After a year of being a "member" of SDS, I am left wondering of this is
an open organisation along the lines of it's advertising -- or if it is
more like some sort of 2-part concentric arrangement in which an "Outer
Ring" of what might be called "members without connections" provide
economic support and an audience, and the legitimacy of larger
numbers... for an "Inner Circle" of a dozen or two highly connected
individuals who, alone, are granted the right of real participation.
The group claims to not have sufficient volunteer labor available, to
even do such basic things as post on it's website a history of what it
has presented in it's 2 major activities (conferences & journals)....
and yet it's web-site, and it's extremely rare e-mails or snail-mail
envelopes, do NOT contain any invitations for people to volunteer.
Hmmmmm.
I have tried to get involved with 2 advertised SDS committees, only to
find that essentially, NEITHER really exists, outside of one "connected"
person having been designated as the "Chairperson", whose actual
activity in that position seems to boil down to basically nothing. The
one whose description sounds like the more important Committee for an
org. to have, seems to have never had any meetings, and merely tells
people who volunteer "We'll get back to you, someday."
And yet these committees are advertised as part of what you are getting,
for your membership fee.
As someone working in another (closely related) discipline, the only
university library I have access to is one that doesn't carry their DSQ
Journal. So, I paid for a membership that was advertised as including a
subscription. No Journals arrived, and when I inquired, I was then told
that publication is erratic, but that when they someday publish again,
the org. has decided NOT to honor it's membership agreement with me, to
send them. So much for ethics.
I have no way to even find out what the themes or lists of articles in
past Journals have been (the button on the web-site offering that info,
leads to a dead end)... and when I ask "What stores sell the Journal?"
so I can finally see it, I am told "We'll get back to you on that." (and
then, they don't.) Obviously, it's impossible to intelligently invest
time in trying to write something for the Journal, if you've never been
able to even see a copy..... and I'll be damned if I will pay twice for
whatever issues may have been published during my first year of
membership. (Now they recently flip-flopped again, saying "membership"
will again include the subscription; but a year ago that turned out to
be a lie; is it now to be beleived?)
It all adds up to creating the IMPRESSION, (right or wrong) of a small
group of entrenched control-freaks, who do not actually do enough
volunteer work to make the complete list of the group's advertised
activities (outside of the one annual event) actually function.... but
who also do NOT seem to want to open things up, enough, to bring in
enough volunteers to get the (non-conference) work done.
Is the "problem" that -- more volunteers might threaten to dilute the
insiders' "control"?
Even the org's biggest dysfunctional project, the Journal, whose
publication schedule lies in a complete shambles, and which cannot even
post a list of back issues -- does NOT solicit any additional volunteer
help, to get it's work done.
-----
Since joining, I have volunteered for 3 things -- 2 SDS Committee
activities (and for one conference job which I was sort-of "maybe"
invited to do, after I expressed interest in certain areas),
BUT -- each time I volunteer, I only get very convincingly but quickly
"yessed" (plus "We'll get back to you...") and then, that's the end of
it. Zero follow-up from SDS. Follow up on my part only gets further
"run-around". "We'll get back to you..."
Therefor, SDS is actually the most closed organisation I have ever
encountered in my life.
If you cannot afford the huge expense for plane fare, super-expensive
hotel rooms, etc., for SDS's singular annual get-together, the Annual
Meeting / Conference (or get it all paid for by your employer).... you
are
basically paying a membership fee for absolutely nothing, including --
no usable information about the org's many advertised non-conference
activities.
Both the SDS web-site and it's rare E-Mails & Snail-Mails contain such
skimpy information, that for a new member (sans connections) to even get
situated about what the group is doing, would appear to be a project
that could take 5 or 10 years.
Who has time for this sort of thing?
Every question seems to get either lost in "We'll get back to you..." or
gets referred to yet another "Committee Of One" which then entails
another e-mail, another follow up, when that other person "yesses" and
the promised follow up never comes... etc., etc.,ad nauseum, in order to
ultimately get no real info, or no real access. Eventually one just
gives up, because how much time can you waste on this sort of thing?
To illustrate that point -- I recently received a Board Election packet
(only the 2nd envelope received in 12 months of Membership).... and due
to the extreme difficulty of access to even the most basic information
about the internal workings & policy options within the group.... I
have absolutely NO idea of what any of the Candidates' Statements are
talking about. They all fall short of spitting out any real specifics,
and rely on what is either diplomatic vagueness, insider "code words",
or maybe both.
One Board candidate promises to work to "restore" the org. to the way it
was when it started. But (typical of nearly all of the candidates'
statements) she gives absolutely no specific info about what that means;
so, apparently either you're an "old insider with connections" who
already knows what that means, or "Tough luck!".
The occasional lip-service given to "opening it up",
"multi-disciplinary" interest, and "diversity"... seem to be at odds
with nearly everything (except this year's conference programming,
which looks great) -- about how the organization actually operates.
It appears that "centralised control" and nearly all of the group's
stated objectives (which require opening up to more members & esp. more
volunters) are somehow at odds with each other, and "centralised
control" is winning. If that is not what is really happening, then they
do a bang up job of creating that impression.
===
SDS could start some basic "Glasnost" by deleting from it's web site and
brochures, those Commitees / activities / services which it does NOT
actually operate or provide.
It's one thing to say you hope to someday do those things; it's another
thing to state that you're actually DOING them, when in fact you are
not.
It seems that the Society for Disablity Studies is as in need of
"Glasnost" and "Peristroika", as any organisation can be.
===
I realise that many reading this, have professional reasons to fear
openly discussing some of these questions, on a public list-serv....
If anyone out there knows what is actually going on inside the Society
for Disability Studies, and feels free to tell me, please contact me
off-list, and explain it to me.
I am looking at the membership renewal form, finding it hard to talk
myself into sending it in with another check.
I was going to conclude by saying that "Getting real information out of
them, is like pulling teeth", but actually, come to think of it, pulling
a tooth only takes 5 or 10 minutes... ;o)
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