''Bad Subjects'' (more formally ''Bad Subjects: Political Education For Everyday Life'' and sometimes ''The Bad Subjects Collective'') was a research collaborative that operated generally out of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

as part of the open access electronic publishing cooperative EServer.org. Together, the collaborative created and published an online

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

of cultural and political criticism to promote public education about the political implications of everyday life. It was founded at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in September 1992 as a collection of leftist critiques of identity politics and popular culture written by college students and published as a Gopher service. ''Bad Subjects'' may have been the longest continuously-running publication on the internet.Jester, Barbara. (December 9, 1997) New York University Office of Public Affairs.
Bad Subjects: Political Education For Everyday Life, New Book Out From NYU Press.
' Obtained June 6, 2007.

History

The cultural

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 ...

''Bad Subjects'' was started at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

in September 1992 by founding editors Joe Sartelle,

Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz (born May 7, 1969) is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction, who has written for the periodicals '' Popular Science'' and ''Wired''. From 1999 to 2008 Newitz wrote a syndicated weekly column ca ...

, and Charlie Bertsch. They were joined by John Brady and Joel Schalit in 1994. By 1996, after founding contributor Steven Rubio built a Gopher site, ''Bad Subjects'' was both an online and hard copy academic publication. In 1998, ''Bad Subjects'' was identified as a celebrated

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

magazine on the Internet. Also in the same year, ''Bad Subjects'' founded a small educational nonprofit corporation, to promote the progressive use of new media and print publications. The group co-authored two books, entitled ''Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life'' and ''Collective Action: A Bad Subjects Anthology''. In 2001, the webzine's popularity had grown to where it was seen by some as the West Coast's answer to the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

-based journal '' The Baffler''. The collective published 4-6 issues per year and also featured regular editorials and reviews of a wide range of media. The site offered twenty-five years of back content for free online.Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. (May 1, 2007)

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

. ''A world in three aisles.'' Volume 314; Issue 1884; Page 47. The stated goal of ''Bad Subjects'' was to revitalize what it termed "a progressive politics in retreat". The group claimed to challenge political

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

by encouraging readers to think about the political dimension to all aspects of everyday life and sought to broaden the audience for leftist and progressive writing, through a commitment to accessibility and contemporary relevance. ''Bad Subjects'' had a large number of contributors, contributing editors and production team members, including Ana Marie Cox, Arturo Aldama, Joe Lockard, Jonathan Sterne, Matt Wray, Megan Shaw Prelinger, Tamara Watkins, Joseph Natoli, Mike Mosher, Molly Hankwitz, Adam Cornford, and Thomas Powell. The last issue was published in early 2017. After a period of problems with its presentation and navigation, the site disappeared without explanation in 2019.

References

External links

Article About ''Bad Subjects''
in the ''Online Journalism Review'' (2005) {{Authority control Alternative magazines American news websites Cultural magazines published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1992 Magazines disestablished in 2017 Magazines published in the San Francisco Bay Area Publishing collectives Weekly magazines published in the United States