Page 26 - 10th Annual International Charles Town Maroon Conference and Festival Magazine

June 2018 Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine

Practices of citizen media – such as the work of And what kinds of collaboration and consultation are
artists, activists and commentators who produce from necessary when developing strategies for empow-
a community perspective and are dedicated to erment and liberation of Syrian people, both at home
resisting injustice – raise critical questions about the and in diaspora?
disregard, dismissal and divestment experienced by
Syrian grassroots initiatives. If these concerns are not addressed with urgency, then
issues such as disregard, dismissal and divestment of
In addition to state violence, citizen media practi- citizen media projects can be weaponised and function
tioners must also struggle against silencing strategies to weaken voices that speak to power.
and systemic problems associated with prominent and
influential media organisations and social networks. As citizen media practitioners, Quasay and
Countless examples of citizen media are being disre- Muhammad are making a vital contribution to docu-
garded by the international media and social media menting the struggle of Syrian people and expanding
platforms; countless citizen media practitioners are our understanding of resistance and knowledge
being dismissed in their efforts to contribute to episte- production. We need to be doing all we can to be sure
mologies of resistance and to transform their lived their work is widely known.
realities; and divestment from their projects and
struggles occurs due to the way structural and institu-
tional mechanisms function to exclude submissions
____________________
and nominations from intellectuals, artists and
activists. Instead of investing and engaging with Omid Tofighian's current roles include
citizen media many in positions of authority and Assistant Professor in Philosophy,
influence have constructed knowledge ecologies American University in Cairo;
mainly built on power, privilege, status and reference. Honorary Research Associate for the
Disregard, dismissal and divestment operate as a Department of Philosophy, University
weapon against Syrian people suppressed in their of Sydney; faculty at Iran Academia;
homeland, those displaced and exiled to neighbouring and campaign manager for Why Is My
countries, and those seeking safety and freedom in Curriculum White? - Australasia. He
many different countries. is author of Myth and Philosophy in

Platonic Dialogues(Palgrave Macmillan 2016) and translator of
Deeper questions need to be pursued as a result of the
Behhouz Boochani's book No Friend But The Mountains: Writing
systematic exclusion and intellectual undermining of
From Manus Prison (Pan Macmillan- Picador 2018).
citizen media projects: What impact does disregard,
dismissal and divestment have on knowledge land-
scapes? How are advocacy programs and media organ-
isations complicit in marginalisation and suppression?

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