The Digital Divide and YPSL
Posted by Admin on August 27 2006 01:23:24
The National Executive Committee of the Young People's Socialist League thanks Josh Benson for designing our website, which is an excellent recruitment and outreach tool for the League. One of its most powerful features is the discussion forums which creates a space for yipsels and friends to share ideas and information that did not exist before. Over the past year however, the composition of those participating on our discussion boards has made clear to us the pervasiveness of the Digital Divide.
Extended News
The National Executive Committee of the Young People's Socialist League thanks Josh Benson for designing our website, which is an excellent recruitment and outreach tool for the League. One of its most powerful features is the discussion forums which creates a space for yipsels and friends to share ideas and information that did not exist before.
Over the past year however, the composition of those participating on our discussion boards has made clear to us the pervasiveness of the Digital Divide. The historic privileges of white, male and middle class peoples has reproduced itself into our generation in the form of unequal access to technology, and education regarding its use. Furthermore, the privileges that allow white, male and middle class peoples to dominate discussions is amplified by the impersonal nature of internet communications. If left unaddressed, the NEC is concerned with how these forces may influence the development of YPSL.
Socialists too often revert to an ossified Marxism that places issues of race and gender secondary and separate from the revolutionary project. The Eurocentric and essentialist models of early Marxists have proven to be insufficient. This tradition within Marxism has been abandoned by current liberation struggles in both the developed and underdeveloped worlds. YPSL looks to a more sophisticated radical tradition that integrates the experiences of women, people of color, immigrants, and the colonized into a more complete understanding of oppression and exploitation. YPSL strives to always be vigilant against allowing past conclusions to limit new analysis and learning.
The NEC would like to see YPSL discussion boards develop into a community space for young radicals of all backgrounds to share knowledge and self-organize. We invite women, people of color, immigrants and others to participate on our website?s discussion boards. In order to motivate a more inclusive dialogue, we suggest the following discussion questions:
1) How has your race, gender, nationality, and sexuality influenced your values and political views?
2) How has your identity impacted your experiences as an activist?
3) How can privilege be leveraged to fight against oppression? In which cases must we explicitly reject privilege in order to achieve equality?
4) What relationship do you see between capitalism and the struggles against race, gender, and national exploitation?
5) What are the prerequisites to a united feminist, anti-racist, internationalist socialist movement?