Here's the review I did of Hannah Rosen's Terror in the Heart of Freedom: Citizenship, Sexual Violence and the Meaning of Race in the Postemancipation South for FEMINIST REVIEW (April 3, 2009).

Terror in the Heart of Freedom: Citizenship, Sexual Violence, and the Meaning of Race in the Postemancipation South

By Hannah Rosen
University of North Carolina Press

Hannah Rosen's Terror in the Heart of Freedom is an essential historical document. This text is a detailed analysis of the connection between gendered rhetoric, sexual violence, and the oppression and resistance of freed people during the reconstruction era. Rosen demonstrates a thorough understanding of gender, race, and power dynamics and how these issues are employed through politics on different levels.

Read the full review here