Nonspace Zines by Urban Parsons

ISSUE #02

The Nonspace Zine Project Research and Design conducted from January to May 2014.

Thanks to all those who contributed! Marcea Decker Nadia Elokdah

THE NONSPACE ZINE PROJECT

I. INTRODUCTION + RESEARCH METHODS Our research process began by identifying spaces of dispossession, specifically of gender, in spatial and social contexts. We focused on understanding how the pre-existing socio-spatial patriarchal structure embeds power relationships between class, race, gender, sexuality, and difference. As we explored further the relationships between gender and space, we found it more compelling to examine moments of fissure and intersectionality within this preexisting structure. These moments we began to identify as the means and strategies that create spaces of empowerment and possibility. Our questions then became: How are they relational? Can these spaces broaden to network with other spaces, or are they isolated? Framing the context of zines not only in relationship to physical space, but what we term â&#x20AC;&#x153;nonspaceâ&#x20AC;?, is a more compelling analysis as the strongest themes identified in our research, such as temporality, kinship, and networks, are most evident in non-physical spaces. It is a particularly unique approach to studying zine culture. We are framing spatiality in a very experimental way, perhaps because we have been exposed to the physicality of space for far too long as our backgrounds are in architecture and geography. We find that especially in this context, the analysis of nonspace gives greater insights to marginalized communities who mostly exist, and find empowerment and possibility, within this sphere.

RESEARCH TIMELINE

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II. SPACES OF EXCLUSION The pre-existing socio-spatial construct of gender norms manifests itself in both physical and social spaces as “gendered space”. However, even actualizing this term is to reproduce rhetoric and ideology that is embedded in this stifling construct– it insinuates a monolithic interpretation of gender. The realization that there is an oppressive difference of expressions of gender within space must not concede to the rigid interpretation that it is due to some kind of collective “female” or “male” experience. We challenge this notion throughout our research by embracing the dynamism of the lived experience, specifically through understanding zines and zine culture. Necessary to understanding not only the complexity, but also the scale of such social and institutionalized barriers of spatial practice, the process of exclusion, demonization, and then dispossession must be deconstructed. As characterized by Ali Mandanipour, “spatiality of social exclusion is constructed through the physical organization of space as well as the through the social control of space, as ensured by informal codes and signs and formal rules and regulations.”1 Exclusion does not manifest singularly; it is perceivable in many forms throughout various facets of the socially constructed public realm. As these isolated forms of exclusion being to intersect and compound, patterns of structural exclusion impose particular forms of experience and identity, that if dissimilar, lead to ‘otherness’ and its associative marginalities. Positioned within such patterns of social exclusion, demonization of the ‘other’ occurs through the imposition of socially and morally constructed normative practices that specify gendered identities. To extend this theorization, Woods contextualizes, “the words and thoughts 5

of a demonized [group are] considered abhorrent by proponents of the uplift and assimilation models of social development.”2 As patterns of normative female identity become embedded and historicized within commonsensical social narratives, non-conformist identities and lived experiences become demonized. Through such vehicles of power and control, socio-spatial dispossession imposes a constructed ‘female experience’ that definitively devalues feminine productions of knowledge as ‘other’ and, particularly harshly, demonizes that of the subaltern feminine as beyond recognition. Dispossession occurs when these afore mentioned patriarchal constructs of gender norms are contradicted by expressions of difference, particularly gender and identity, that diverge from the patriarchal ideal, yet are not able to exist within it without conflict, struggle, and oppression. However, this is not to say that alternate spaces are devoid of patterns of exclusion. Jenna Brager, writer of Sassyfrass Circus, notes that within her zine network “all the boundaries [exist]. We are certainly separated by distance, sometimes by age, sometimes by zine feuds, also [through] unacknowledged privilege, particularly race-based.”3

This is consistent with a few other examples we gathered through discussions and interviews, more specifically about the exclusion of cis- and transgender individuals and people of color (POC). Daniela, for example, created the POC Zine Project to address barriers within the zine network for POC. She initially “got into zines because [she] needed healing”, but in order to do that she needed the space to exist, for not only herself, but also for POC to talk to other POC. There is this myth of inclusivity that I find really problematic because if you go into communities where making zines isn’t noticed or…really talked about, and you tell them about zine fests, some people of color ask…how is that relevant to me [as an individual who identifies as a person of color]? … what continues to be this ongoing conversation about zine community is the myth versus reality…the myth of inclusivity of…we’re all making zines and we’re all sharing so we’re all the same. No [this is not the reality]…Yes, this is a method of disruption, but…also [can be] another way to divide community.4 An unexpected boundary we uncovered intersects with another facet of identity: transgender people within the zine community. In our interview conducted with Jenna Freedman, she mentioned that in first forming the zine library that explicitly curated zines written and made by females, the language she was using unintentionally discouraged transgender zinesters who did not know whether this guideline was inclusive to them. She later amended the zine library guidelines to include zines written by transgender individuals explicitly, as well as later revising the guidelines to include works from all genders. However, for some the boundaries are not as daunting, and entry to the network can hinge on participation and investment to the craft of zine-making. As Kristen Felicetti of the Bushwick Review remarks: Oh, but I don’t feel like there is any outsider. I feel like the thing about it is that anyone can make [a zine] so it’s not like a world 7

you are trying to get into. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty easy to do it yourself and be involvedâ&#x20AC;Ś I think that in any project it is fun to put stuff together, right? A lot of people, if they see something they like, they have the urge to try it themselves.5 This evidence is presented not to say that just because the same issues manifest in the zine network that the zine network responds to these issues with the same invisibility, oppressiveness, or apathy as the dominant patriarchal structuring does. Rather, it is to say that when confronted by these issues the zine network can be responsive and adaptive in rethinking its own positionality to embrace difference. We observed this through the evolution of the Barnard College Zine Library guidelines, as well as panel discussions at both of the Zine Festivals we attended that addressed major topics of exclusion, POC, identity, sexuality, and transgender zines.

III. CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING + SPACES OF POSSIBILITY Understood as the socially produced normatives associated with sex, gender is a construction of power relationships through social learning. As such, it is expressed and reaffirmed through exertion of dominance, violence, objectification, and other vehicles of oppression. Similarly, femininity, a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles socially associated with girls and women, becomes a site of contestation as it becomes culturally prescriptive. Resultant from this gender-based position of marginality, exclusion in the public realm means space is not neutral. Space is gendered through the demonization of femininity reproduced in the larger socio-spatial cultural patriarchal narrative. Further, since it is a cultural manifestation of expected normative roles and behaviors, this practice of dispossession is so ingrained within cultural reproduction that space is often gendered regardless of the physical presence of a female or physical embodiment of femininity. Given this construct and the manifestation of oppression in the built environment and social landscape of lived experience, it is possible to also find some formalized spaces of inclusion. These spaces thrive as an alternative to the pre-existing power relationships and established dynamics found within spaces of dispossession in the public realm. This is pervasive as the contestation of space for gender inclusivity has been a deeply historical struggle. Poststructuralist and contemporary architectural spatial theory in particular omit the connection between the notion of “other” and women’s social situations that are not necessarily spatial, but rather nonspatial, networks.6 Drawing from strategies used to create and sustain spaces of empowerment in the radical consciousness-raising second-wave feminist movement, there is an interesting distinction relational to the personal genre, of many varying genres, of zines. The aspect that we have found most compelling from personal zines in our own research echos the larger effort of building a culture and network that starts from the self. “It seemed clear that knowing how our own lives related to the general condition of women would make us better fighters… [we] would have to see this truth about our [own] lives before [we could] fight in a radical way for anyone.”7 We situate our research within 10

zine culture, â&#x20AC;&#x153;an underground practice of subaltern groups. Practices, interrelation, and narrative are valued as part of the processes of knowledge production and transmission.â&#x20AC;?8 Here Sarachild identifies two significant elements inherent to zine culture as a space of empowerment. First, primary to the practices of subaltern groups, the individual narrative is vital to the counterconstruction of valid experience and the consciousness of a type of collective identity. Through framing empowerment as a space of possibility and consciousness, the individual meets the collective to form and foster empowerment through divergent social thought in opposition to the historical dispossession and exclusion that stems from the institutionalized patriarchal society. Patricia Hill Collins explains the importance of consciousness further, even on an individual-to-individual scale:

[C]onsciousness may stimulate her to embark on a path of personal freedom, even if it exists initially primarily in her own mind. If she is lucky enough to meet others who are undergoing similar journeys, she and they can change the world around them. If ideas, knowledge, and consciousness can have such an impact on individual Black women, what effect might they have on Black women as a group? I suspected that African-American women had created a collective knowledge that served a similar purpose in fostering Black women’s empowerment.9 It is important to keep in mind here that “the feminine is experienced differently, at different times, in different cultures, by different people. The point is not just recognizing ‘difference,’ but all kinds of difference.”10 We interpret this difference as explicitly describing the significance to self and the varying ways self is identified and expressed. Second, Sarachild calls attention to the process of establishing alternative productions of knowledge in the creation of zine culture, and the resultant networks of divergent possibility. Reproduced through action, zine making and trading utilizes the tactic of production and distribution of knowledge outside of the dominant discourse of what can constitute legitimate knowledge. In addition to being a storytelling tradition of individualized and collective self-expression, zine culture is also a knowledge network born out of subaltern communities throughout history, designed to internally oppose marginality and dispossession. Often the network and zine production and distribution takes a traditional story-telling technique in a non-traditional form stemming from anarcho-punk culture rooted in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethos. It is non-traditional because the culture deliberately opposes “legitimate” forms of knowledge production, with the goal not to replicate books, but create very personal and unique material forms of story-telling. There is a quality of internal validation within this mode of production; it is creating and representing stories and information for internal validation-- it is not about pleasing the outside world, it’s a space for zinesters by zinesters. In Jenna Freedman’s words, 12

“absence of external validation is sometimes validation itself”. This sentiment is echoed throughout various responses and interviews we collected from other zinesters, including Jenna Brager, writer of Sassyfrass Circus, who we met at the Brooklyn Zine Fest. [Making zines is] empowering, [because] I got to say whatever I wanted and give it to people to read! Also photocopying is amazing — press a button and you’re published!11

The main appeal and what makes the zine community empowering is the absence of pressure from the outside world to create something that fits into a prescribed notion of legitimate knowledge. As such, it provides a space where the many different expressions of self can be intimately expressed without being generalized, suppressed, or censored. We are talking about empowerment here in the context of possibility; often conceptions of what “empowerment” is can be a vehicle to serve the embedded construct. Empowerment can easily be co-opted by patriarchy due to the deep embedding of internalized oppression; many take strategies from the oppressive system itself in an effort to become empowered. Being able to act like a “man” – the prescribed patriarchal notion of masculinity – and become empowered through this validation of self is not empowerment, and is a strategy of the patriarchy to dispossess the other. Even empowerment as an antagonistic reaction to patriarchy enforces these dynamics by constantly answering to it. What is more pervasive, however, are strategies of possibility that work outside the expectations of the system, 13

never explicitly addressing it or seeking to become reintegrated back into this structure. Empowerment cannot happen using the tools of the established patriarchal system. As Hooks states, quoting Audre Lorde:strategies of possibility that work outside the expectations of the system, never explicitly addressing it or seeking to become reintegrated back into this structure. Empowerment cannot happen using the tools of the established patriarchal system. As Hooks states, quoting Audre Lorde: I think it’s a fantasy that we can recoup the violating image and use it. I used to get so tired of people quoting Audre [Lorde], “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” But that was exactly what she meant, that you are not going to destroy this imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy by creating your own version of it.12 Power cannot be manifested or even reappropriated if the systems of consciousness-raising and possibility are crafted by the exact structures dispelling difference, creating opportunity for marginality, and actively constructing spaces of dispossession.

IV. NETWORKS, KINSHIP, AND POWER Within the framework of the everyday female experience, despite its many forms of difference, women often collectively rely upon bonds of kinship and alternative support networks. There are shared experiences upon which networks and relationships build in order to provide both an insular counter-narrative and a space of possibility in which empowerment may manifest. Consisting of both similar and widely varying lived experiences, this counter-narrative cements a powerful community of kinship. Social support networks are a commonly used and historically significant tactic for empowerment and survival within female communities. Within our research we identified patterns of support extended and received by active zinesters as nonphysical space. Nia King, art activist and writer of the widely circulated zine MXD, characterizes her relationship to the network of support felt by zine culture as a non-physical space of connection and inclusion against the struggles felt from socio-spatial dispossession. I put my stuff out there because I feel so alone so often and really, I just want to find people like me who are struggling through the same things I am. I just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be alone.13 Similarly, Daniela Capistrano, of POC Zine Project, was introduced to the personal zine while searching for connection and support from others who also selfidentified as queer people of color. For her, the creation of a space of sustained 15

support and fostering engagement with new participants was the impetus for starting the POC Zine Project. I want to help younger folks heal through zines...the next generation [can] understand the context and entry points into zine culture [through the zines we’ve made and shared already]…which are anonymous, human, personal exchanges.14 It seems evident from analysis of our research, the emphasis on non-traditional kinship serves as an alternative form of reaction to dispossession. Here, personal exchange and vulnerability are vehicles toward, rather than barriers to, empowerment. Through individual and collective storytelling, these networks of shared experience and related reactions to oppression are established and maintained physically and non-physically through alternative media such as feminist zines, zine fests, and zine networks. The dynamic nature of the kinship network is explicitly linked to the nature of its production. The nonphysical space is constantly reproduced by those who make it a space of trust exchange. As Jenna Freedman recalls, the deeply significant exchange amongst zinesters has a strong history surrounding this particular social support network. [In] the 90s there were zines that you could only get by trade. You couldn’t give [the writer] a million dollars for it; you had to give them a piece of your soul in return…you really put yourself out there and it’s nice to be in a space where other people are doing the same.15 Even when thinking as a librarian, Jenna identifies that paramount to the particular kinship of zine culture, recognition of empowerment is achieved through engagement. As zine librarian she holds an opportunity, through cataloguing, to make the network more accessible. Those looking for a supportive kinship, as were Nia and Daniela, can engage with the network to find stories of lived experience with which they can identify from a voice often underrepresented outside of such 16

a space of support. A lot of [zines] are written by college students, and a lot of zines are tackling issues that our students are dealing with that they certainly aren’t going to come talk to me about. It could be about cutting or about their relationship between their immigrant parents and their sexual identity. [For] all these things, I think it’s helpful to just be able to read [personal experience] in someone’s [own] voice.16

Of particular significance in contextualizing Jenna Freedman’s above comment is the role of the physical Barnard Zine Library in reinforcing the non-physical constructions of support. While, yes, the zine network is the primary source of kinship building, the physical space of the library stacks, not to mention the physical zine itself, allows for direct contact and tangibility to the dynamic, non-spatial support offered. Localized physical spaces such as these outlined serve to supplement the broad regional, national, even global scale of the nonspace network. Our research design zine questioned explicitly where physical manifestations of the network occur in space, as well 17

as key relationships not situated in space that largely influence the nature and temporality of how physicality exists. Through synthesizing our responses, we have deemed nonspace as defined by networks between zine-makers and readers and the trading culture of zines. Feminist geographers conceptualize embeddedness in social networks through spatial dimensions, as we uncovered through our research. The impact of local context on spatially, grounded networks, and the role of space in shaping information flows are significant elements of support and context for the network.17 The spatial boundedness of women’s lives is disproportionately limiting via the socio-spatial constructs of normative gender roles. Additionally, “no spatiality is inherently with or without power.”18 Extrapolating from this, it can be understood that the presence or absence of physical space is directly indicative of power relations within the socially produced public realm, in this case what we have defined as the pre-existing patriarchal construct. In reaction to such oppressive conditions, networks are established as a significant component of individual and community survival strategies. Gilbert argues strongly that the strength of such networks is socio-spatial rootedness inherently embedded in daily life and therefore lived experience. The zine, the zine library, and even the temporal space of the zine fest serve as physical or spatial embodiments of intangible networks. Nia King succinctly elucidates Gilbert’s insights, “I didn’t have a mixed race community before zines. Now I do, specifically from…zine fests.”19 Alison Piepmeier offers a complementary framing of the zine as physical manifestation, representation, and artifact. We can’t understand grrrl zines or the zine medium-- can’t understand the communities they create, why they continue to be created, or what they allow girls and women to say and do-without examining the physical form, the materiality, of zines. This is a necessary first step. … When studying a body of material as diverse, changing, and elusive as zines, it’s nearly impossible to make many claims about representativeness. In this sense, then [zines] offer hints and possibilities, showing 18

the layers of meaning that become visible when we move beyond the written word to the artifact itself.20 By aligning these three conceptions of the physical aspects of kinship networks, a richer understanding of nonspace as augmented by tangible space can be contextualized. The vulnerability of experience becomes tangible when it meets paper; even as temporality of content expires, in the words of Daniela Capistrano, the zine serves as “a time capsule” freezing this experience within the production of knowledge.21 Nia King speaks to her complex relationship with the nature of spatiality, physicality, and temporality: It’s difficult when you put all of your deep, dark experiences and thoughts into something and then have no control over where it ends up. But that’s also the unique beauty of zines…Even though I don’t want all of my older zines circulating anymore, because I was in such a deep, dark place [back] then …if there is another person coming of age now [of the new generation of zinesters]…dealing with person of color / trans / mixed identity / gender issues, I’m glad my zine can [provide a means of connection] for them...sometimes people really hate or love or are inspired by your zines… I just received a letter from a sixteen year old about a zine I wrote years ago…when I was younger…about issues I was going through as a mixed race person looking for someone to connect with. I’m not in that place anymore, but it meant so much to her….22 The alternative narrative is possible through a community that does not necessarily exist in the physical, but that reinforces itself through the kinship with others in the network. It may manifest in the physical and draw more support when it is expressed in this way, but the space for possibility really begins in nonspace.

V. SYNTHESIS FROM FIELDWORK We realized through our research that zine culture is rooted within the trading culture of anarcho-punk anti-capitalism. These both are counter-cultures with deliberate ideologies seeking to counter the dominant culture that controls cities by dictating who belongs in specific places. As Sharon Zukin notes in Whose Culture? Whose City?, [If] one way of dealing with the material inequalities of city life has been to aestheticize diversity, another way is to aestheticize fear. â&#x20AC;Ś Building a city depends on how people combine the traditional economic factors of land, labor, and capital. But it also depends on how they manipulate symbolic languages of exclusion and entitlement. The look and feel of cities reflect decisions about what, and who, should be visible and what should not, on concepts of order and disorder, and on uses of aesthetic power.23 This thus codifies difference masked in discrimination and characterizes the counter-culture as dangerously subversive. Strategies, artistic expression, and subaltern culture can be co-opted by mainstream media, commodification, and marketization in an attempt to weaken the hold and significance of alternate spaces. The symbolic economy is one that is not rooted in the built environment, but rather understands culture as an economic base capitalizing on culture through privatization and militarization.24 Zukin specifically speaks to this phenomenon in public space, however her argument works well for us to understand the non-spatiality of social networks within zine culture as it relates to very important questions 21

initially posed in our research. Who can occupy space? Are spaces of empowerment and possibility more likely to occur within networks and temporal moments of interaction with the built environment, or in fixed space? Culture is intertwined in all of these questions, it necessarily complicates the understanding of navigating through and occupying space especially in relationship to the intersectionalities of class, race, gender, sexuality, and so on. We found through many interviews that the strength of the network lies in the relationships and bonds built between zinesters, within their own networks of empowerment. This aspect of zine culture is much more important than the potential to make monetary gains off of their craft and the network. As Kristen Felicetti noted: I really like meeting people at the Zine Fests and stuff like that. That’s the best part, more than making money. People will ask you things or sometimes they’ll talk about their own work. Sometimes they are even really bold, and say ‘I’ve seen you around the neighborhood,’ not in a creepy way, but things like that are really nice. I live for that stuff. I love having creative conversations with other people and new people. I like meeting new people who tell me about what they like to do.25 Similarly, Andrea Manica, writer of Cereal With a Smile, responded to our research design zine supporting the ideologies rooted in the anarcho-punk trading culture of zines, where the commodification and profiteering off of zines is not what drives the zine culture. Particularly she noted that trading or giving away zines for free is often the most common way to obtain a zine: Zines are a format that can be very accessible because they can be so cheap to make on a photocopier! And give away free! 26 In addition to the rootedness in DIY anarcho-punk counter-culture, we have identified three other themes that played a role in our research 22

and synthesis: investment, vulnerability, and trust. Our first experience at the NYC Feminist Zine Fest felt difficult to really permeate, one reason is because we positioned ourselves as academic researchers, missing the fundamental point of zine-making: sharing, trading, investment, and vulnerability that builds trust and a link to the network. We went to the zine fest without realizing one of the most crucial parts of zine culture, that being participation. We realized that it is nearly impossible for the researcher to simply observe and then understand the rhythm of the complex relationships that are formed. When we expressed this part of our process to Jenna Freedman she confirmed. It is a really important part of getting zine culture. You arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even fully immersed until, not only have you made your own zine, but maybe youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve written a letter to someone, or even an email, but usually a letter. Contributing something is part of zine culture, too. There is this desire to give back or give more.27 Our second Zine Fest, the Brooklyn Zine Fest, was markedly different, 23

mostly because we not only gained valuable insights from seasoned zinesters, but also experienced for ourselves the vulnerability of illustrating and sharing personal stories in our research design zine that we traded or gave for free at the fest. The zines not only provided a great entry to conversation with other zinesters, but showed our dedication, interest, and investment to zine culture. A quote that guided us in particular came from Kristen Felicetti who described the importance of investment, not of monetary valuation, but of creativity and genuineness: I care about seeing things that have good design and that make people take things much more seriously. If you’re going to go through the trouble to put something out, anything, release an album, take the time, whether it’s your own skill or someone else’s, to make it look visually the way you want it. It gives a good first impression, as well. The one thing I want people to do is still take this seriously, and not half-ass these things we’re making. That’s my trust exchange. I don’t want you to send me something that you’re not proud of; I want work that you want to put your name on. 28 In order to collect first-person responses and data, we distributed one hundred copies of our research design zine to both tablers and participants at the Brooklyn Zine Fest. As well, we placed additional blank copies available for anyone to take at the event’s free table along with a box where participants could return their completed zines. While we did not expect all of the blank zines we distributed to be returned, we felt those that were submitted would have significant insight and embrace the inherent value of personal lived experience. However, very true to the personal hand-written, trading, and free distribution culture, the returned zines were mistaken for free zines and much of our research submissions were taken. We realized this to be the nature of the medium in this particular context; they are meant to be exchanged freely.

ISSUE #01

VI. CONCLUSION While we initially framed zine culture as a space of empowerment, we instead conclude our research with a refined understanding of this space as one of multifaceted possibility. Zines, zine culture, and the network within which they are situated “enables [participants] to reach inward to explore new depths while simultaneously allowing them to reach beyond enforced boundaries in order to unite with [others who are also] demonized.”29 The zine network allows for the transmission of knowledge to be mobilized around the legitimate construction of difference. Though the struggles from the grander construct extend into this space where privilege and exclusion can be easily observable, the marginalized voice has more weight to be heard in this space. The space of possibility is just that — it is embracing of change, responsive to the critiques, and increasingly aware of its positionality, privilege, and power. The space of possibility exists alternately to the oppressive construct and co-optation of “empowerment”; by not antagonizing the system the focus instead is on multiplicities of experience, as they exist. Daniela Capistrano comments on the possibility she sees within zine culture to expand in a way that embraces and allows the formation of important relationships between marginalized people. I had [this dream] to connect with other people of color making zines [to create] this network of people who help each other find and define their identity…to address disruptions in society and within self…my vision for the future of the POCZP is to have these conversations about identify for people of color who don’t usually have the space of expression within zine communities.30

The subaltern identities of cis- and transgender, mixed race, mixed gender, and person of color can establish their own and shared communities within the greater network of shared experience and collective culture. Through investment in the DIY nature of the zine community, individuals contribute to the production of alternative forms of knowledge expression and production. Through the process of making and trading, zinesters reveal vulnerabilities and demonstrate a great amount of trust toward their fellow zine-makers. Through the sustained reproduction of this network, strengthened via spatial manifestations such as zine fests and nonspatial ones like letter writing, opportunities for kinship-like support systems arise. Zines are one form of historically significant expression which contribute to the larger narrative of possibility, particularly imperative to the sustaining of difference, otherness, alternative forms of identity, and the deconstruction of dispossession through collective empowerment. Aware of the shortcomings and marginalization of the formally constructed patriarchal public realm, the individuals who participate in the making and remaking of zine culture are in pursuit of a complex understanding of inclusion, regardless of external legitimization or validation. This inclusivity is such that it allows for the possibility of difference.

End Notes 1. Ali Madanipour, “Social Exclusion and Space,” in The City Reader, eds. Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout. (New York: Routledge, 2007), 193. 2. Clyde Woods, “Sittin’ on Top of the World: The Challenges of Blues and Hip Hop Geography,” in Black Geographies and the Politics of Place, eds. Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods. (Cambridge: South End Press, 2007), 71. 3. Jenna Brager, research design zine submission to authors, April 26, 2014. 4. Daniela Capistrano, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about MixedHeritage,” Panel Discussion, April 24, 2014. 5. Kristen Felicetti, interview with authors, April 16, 2014. 6. Mary McLeod, “Everyday and ‘Other’ Spaces,” in Architecture and Feminism: Yale Publications on Architecture, ed. Deborah Coleman. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), 10. 7. Marta Malo de Molina, “Common Notions, Part 1: Workers-inquiry, Co-research, Consciousness-raising,” referencing Kathi Sarachild, “Consciousness-raising: A Radical Weapon,” in Feminist Revolution. (New York: Random House, 1978), 144. 8. Malo de Molina, “Common Notions, Part 1: Workers-inquiry, Co-research, Consciousness-raising,” 150. 9. Patricia Hill Collins, (2000) Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. (New York: Routledge, 2000), 10. McLeod, “Everyday and ‘Other’ Spaces,” 9. 11. Brager, research design zine submission to authors. 12. “bell hooks on Beyoncé: She Is a ‘Terrorist’ Because of Her ‘Impact On Young Girls’.” Clutch Online Magazine, accessed May 11, 2014, http://www.clutchmagonline. com/2014/05/bell-hooks-beyonce-terrorist-impact-young-girls/. 13. Nia King, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage,” Panel Discussion, April 24, 2014. 14. Capistrano, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage,” April 24, 2014. 15. Jenna Freedman, interview with authors, April 23, 2014. 16. Freedman, interview, April 23, 2014.

17. Melissa R. Gilbert, “‘Race,’ Space, and Power: The Survival Strategies of Working Poor Women,” in The Urban Sociology Reader, ed. Jan Lin. (New York: Routledge, 2013), 263. 18. Gilbert, “‘Race,’ Space, and Power: The Survival Strategies of Working Poor Women,” 261. 19. Alison Piepmeier, Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism, (New York: New York University Press, 2009) 58. 20. Piepmeier, Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism, 58. 21. Capistrano, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage,” April 24, 2014. 22. King, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage,” April 24, 2014. 23. Sharon Zukin. “Whose Culture? Whose City?,” in The Cultures of Cities. (Cambridge: Blackwell, 1995), 2-4. 24. Zukin, “Whose Culture? Whose City?,” 2-4. 25. Felicetti, interview, April 16, 2014. 26. Andrea Manica, research design zine submission to authors, May 3, 2014. 27. Freedman, interview, April 23, 2014. 28. Felicetti, interview, April 16, 2014. 29. Woods, Clyde Woods, “Sittin’ on Top of the World: The Challenges of Blues and Hip Hop Geography,” 74. 30. Capistrano, “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage,” April 24, 2014.

Primary Source Data Brager, Jenna. Response to research design zine. Handwritten response. Brooklyn, NY, April 26, 2014. Capistrano, Daniela. “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about MixedHeritage.” Panel Discussion, Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations from The Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY, April 24, 2014. Felicetti, Kristen. Interview by Marcea Decker and Nadia Elokdah. Digital Recording. Brooklyn, NY, April 16, 2014. Freedman, Jenna. Interview by Marcea Decker and Nadia Elokdah. Digital Recording. New York City, April 23, 2014. King, Nia. “Zines from the Borderlands: Storytelling about Mixed-Heritage.” Panel Discussion, Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations from The Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY, April 24, 2014. Manica, Andrea. Response to research design zine. Digitized handwritten response. Toronto, May 2, 2014.

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