Well, you have to start somewhere. At least talking about the issue is
better than ignoring it entirely, which is what is happening with the
African conflicts I mentioned (and others I didn't) that don't ever seem to
capture the global media attention for more than a few minutes once every
few months, if that-and thus fail to arouse the same international outrage
(although perhaps there's more going on there than that reductionist
explanation . . . ?)-but I do, of course, prefer the very practical steps
proposed of what can be *done* (as Dan rightly suggested is the proper
question to ask) to mere talk about it and have already taken Jane, Amanda,
and David up on their suggestions of whom to write-and if I were in
Australia, I'd be joining Amanda's protest!
My primary purpose in posting what I did was to get the dialog going so that
we could share our views of the this conflict-and (I hope) of those
"struggles over geography," as Said would put it, that are more out of the
public view, where thousands of people are also dying-and have been for
years, as, frankly, has been the case in East Timor as well. Sure, actions
speak louder than words. But talking is, as I said, at least a good place to
start.
Best regards.
Becky
-----Original Message-----
From: Konkin, Barry [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 11:45 AM
To: 'Becky Kennison'
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: East Timor
Should we discuss the 'ideas, forms, images and imaginings...' of
current
events in East Timor, or should we be discussing some response to
the fact
that thousands have been slaughtered?
It seems that by discussing ideas, forms, images etc. we ARE just
sitting
around waiting to see how it turns out.
Barry Konkin
-----Original Message-----
From: Becky Kennison [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 1999 5:49 AM
To: 'Critical Geography Forum'
Subject: East Timor
"Just as none of us," says Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism,
"is
outside or beyond geography, none of us is completely free from the
struggle
over geography. That struggle is complex and interesting because it
is not
only about soldiers and cannons but also about ideas, about forms,
about
images and imaginings." Anyone want to discuss the "ideas, forms,
images,
and imaginings" of the most recent conflagration in "the struggle
over
geography" in East Timor? Or even the "soldiers and cannons"? Or are
we all
just waiting to see how it turns out, like, say, in Angola, Sierra
Leone, or
Eritrea?
Becky
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Becky Kennison
Production Editor
Blackwell Publishers
350 Main Street
Malden, Massachusetts 02148
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel.: 781-388-0433
FAX: 781-388-0533
Blackwell homepage:
www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk
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