"star" system
"The public is conditioned to look for spokespeople."
The development of social media has, to a certain extent, cemented the 'star' system. People are eager to categorise themselves into a group and then swiftly rally behind a spokesperson.
Taking the well-known story of “Alice in Wonderland” as the starting point, Iskra Geshoska terms the "labyrinth with no way out" as a metaphor for the confrontational relationship between an increasingly self-serving and individualized neoliberal system and the declining collective community. Facing the difficulties of contemporary social life and productions, Geshoska’s challenging yet unapologetic text calls upon us to re-examine and learn a lesson from the crucial thoughts behind Democratic Socialism, in order to seek possible resolutions for our dilemma.
At the end of this turbulent year, we have translated and edited the manifesto-essay by Iskra Geshoska, a Macedonian scholar and political philosophy theorist, for this month's “e-flux in Chinese Column.” Taking the well-known story of “Alice in Wonderland” as the starting point, Geshoska terms the "labyrinth with no way out" as a metaphor for the confrontational relationship between an increasingly self-serving and individualized neoliberal system and the declining collective community. Facing the difficulties of contemporary social life and productions, Geshoska’s challenging yet unapologetic text calls upon us to re-examine and learn a lesson from the crucial thoughts behind Democratic Socialism, in order to seek possible resolutions for our dilemma. She sharply unpacks the “fear of our own impermanence,” points out that we must “have institutions (including educational institutions and modes of political thinking) that enable individuals to lead their lives in full recognition of their dependence on others and on collective projects,” and advocates “an institution of freedom” which allows itself to be criticized and even rejected. For authors, artists, and creators in all types of forms, it is our duty to “remain a creative, authorial, and conceptual step ahead of the tyrant,” as we are currently inhabiting “the very core of several overlapping tyrannies (capitalist, ecological, climate, populist).” May our dear readers find as much strength as we do in this essay.
The Collective Alice, or, on Fear, Death, Multitudes, and Pain [Iskra Geshoska]