Dejan Marković

In Zusammenarbeit mit der Bibliothek & Infothek der Arbeiterkammer Steiermark und Bettina Landl

“It was once considered high treason to read rebellious books. The rise of the working class would not have been possible without such books”, said Hans Muchitsch in his 1926 speech by the opening of the library of the Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees (AK) in Graz. The party newspaper Arbeiterwille, where the speech was printed, had to stop working in 1934. Numerous books were banned shortly afterwards and many were burned. The role of the AK institution, including its library, has changed several times until today.

The artistic project “Rebellious Books” invites various workers to compile books that are now considered to be “rebellious”. The collective investigation of the needs of our time and the medial collection of the library of the Styrian Chamber of Labor asks about resistance, emancipation and radical thinking in the midst of neoliberal and global techno-climatic changes.

In the period from 10.09. – 31.10.2021, the selected books will be exhibited with a short statement as an intervention in the main shelf of the AK-Bibliothek & Infothek in Hanuschgasse 3, 8020 Graz. In their compilation, the books, films and sound recordings provide an up-to-date insight into the topics of self-education and collective action. This temporary collection will be accessible on site, as well as online, and will be further supplemented by visitors and library users.

Participants:
Reinhard Braun, Katrin Bucher-Trantow, Aleksander Fritz, Anja Grabuschnig, Daniel Erlacher, Reni Hofmüller, Ana Jeinić, Elke Kahr, Theresa Klug, Robert Krotzer, Bettina Landl, Tomislav Medak, Walther Moser, Margit Neuhold, Heidrun Primas, Lale Rodgarkia-Dara, Albin Sampel, Karin M. Schmidlechner, Erika Swoboda, Günther Terpotitz, etc.

As part of the “Rebellious Books” project, a reading group will be held in dialogue with media artist and author Lale Rodgarkia-Dara, together with a reading to introduce the texts. Together we will be opening up and discussing excerpts from the following books: Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Managed Heart: Commercialization of human feelings (1983); Ursula Huws, Labor in the Global Digital Economy: The cybertariat comes of age (2014); Sarah T. Roberts, Behind the Screen: Content moderation in the shadows of social media (2019) and Ursula Huws, Re-inventing the Welfare State (2020).

In her analyses, Ursula Huws traces the formation of a supposedly self-defined proletariat. Sarah T. Roberts characterises contemporary workers who moderate, censor and clean up “user-generated content” from social media. Arlie Russell Hochschild’s 1983 study on the marketing of the eternal smiles of airline stewardesses shows the influence of working life on the control and regulation of one’s feelings in private life. Then as now, the costs of subsequent psychological damage are ultimately borne by the workers themselves.

Registration: bibliothek@akstmk.at

Excerpt 1: Roberts, Sarah T., Digital Humanity in “Behind The Screen: Content moderation in the shadows of social media,” 2019

Excerpt 2: Huws, Ursula, The Underpinnings of Class in the Digital Age in “Labor in the Global Digital Economy,” 2014

Excerpt 3: Neckel, Sighard, Einleitung in Arlie Russell Hochschild, “Das gekaufte Herz,” 1983