''Processed World'' is an anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

focused on the oppressions and absurdities of office work, which, at the time the magazine began, was becoming automated. The magazine was founded by Chris Carlsson, Caitlin Manning, and Adam Cornford in 1981. No new issues have been produced since 2005. The print magazine was widely distributed to and read by office workers in

Downtown San Francisco The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012-2016. It is home to the city's largest concen ...

during the years the print magazine was published from 1981 to 1994.Carlsson, Chris
"Processed World: A Political History,"
''Notes From Below'' (June 8, 2019). Originally from ''Logout'' #7. Retrieved June 17, 2019

Publication history

''Processed World'' began publication in April 1981 and was printed on an irregular basis, approximately quarterly to semi-annually until Winter 1992. There were 32 published printed issues. There have subsequently been three more issues published on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

— number 33 in 1995, and two more issues, one in 2000 and one in 2005. These last two issues are numbered 2.001 and 2.005. All of the issues of the magazine are now available online.

Themes

The magazine is about the absurdity and futility of modern employment practices in which a large number of college-educated people are often forced to seek

temporary work Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

with no

employee benefits Employee benefits and (especially in British English) benefits in kind (also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks) include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Inst ...

. The magazine details the subversive attitudes and sense of humor required for workers to be able to get through the day when forced to perform dull, degrading and boring work as

wage slaves Wage slavery or slave wages refers to a person's dependence on wages (or a salary) for their livelihood, especially when wages are low, treatment and conditions are poor, and there are few chances of upward mobility. The term is often used ...

doing modern office work such as working as a

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices ded ...

call center A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...

operator, data entry operator,

telemarketer Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent f ...

or file clerk.

Contributors

Writers that have had work published by the magazine include founder Carlsson, Manning, Chris Winks, Denis Hayes, Greg Williamson, Jim Swanson,

Fred Rinne Fred Rinne (born 1955) is an American visual and performance artist. His cross disciplinary approach, outsider aesthetic and overriding cultural critique defines his work. "As an American I feel that I have grown up bathed in pop schlock again ...

Adam Cornford Adam Cornford (born 26 February 1950) is a British poet, journalist, and essayist and a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin. From 1987 to 2008 he led the Poetics Program at New College of California in San Francisco. Biography Adam Francis C ...

, John Norton,

Jesse Drew Jesse Drew is an American artist, author, media activist, and educator. Biography Jesse Drew was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York. He spent his early childhood in Queens, before the family moved to Hicksville, New Yo ...

, and

Donna Kossy Donna J. Kossy (born May 18, 1957) is a US writer, zine publisher, and online used book dealer based in Portland, Oregon. Specializing in the history of "forgotten, discredited and extreme ideas", which she calls "crackpotology and kookology", she ...

and many more. The magazine featured

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s by artists such as

Tom Tomorrow Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins (born April 5, 1961, in Wichita, Kansas). His weekly comic strip, ''This Modern World'', which comments on current events, appears regularly in more than 80 newspapers across t ...

Melinda Gebbie Melinda Gebbie (born 1937) is an American comics artist and writer, known for her participation in the underground comix movement. She is also known for creating the controversial work ''Fresca Zizis'' and her contributions to ''Wimmen's Comix ...

Ted Rall Frederick Theodore Rall III (born August 26, 1963) is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic strip, comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and e ...

,Morley, Madeleine
"1980s Mag Processed World Voiced Resistance to the Digitalization of the Workplace,"
''Eye on Design'' (January 23, 2018). Retrieved June 6, 2018.

Jay Kinney Jay Kinney (born 1950) is an American author, editor, and former underground cartoonist. Kinney has been noted for "adding new dimensions to the political comic" in the underground comix press of the 1970s and '80s. Kinney was a member, along wi ...

, and

Paul Mavrides Paul Mavrides (born 1952) is an American artist, best known for his critique-laden comics, cartoons, paintings, graphics, performances and writings that encompass a disturbing yet humorous catalog of the social ills and shortcomings of human ...

. Many of the magazine's contributors, such as

Dan Perkins Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins (born April 5, 1961, in Wichita, Kansas). His weekly comic strip, ''This Modern World'', which comments on current events, appears regularly in more than 80 newspapers across the ...

, e.g. "Tom Tomorrow," adopted pseudonyms to avoid retribution from potential employers.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Processed World at the Internet Archive
a complete run of the issues is available except for issue 33. Quarterly magazines published in the United States Anarchist periodicals published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Irregularly published magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1981 Magazines disestablished in 2005 Magazines published in San Francisco Zines

Publication history

Themes

Contributors

See also

Further reading

References

External links