I've been feeling guilty in not participating on the MCA web site =
discussion or even chiming in on the roll-call. To be honest, I have =
just completely overhauled my personal web site and am still only =
about 70% done. I hoped to have it finished before having an =
official "open house." At the moment, that modest personal web site =
relies on: 16 primary HTML files (enumerable support files,) 21 =
button images, 217 lines of Client-Side JavaScript, and 289 lines of =
Server-Side Perl script. Web sites have gotten a whole lot more =
complicated than they used to be.
Mike's suggestion for a collective effort to build the MCA web site =
is precisely the dream of the web creators. An authorless stream of =
information that is transparent to the user, customized by her/his =
interest. Hyperlinks, in theory, eliminate the appearance of =
distinct computers, locations, and even nationalities. One could in =
theory start a reflective journey on the meaning of Pearl Harbor in =
Hawaii, visit the national archives in Washington and then move =
transparently to Tokyo to see the Japanese side of the story.
But it doesn't work that way. Some of the reason is human =
selfishness and corporate creed. Companies want you to stay on their =
web site - so you won't spend your money somewhere else. However, =
the web perhaps more than anything really illustrates those hidden =
assumptions about modernity and how they break down.
My own web site is a tightly bounded structure - why? Because it is =
an expression my identity. There are scores of links out of my web =
site, but each in way is a point where my identity leaks away. =
Unless I provide a strong unifying structure, I fail to do any =
justice to the unity that is me. Saint=ADExup=E9ry writes: "Man is a =
knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied." Unless that =
knot is strong, it is one's self that dissolves - at least to the =
potential web visitor.
Leaking identity can have unexpected side-effects. That fact that =
most of the Internet was developed at places like Berkeley and MIT =
results in something I call "digital imperialism" (and I'm sure I =
haven't coined the phrase.) Returning to World War II, everyone know =
about the destruction of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. Virtually =
no one knows about the destruction of the French fleet at Toulon in =
1943. Why? Well partially because the French insist on keeping an =
important part of their own cultural identity: their language. I =
hope to eventually have my web site both in English and French; =
however, that doubles the size of the site - 32 files, 42 buttons, . =
. . . A web site in English can be understood by 90%+ of web users. =
What does that imply about "minor" languages like French? Even =
Spanish may fall to this onslaught. After all, every programming =
language ever created is a form of English.
The MCA site suffers the same paradoxes that my own personal site =
suffers from. It could serve largely as a switchboard, with little =
identity of its own. However, that would detract from MCA as an =
important Journal. The MCA web site is part of the "Capitalism" of =
Journals and keeps to keep up appearances for the sake of reputation =
and circulation. The language problem is staggering. Rather than =
confront it, both the Journal and web site reproduce that unintended =
English imperialism. Basically there is no alternative, even if LCHC =
had the funds to translate MCA into the major languages used in =
academia, that would leave hundreds of other readers in the dark. =
For all the pride in Latin America, their tongue is the mark of =
earlier rounds of Imperialist domination. The task of preserving =
native languages, never mind cultures, has come too late for many =
civilizations systematically obliterated in generations past.
Abandoning the language issue, a common compromise to web site =
identity is "web-rings." These are web sites each managed as a =
independent centers, but each provides links to the rest of the ring. =
The ring allows each site to have its particular identity, while =
allowing the larger ring to itself serve a shared community. It is =
probably advisable that the MCA serve as the cornerstone of a =
web-ring on activity theory. Several other contributors have also =
created elaborate web sites, linking these sites together in a ring =
should provide the best possible compromise.
Yet, it remains a frustrating and unresolved compromise - much like =
the web itself. HTML was created by idealists with unique features =
such as specialized tags for reading pages to the blind. HTML now =
has become the political football of International corporate and =
governmental interests. No evil force decided to "rip out" the =
features for the blind. Instead, the needs of the blind lost out to =
the need of "cool." That pressure for "cool" web sites resulted in =
hacks and bandaid changes to the web environment that serve no one. =
It is to the point that the new HTML standard 4.0, replicates =
features already present in two other web tools: Cascading Style =
Sheets and JavaScript. Now there are basically 3 different ways to =
accomplish the same effects, but don't worry, none are guaranteed to =
work. Neither Netscape nor Microsoft have plans to make their =
browsers fully compliant to the new standard.
For all the rhetoric of a global village, all we have are incomplete, =
inconsistent, and culturally imperialist portals through which some =
aspects of the world population can communicate. Since the Internet =
was born in academia, I think academics greatly overrate its =
universality. I got my first email account in 1981. Yet today, =
there are still large areas of the world without complete phone =
coverage. Even if, with the best of intentions, we put a computer in =
every house, that computer would spread a US/English imperialism. =
Finally, if we could overcome that hurdle, we still don't have =
anything close to a "magic bullet" that would allow any person to =
create a web site that complete with the experts . . . 1 month of =
work, 16 primary HTML files . . . . . and counting!
Peace, Edouard
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Edouard Lagache, PhD
Webmaster - Lecturer
Information Technologies
U.C. San Diego, Division of Extended Studies
Voice: (619) 622-5758, FAX: (619) 622-5742
email: elagache who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
:...................................................................:
: Freedom and constraint are two aspects of the same necessity, :
: the necessity of being the man you are and not another. You :
: are free to be that man, but not free to be another. :
: Saint-Exup=E9ry, _The wisdom of the Sands_, 1948 =
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