Yep, that’s a line from one of the blogs in the Storybox project. The workshops thus far have been so cool, with young participants from the Sudanese, Burundian, Congan and Afghan communities confounding my assumptions. I have the feeling that this will be one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Say hello to Elednor, NaturallySweet, Marium, Khalahcoco, mz_blue_eyez and Ibasyana. More will appear later.
One of the most interesting things that the workshops have raised is the nature of “the public”, and how power is involved in its construction. A lot of what we’re doing with the project is a strategic negotiation of public/private distinctions, which then extends to an explicit engagement with, and critique of, ideas about the public sphere, or the concrete realities the apparently-really-existing public sphere. This isn’t just the preconceived rhetorical aims and objectives behind the project; I’m talking about what I think the young people are actually doing — this stuff has come up in really concrete ways, like how they’re engaging with concepts of value in terms of, say, Google, warblogs and mainstream news outlets, and how this relates to their own writings and interventions. Hurrah!