Essay



Martin Conrads - "WIR?"

Some Fragmentary Notes on the Use of "Us" and "Them" in the History of West German Pop Music (1966-92). [view]

Movement, a project initiated by Julius Nil - '[view]

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The Pamphlet presents a monthly essay based around a core annual theme. Static will commission essays from writers from diverse fields and viewpoints within the subject of 'Us and Them', to appear in the 2003-2004 Pamphlet.

'Us and Them' is a widely used term to describe a social relationship. The only time it seems 'Us' is clearly defined is in relation to 'Them'. In defining 'Them' we define 'Us', a polarity ever in operation when discussing East and West. In every sphere of life we encounter a polarity between 'Us' and 'Them': Muslim and Christian, paedophiles and 'the decent public', old and young, black and white, working class and middle class, rural and urban, artist and audience, doctor and patient, consumers and sellers, 'individuals' and 'the masses', and also between fields of activity; science and art, theory and practice etc. It seems that 'Us and Them' is a proposition based on hostility to 'Them' mainly for the purpose of reassuring 'Us'. Static is looking for writers to explore this contemporary and historic structure of hostility, and the interface between individuals or between groups.

The range of essays we hope to build will deal with both the minutiae and the global, and can include texts which tackle 'Us and Them' explicitly and also through exploration of specific contexts,
projects, events etc. We anticipate contributions from the fields of art, architecture, health, politics, geography, psychology, education, biology, technology, anthropology, literature, but this list is not exhaustive.

Static have already invited a number of writers to respond to 'Us and Them'. However, we are also interested to receive unsolicited proposals. If you wish to prepare an essay, we would first like to receive a preliminary outline of the subject you intend to cover in your essay, and an indication of the range of your previous writing. This will enable us to decide whether we can commission the essay. A £150 fee will be awarded for each commissioned essay (2000 words max). Copyright will remain with the Static Pamphlet and the essays may form an anthology at a later date. If you are interested in responding to 'Us and Them' within Static Pamphlet please email a short paragraph outlining the direction your text would take.
mail@static-ops.org