The Archival Turn in Feminism: Outrage in Order

by Kate Eichhorn

In the 1990s, a generation of women born during the rise of the second wave feminist movement plotted a revolution. These young activists funneled their outrage and energy into creating music, and zines using salvaged audio equipment and stolen time on copy machines. By 2000, the cultural artifacts of this movement had started to migrate from basements and storage units to community and university archives, establishing new sites of storytelling and political activism.

 

The Archival Turn in Feminism chronicles these important cultural artifacts and their collection, cataloging, preservation, and distribution. Cultural studies scholar Kate Eichhorn examines institutions such as the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University, The Riot Grrrl Collection at New York University, and the Barnard Zine Library. She also profiles the archivists who have assembled these significant feminist collections.

 

Eichhorn shows why young feminist activists, cultural producers, and scholars embraced the archive, and how they used it to stage political alliances across eras and generations.

A volume in the American Literatures Initiative

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, History, Womens, Gender, Research, Feminist Theory

203 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Moved to Library Thing adaorhell · Rating 4 out of 5]

More accessible and pop-y than Cruising the Library: Perversities in the Organization of Knowledge, and mainly focuses on the fate of Riot Girl collections in various libraries. The fate of the Hanna papers and other Riot Girl Rock Stars at the Fales library at NYU smacked of elitism, of nepotism, of the worst kind of white girl privilege in the whole world. Kudos to the author for even asking Karen Drams (head of special collections at Fales) -- "would this collection even exist if you weren't friends with all of them?" Reinforced my idea that archiving and especially 'special' or 'rare' collections are only concerned with their friends (the only important things happening are things I can see). I'm glad I kept reading through my disgust though, because the next chapter about Jenna Freedman at Barnard was much more exciting, democratic, flat, horizontal and accessible. She operates under the idea that when forced to choose preservation or access, "I always choose access." She believes that re-tagging, telling LCC to fuck off, and trying to create systems that serve erased populace (is queer a sexual minority or a class deserving of its own subheading?) and providing them greater access is a better way to agitate for social change than trying to digitize the entire library of zines in her collection. The author of this book teaches media at the New School, where I'm applying on friday and I know I don't have the cash to attend, but I'd like to sneak in and try her out.

Overall, an interesting read for those in the field or who care about this kind of thing.

[Liza]

I think this is a nice idea. Also, it is weird to read about a place you worked...?

[Karla Strand · Rating 4 out of 5]

My short review of this volume will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of American History.

[nalijah daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars***

very insightful and i’m thankful to any piece of literature that i learn from — some ideas are definitely from a different era than i and would have loved for it to take a more radical stance but i’m aware that this is about the archives & not opinions on the work being done

[Phoenix Sapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

the only way im getting reading done is to log it on here as a motivation....this diva is absolutely carrying my dissertation

[Travis Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book.