From: "Amardeep Singh" <electrostani-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Alternative to this list -- 'H-Postcolonial' (proposed)
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 20:05:20 -0400


Folks,

I've also been a little frustrated with both the high volume
of posts and the nature of the discussion on the Poco
list of late.
But rather than ask list members to refrain from
posting their thoughts (which is not, it seems to me,
my place), I'd like to propose that interested parties
should form a new, smaller list (perhaps via H-NET),
that would

1) be more academic/more focused,
2) have a lower volume and an effective daily digest option,
3) be less anonymous, and
4) have the possibility that signed reviews written for
the list be archived on a website. Here are the reasons for
this change in detail:

1--More academic/ more focused.
Some folks want to deal less in our email time with the
daily grind of Israel/Palestine, and more with issues
in postcolonial literary theory & criticism, postcolonial anthropology, 
cultural studies, etc. The 'academic' turn
I'm proposing does not foreclose 'activist' postings entirely,
but it does suggest that some separation might be in order --
people interested in activist networks should consider
subscribing to lists like FOIL.
I think some of us, buried under masses of email from
all directions, are looking for the *option* of a list
that is strongly (perhaps exclusively) academic in nature.

I'm not a person who believes in ivory towers; I believe
academics have to be citizens of the world, and further,
that a substantial part of the postcolonial project
must entail a commitment to public intellectualism.
But I also believe conversations (networks == conversations)
are more effective when small and focused.

2--Lower volume and an effective daily digest option.
In my experience, the 'postcolonial-digest' list does
not really work...
Yahoogroups allows digest subscribers to receive just
*one* email a day from a given list; the digest
contains all of the emails posted that day.

3--Less anonymous. We might want to consider a moderated list
or unmoderated list that is "gated." We might also either
strongly encourage or require subscribers to use their
professional email addresses rather than hotmail or yahoo
accounts.

H-NET lists generally require you 'apply' to join the
list, stating your interest in the subject, and I think it's
a good idea. This is not to say that the list I'm envisioning
would be selective (there's enough of THAT already in academic
life), nor would it be limited to full-time academics.
But perhaps subscribers might be asked to explain their
intellectual projects somewhat -- application is a way of
taking subscription to the list more seriously.

4--We might also encourage subscribers to write book reviews
(as in the H-NET list) that would be regularly archived
on a website. These reviews serve a purpose (they tell
other scholars in the field about new books that have
come out), and they are also helpful to the writers
(reviews count as publications).

This whole proposal might sound like a boring idea to you.
If so, ignore my suggestion! If not:

To my mind, the best option in front of us is to
start an H-NET list focused on postcolonial studies
(or perhaps postcolonial studies and *globalization*?).
Check out the current list of H-NET lists at:
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/lists/

If people are interested in working with me on this
project (three commmitted editors are needed to start an H-NET
network -- a list editor, review editor, and web editor),
please email me OFF LIST.

Thanks,

Amardeep Singh
amsp-AT-lehigh.edu
Lehigh University







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