Is Cyberfeminism Colorblind?  
By María Fernández

Continued:

The weak links of cyberfeminism to feminism and cyberfeminists' refusal to engage with differences rooted in materiality have been recognized as problematic by various artists and theorists including CAE, Faith Wilding, Caroline Bassett, Coco Fusco, Susanna Paasonen, Irina Aristarkhova and myself and have resulted in other cyberfeminist initiatives. The collective subRosa, founded by Wilding in 1999, engaged issues of race, digital and reproductive technologies since its inception. The recent list Undercurrents initiated by Fusco and hosted by Aristarkhova, Fusco, Wilding and myself attempted to create a space where issues relevant to women of color could be discussed. Cyberfeminista, a list originating from Mexico City, seems unaware of problems in previous cyberfeminisms but the content of the discussions is much more varied than other cyberfeminist lists including among its subjects visual arts, literature, history, sociology, gender and sexuality, international and local feminist activism. Recently, a manifesto and invitation to an anti-racist border crossing camp by a group of German feminists was posted on several electronic mailing lists.⁹ The manifesto urges participants to examine their own attitudes to whiteness and race. It remains to be seen whether these efforts will result in more inclusive and politically active cyberfeminisms.

1. The question of why many women found Cyberfeminism alienating was raised at the opening session of the Very Cyberfeminist International held in Hamburg, December 2001.

2. Cyberfeminists' deep ambivalence towards feminism was evident in various discussions in the Faces mailing list during 1998 and 1999. See also, Cornelia Sollfrank, "The Truth about Cyberfeminism."

3. Technics of Cyberfeminism <mode=message> edited by Claudia Reiche and Andrea Sick. Bremen: Thealit, Frauen, Kultur, Labor 2002 and Yvonne Volkart, "Connective Identities," Catalogue essay of the Internet and CD-ROM part of the show, Double life. Identity and transformation in contemporary art. Vienna:Generali Foundation 2001. 

4. The work of Ursula Biemann is exceptional in this regard as she addresses issues of labor, globalization and inequality.

5. One of the organizers, explained that the members of Rawa were not invited to participate in the conference because they did not speak English. Public discussion, Opening round table, Very Cyberfeminist International, Hamburg, December 2001. During the lecture it became evident that various members of RAWA spoke both German and English.

6. These conclusions result from public and private discussions held at the last two Cyberfeminist Internationals, more specifically those pertaining to the session "Feminism, Difference and Global Capital" at the Next Cyberfeminist International in Rotterdam in 1999, and the panel discussion "Strategies and tactics for feminist/cyberfeminist collaborations, collective art practice, contestational cultural work, and building networks of solidarity and action," both organized by Faith Wilding. See also, Irina Aristarkhova, "The future is female" in Mute, Issue 23, March 2001.

7. Etienne Balibar, Culture and Identity (working notes) translated by J. Swenson. In The Identity in Question, edited by John Rachman New York: Routledge,1993, 187.-s

8.Ernesto Laclau, "Universalism, Particularism and the Question of Identity" in Rachman, opp cit. 96-97.

9. "Manifesto of the Crossover Summer Camp Project", Nettime and Undercurrents, Thu, 25 Jul 2002.

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