What is WHAT IF?
WHAT IF? Journal of Radical Possibilities is an occasional journal dedicated
to exploring what it means—often in very practical terms—to
imagine a better world, a world not re-formed, but trans-formed. It
is unique among the journals of the day in its focus on visionary movements
in history and visionary activism in the present. It is also unique
in its focus on an aesthetic of revolutionary and transformative beauty.
By presenting the work of radical poets, artists, activists and writers,
both current and historical, we offer an uncompromisingly intelligent
and beautiful picture of human possibility. We look for roots and branches,
we look for what endures in the quest to make humanity more humane.
We also celebrate resistance and struggle and do not reject conflict
as a necessary aspect of this process.
We want to encourage readers to see that there is a rich, unbroken
history of transformative thought and action which continues to the
present day, in every corner of the country and the world. We also provide
resource listings on every topic we present, so that readers can continue
their own investigations of them. WHAT IF? is published
approximately once a year; our online journal will be a quarterly, with additions possible throughout the quarter. Each issue has a particular theme or focus, though this
is usually fairly broad.
Writers have included Paul
Hawken on the Seattle WTO protests, Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz on the Green Corn Rebellion, Eduardo
Galeano on Bolivia, and political prisoner Rob
Los Ricos on early American resistance communities.
Poets and artists represented include collaborations by poet Amiri
Baraka with collage artist Theodore Harris, and poet Jack
Hirschman with graphic artist Eric Drooker, selections from the
Drawing Resistance
traveling art show, and poetry by Latin
American visionary poets like Pablo Neruda and Roque Dalton. Cleveland-based
photographer Steve
Cagan has been a repeat contributor with photo-studies of Cuba and
Colombia.
Each issue contains a section called “The Guide to Alternative
Living,” which features in-depth descriptions of actual strategies
in practice today for transforming the way individual lives are lived,
and potentially transforming society. Past issues have included explorations
of Unschooling,
Restorative Justice,
and Latin American
Deep Ecology.
So, all in all, WHAT IF? is here to share some selected
windows on the world, offering some incredible views. The house they
look out of has no fixed location, and sits nowhere permanently but
in the human mind—yet.
It is waiting to be built by all of us. Come and help...
editor and publisher: Christy Rodgers whatif@igc.org
website design: Civiane Chung www.civianechung.com
original magazine design: Guillermo Prado, 8point2 design
magazine layout: Civiane Chung and Joshua Short
cover design: Joshua Short cavemanpackmule@earthlink.net
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