Ghost in the Wire

Yeah: you put words to what I was thinking when I learned of this too. It only reinforces the notion that "celebrity culture" is now a legit area of concern up and down.

At least there is a sort of life in these two journals. Have you looked at the print-based ones for Kant and Nietzsche recently? Publication-wise, I think there's more life in Pravda!

The deadness of the print journals makes some sense, but I think maybe a journal dedicated to any "one" is already gearing up for disaster. I'm all for starting an interdisciplinary, interesting, online journal. Love the idea, in fact. Very much plan on starting one, though the topic may be a bit far afield for most of the Ghost readers. But a journal to someone? No thanks.

And the Zizek version is particularly egregious in my opinion. Have you looked at it? I'd be curious what you thought...

I suppose all I really care about is reading interesting articles. Some of the ones in the Zizek journal haven't been too awful. There's an interesting article by Robert Pfaller on Zizek's use of examples, for instance.

Actually, I find the Baudrillard version worse - most of the articles seem to recycle a lot of material which (in one form or another) essentially exists elsewhere.

The most important thing about academic online journals like these two is that they are open-access, thus alleviating to some extent the harsh monopoly of academia when it comes to the objects of its research. Even though we live in a globalized world, books and studies still cost money, and money is always hard to find.

Some of the best academic libraries in certain "developing" countries still cannot afford to pay for more than a few subscriptions to foreign magazines, not to mention that they oftentimes have a very hard time getting copies of the books published locally.

So, in spite of the cruel irony of creating an "academicized" version of Baudrillard, for instance, at least there is a chance that authors like him and Zizek be read outside the narrow world of cultural moguls.

Of course, there is a problem with having the thought of Baudrillard and Zizek "virally disseminated", but then this is a proof that nothing can really escape the system--especially not the critique of the system, which is why Baudrillard hopes to be able to push thought to its very limits. (I'm not sure whether it makes a difference if the gas pedal is pushed when travelling on the road to hell. It's more of a conveyor belt anyway.)

Although I've always found the popularity of those advocating the individual over the social a little suspect, I cannot help but think that if the social machine will eventually get jamed, we will no longer invest it with so much trust.

The issue here goes back to the old question regarding the advent of technology, of which the internet is the epitome--is it beneficial or not? But maybe such a question is illegitimate, and a more appropriate concern would be whether pursuing goodness (and benefits, in general) is a worthy cause. The virtual realm may not grow any seeds of wisdom, but then it prevents a false wisdom to settle in and rule us, by simply rendering wisdom, in general, irrelevant...

The kind of truths uttered by these guys do not make sense unless they are challenged by as many people as possible. And the internet does offer that chance. A chance that neither Heidegger, nor Derrida--for the most part--didn't have. Now, it remains to be seen how much of this "passing around" Baudrillard and Zizek dishes will help develop critical thought or will just promote uncritical acceptance and resignation.

Ig, I agree with much here, though I think that obviously these journals are still predicated on the use of books and other texts that may or may not be available to these libraries, so I'm not sure that the open journal format (which I strongly support) actually accomplishes too much with these journals, precisely because their subject matter remains so narrow and so authorial in its inspiration.

That being said, I think the open journal format (and I'm currently playing around with the platform for my own purposes) has much to say for it as an open academic venue, I just wish the content matter was also open, or at least more open.

And in the case of the Zizek one, I think it suffers from more than simply a narrowly construed focus, but I'll explore this more in the second post on this (Why Not Zizek) which will explore the Zizek journal as a symptom in a way that is, well, almost Zizekian.

That being said, I have as my goal this year to start a journal for mindful politics, and to pursue the subject with some rigor. I've also been considering the fun of a more experimental journal, at least as far as subject and writing style goes, one that would look at the intersections of poetry and politics, but would dance around 'pataphysics, tragedy, and integral reality. In both endeavors, I would be interested in any thoughts, comments, or suggestions.