"Under Fire"

Critical Arts:
A Journal of South-North
Cultural and Media Studies

The post-millennium world has seen a rapid escalation of violent conflicts in the Middle East, West, Central and some areas of Southern Africa, and ongoing civil wars and human rights abuses in a variety of other regions across the world.

In keeping with its interpretation of cultural studies as a form
of praxis, of experience, and of strategic intervention, in which
individuals find themselves caught up in broader process over
which they may have little or no control, Critical Arts has
instituted a new Section, "Under Fire". The aim of this section
is to invite short theorised autobiographies and dramatic
narratives of what it is like living under fire, of the relevance
of cultural studies in such circumstances, and how it could be
deployed to challenge such conditions. (Length: anything up to
2000 words.) How does one explain the contradictions, the
opposing ir/rationalities, the fracturing of logics which so
brutally feed political solidarities at any cost?

Bono Bloody Bono

Dave Bleakney

Every generation has an Elvis. Being an Elvis is not only about shaking
your hips or making teenagers scream. When things are going bad in the
public relations department, a famous entertainer can add pop, sizzle
and glamour to the message. Performers sell soap, cars and coca cola.
And lately, rich corporations have been in need of a little sizzle to
sell corporate globalization.

Nixon needed Elvis. He saw a good 'ol southern boy that loved his Mama
cruise into the White house to join hands with the Administration in one
of the many wars on drugs. Elvis, heavily medicated, was more than ready
to expose his peers to extra scrutiny.

Mussolini had Ezra Pound. The Macarthyites had Ronald Reagan, who, at
the time a Democrat, spent his career at the Screen Actors Guild ratting
out so-called subversives in his Union.

Bono, the 80's inspired politico warbler is the latest in a long line of
performers who are trotted out on behalf of the power holders. Poor
Bono, he doesn't get it. At first I thought he looked silly. But now I
see him as dangerous. Okay, well, silly and dangerous. At least that's
how he looked at the World Economic Forum held recently in New York.
"Bono steals spotlight at forum," said the Globe and Mail byline of
February 5. While distribution of the Earth Times may have been banned
at the exclusive Waldorf-Astoria for the WEF, the corporate and political
elite made a home for Bono.

Marxism and the Visual Arts Now

University College London

8-10 April 2002

Plenary Themes:

Marxism and Cultural Practice Today

Art or Aesthetics?



Session Themes

Methodology: Dialectic, Negative Dialectics and other Materialist Modes of
Understanding

Marxism and Aesthetic Value

Stages in the Formation of the Popular and the Crisis of Cultural Studies

The Cultural Heritage of the Eastern Bloc

Racialization, Gendering and Sexing of Class and its Implications for
Marxist Cultural Work

Psychoanalysis and Materialist Theories of the Subject

Technology, Commodification, and Cultural Form in the Era of Globalization

What is Living and What is Dead in the Situationist International?

Issues in Cultural Production in Second and Third World Countries

The Sociology of the Contemporary Art World