OT20 Preview

The twentieth edition of the OT comes out this Monday 18th February. This issue is particularly focused on gender and features a number of articles exploring this theme in contexts including street harassment, gaming, sex-work and a piece by Professor Raewyn Connell discussing the various scientific theories surrounding the topic.

Zoe Stavri (@stavvers) addresses the recent transphobia emanating from mainstream voices and platforms in Media Feminism & Intersectionality. This timely article examines the institutional flaws of the columnist class and argues that any approach to gender and feminism today must be intersectional or it will indeed be bullshit. Returning feature, The Great Debate, is also on theme as it tackles that perennial question: is positive discrimination necessary and desirable to fight ingrained gender inequality?

Our international pages look to a number of places. We continue our interest in debt activism with an article from Nicole Hala from the Strike Debt movement. The piece exposes the insidious nature of personal debt and its accompanying feelings of isolation, whilst also drawing on lessons for the debt struggle from feminist movements and the AIDS activism of the 80s. London’s Jonathan Socrates offers a first-hand account of his attempt to interview members of Golden Dawn on recent visit to Athens and we explore current indigenous struggles in Latin America. Following the recent, tragic suicide of Aaron Swartz, Mark Kauri focuses on the life, work and concerns of prosecutorial abuse of the young US activist.

Towards the end of last year, we were lucky enough to be given some time to sit down with renowned political commentator Noam Chomsky. Our two-page interview flows through issues including Occupy Sandy relief efforts, debt, taxation, unions and the trend of increased horizontality in political organising today.

To wrap up the issue, we include our graphic guide on How To Crack A Space. Here we offer guidance and legal advice for those looking to lend a new lease of life to some of the UK’s numerous empty commercial premises.

Copies of OT20 will be distributed at events and within communities throughout the rest of February and March. You can also find us on the shelves of various independent businesses across the capital, including Housmans, Black Gull Books, Ray’s Jazz Cafe, Banner Repeater, 56a, The Cockpit and the London Review Bookshop. The full list of stockists can be found on the OT Stockists Map on our website.

If the idea of countless hours of unglamorous labour and undue surveillance by the state’s security apparatus is something that appeals to you, maybe you would be interested in getting involved with the grumpy, bashful, dopey, happy, sleepy and – this season – sneezy, fairytale-like members of the OT editorial team, to help us keep putting this shit together each month? Fire us an email at occupiedtimes@gmail.com if interested.

If time and effort aren’t your thing, but money is instead, would you consider throwing some pennies our way to keep us in print? Every penny the OT receives goes towards future production costs. For more information, see our donations page.

Follow the OT on Twitter at @OccupiedTimes, Facebook at The Occupied Times, or visit our website at TheOccupiedTimes.co.uk

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