PTSD

Making (insert your own pet project here) History

So, I’m sure yous have all heard of (or, like me, even bought) some of those “Make poverty history” stuff, right? Or, maybe not. In any case, I think the campaign here in the USA is called ONE but is for the same reason: to raise awareness of poverty-related issues and (try to) make poverty history. Leaving aside questions of critical historiography (that’s more Elizabeth’s field) and about when one decides that poverty is history (most likely not in my lifetime and who does the deciding anyway?), one cannot avoid the t-shirts, armbands and other paraphernalia, especially in Europe. They’re sold in Oxfam shops, in stalls on streets, outside football grounds, everywhere. The campaign is supported by politicians, entertainment figures and sportspeople.

Well, I was going through some web sites today when I ran across this (check out the T-shirt section). How to describe it? A good way to jump on the bandwagon? Or a rather crude way of making a political statement that a large proportion of the people would find offensive? After all, unlike making poverty history, which is a goal that not many people would disagree with (though, as I point out, the means and methods are debatable), making “partition” history (note the word “partition”, invoking images of the Cold War and apartheid) is not something that is as generally supported. On the subject of where exactly this campaign stands, I’ll nick a phrase from a rather well-known news corporation: You(s) decide.

posted by Priya @ 11:29 AM