1991
[no entry]
1992
Time: 12.30pm
July 9th: Diaries 1991-2000
July 8th: Diaries 1991-2000
July 7th: Diaries 1991-2000
July 6th: Diaries 1991-2000
July 5th, Diaries 1991-2000
July 4th: Diaries 1991-2000
1991
Bitch
1992
Time: 12.50am
Today’s been good in places. Had rehearsal for Shakespeare and M etc were taking the piss out of C (again). IN the evening B came round before the Barn Dance in fact here she is now: hello – yes its me the famous (big-headed Bolchy) B! All I’d really like to say is I’M IN LOVE his name (confidential info here) MM!!! yes queer name lush person. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Nx
As you can see she’s mad(ly) (in love!) Went to Neston Barn dance tonight. It was a bit of laf! J + B J came round this afternoon. They’re both sweet!
See ya,
Nina
July 3: Diaries 1991-2000
1991
silly
1992
Time: 11.15pm
Today’s been TOTALLY + ABSOLUTELY QUEER. It’s just been really wet + windy and just about everyone has been really bitchy and everyone had a mass fight (me, S, L, T, etc.) It’s a bit complicated really.
I had a go at C this morning because I hate the way she’s changed and after we made up and she thanked me for it! Strange. The weather really changes people. Sports Day was cancelled (due to weather).
I did my piano exam and well messed it up! I don’t particularly care! My period is really heavy today it’s sick. I tried using a tampon but I couldn’t. I hate it. It’s not fair. Men don’t have this hassle do they? No. They may have wet dreams but at least they enjoy them when they’re happening.
See ya,
Nina
July 2nd: Diaries 1991-2000
1991
you
1992
Time: 10.00pm
What a pisser. I came on tonight and I’ve got Sports Day tomorrow. It’s not fair. J + me were flirting with each other all day. He kept putting his hand up my skirt,* typical! I found out that PW fancies me + he dumped J today. BF asked me out and I said no, sorry. Amazing hey!?! I’ve also got my grade 4 piano exam tomorrow, Me + B have been really well close, Nina
*don’t worry, I didn’t let him!
Digital Democracy?
[A version of this text was published in Socialist Register 2018 ed. Leo Panitch and Greg Albo]
DIGITAL DEMOCRACY?
NINA POWER
We stand on the cusp of enormous change, both politically and technologically, and the two can hardly be separated at this point. To speak from the situation in the United Kingdom at the moment is to recognize a series of sea changes and tendencies that will, and have already, changed much about contemporary life for millions. We need to be wary of both political and technological determinism here – the recent surprising hung parliament in Britain which saw the Conservative government drop more than twenty points in the polls on the back of a terrible election campaign and massive Labour activism shows that politics remains unpredictable, even when austerity and despair have become internalized. Technology’s future too remains uncertain, even as it is integrated more and more into the everyday lives of millions to greater or lesser degrees. We cannot begin to discuss the relationship between technology and politics, however, without acknowledging from the outset the fundamental asymmetries in its distribution in the modern world, or without a series of major caveats. As many feminist writers have pointed out, technology cannot be considered as neutrally or inevitably ‘progressive’. Cynthia Cockburn put it like this more than thirty years ago:
