We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore

Zwichenzug at The Bellman, who's been up here working on our strike for the last few days, proving that the contingent academic labor movement is both exhilarating large and comfortably small, or at least, linked together in very interesting and rich ways, posts a critique of/response to my critique of corporatization discourse, questioning how useful it is as a public message in the context of organizing. My point, however, is that when talking about universities being "corporate," we need to do so in ways which illuminate the intricacies of the global predicaments of university endowments and public funding (whether that means talking about Farallon or talking about, in very specific and focused ways, Iraq and the politics of military funding and infinite detention,) that complicate the definition and historiography of the corporate university and that seek to confront universities as engines, rather than just passive sites of neoliberal globalization. I think calling universities "corporate" doesn't begin to describe the problem and also doesn't offer useful suggestions as to where we should focus our organizing, necessarily. But enough about this.

My bathroom is fixed. This makes me thrilled.

Saw Manuel again today on the Silver south picket, which was a fantastic line - enthusiastic picketers being really loud, having lots of fun, and getting several delivery trucks, union and non-union, to not cross our line and not deliver to the university. We sang a lot, a trend which started with Maris whipping out the trumpet and blasting some Twisted Sister while perplexed folks from English and Math, hesitant at first, started singing along with Brenda and me and a couple Rutgers undegrads who had come with their unionized adjunct professor to support us, and were totally awesome. The singing expanded into the first two verses of "Solidarity Forever," culminating with the Federation stalwart "We Want a Contract (Hey Hey Hey, Right Now)," which Scott Marks is much better at than I (or anyone else, for that matter,) but which is random and annoying enough to be shockingly affective even when I'm the one leading it. And in general, I tend to think singing on picket lines is a really good thing to do. The new chant everyone is crazy about is "1. We are the Union, 2.We need a contract, 3.A little bit louder, WE ARE GSOC," which people have grabbed onto in part because of the powerful constitutive argement it makes about what a union is and why we're putting ourselves on the line to fight for ours. Another high point for me was when Brenda pulled us all together and introduced the GESO stalwart of "x department, on strike," which i pulled out yesterday, but which was much more powerful coming from Brenda than from me. We also did "we are the union" and even "we're freezin or a reason" for a little bit, which made me happy, because it's a great chant and because it reminds me of the day I first heard it, March 6, 2003, on the YNHH Dietary picket when workers started doing the electric slide in the falling snow just before we headed up to college street to prepare for the Education in The Streets action. Pulling all the separate pickets back together, and then forming a huge picket outside bobst for the end of the shift was exciting and empowering and fun.

Not gonna talk about the membership meeting here, except to say that the first half was awesome and i think some people in the second half said some really powerful things. Afterwards i went out with one of the staff organizers to talk to some Art school GAs and had some really good conversations in a very strange setting, and then afterwards ran into a guy in my department who i had a very interesting conversation with about the strike and the department and tactics and privilege. So, long day, but good one. Taking tomorrow off from union stuff hopefully to just sit somewhere and read Omi and Winant for class on Monday. I'm feeling like organizing is something that i'm really enjoying again and that excites me. Like Dan's sign said on Wednesday, "We Are Winning."