Counterblast
A journal of criticism and ideas from the student left
Counterblast is a journal of criticism and ideas run by a group of left-wing students at Scottish Universities. In the next year we will launch four separate print editions, each linked by several themes.
EDITIONS
.1 Dissent
For Marshall McLuhan, the term ‘Counterblast’ signified “the need for a counter-environment as a means of perceiving the dominant one.” This edition will focus on alternatives.
.2 Democracy
We are interested in the growing malaise of the body politic. This edition will consider the theories and practices which underpin civil society and its severence. Contemporary populism and disinformation are of particular interest.
Taking our cue from Henri Lefebvre's concept of social space, this edition will focus on the spatial categories of various issues - from psychosocial spaces to urban infrastructure to socio-political cases across the world, including the analysis of objects and design.
.3 Design
.4 Discourse
This edition will focus on the symbiosis of language, identity, and power. Stuart Hall says reality exists outside of language, but its representative function strongly shapes the way we ‘see’ the world. How language both reveals and manufactures ideology is critical.
Why ‘Counterblast’?
Counterblast was a short publication produced by the Canadian media philosopher Marshall McLuhan in collaboration with the artist Harley Parker. In the spirit of McLuhan’s intellectual project, Counterblast scrutinised how mass media reinforced capitalist ideology. Essentially an exercise in immanent critique, Counterblast offered a creative example of how we can analyse the cultural forms of power in society. Our project aims to revise the ideals of McLuhan’s publication, and to repurpose his radical formula for student readers in the 2020s. We aim to emphasise the need for alternative domains of discourse, dissent, and critique of power across modern life.
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
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THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE 🎥
“Media effects are new environments as imperceptible as water to a fish…”
