i am looking closely at silence in my research right now and am coming to
understand how silence can be resistance, can feel empowering at the
individual level (while not disrupting any structures or discourses of
power).
the fifth graders i interacted with sometimes did not respond to questions
or directions given by others as a way of asserting their individual sense
of self. they do not seem to have any other strategies for voicing their
identity.
and this can be a powerful move, it sometimes disturbs the flow of
activity, it can require the powerful other (in most cases in my
observations, that's the teacher) to interrupt the flow of activity to
bring the silent one along. but it rarely challenges the discourse of
authority that the teacher holds and the students (supposedly) do not.
and, as far as email silences go,
a sense of safety is difficult to maintain in situations were the power
differential is perceived as one of dominance and subordination.
so, looking at safety, it seems to me, requires looking at power
relationships and structures.
i can read a challenging email posting and formulate a response (and by
doing that, i can feel a sense of my self/power) but _not_ post it because
i fear that my response will be diminished or re-appropriate or criticised
in ways that speak to me of my powerlessness.
not responding can feel like a powerful action of self-protection.
the contradictions of being in the (cyber) world!
kathie
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
start all over.
start all over.
we need to make new symbols,
make new signs,
make a new language,
with these we'll redefine the world
and start all over.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^tracy chapman:new beginning
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine_Goff who-is-at ceo.cudenver.edu
http://ceo.cudenver.edu/~katherine_goff/index.html