The Weave

The Weave is a public intellectual project grounded in the work of the Global Studies Department.  It seeks to contribute to positive social change and the cultivation of an informed citizenry by providing critical perspectives on important stories, processes, and voices that are not receiving sufficient public attention.  Inspired by the example of projects such as War News Radio, Project Censored, and Dropping Knowledge, the Weave is a small but determined response to media consolidation (the concentration of more and more media power in fewer and fewer hands) and the failures of mainstream media to provide the depth of information and the breadth of perspectives that are crucial to a healthy democratic culture.

Core principles of the Weave

Public intellectual work: We believe that people who have access to information, higher education, institutional resources, and other forms of socioeconomic privilege have a responsibility to share the knowledge they are generating with broader publics.

Responsible representation: A more just world is a world where public debate is not dominated by the small number of people who make up the world's political and economic elites.  Given the structural deficiencies of the mainstream media and their tendency to privilege the perspectives of these elites, we make it a priority to look for underrepresented voices and highlight those voices in our work.

Citizen journalism: We are not professional journalists.  Now more than ever, there is a need for concerned citizens to create new spaces for dialogue and the sharing of new ideas.  Citizen journalism is built on the belief that if the mainstream media are falling down on the job, we should go elsewhere for our information and we should actively get involved in the process of disseminating the information we find.

Democratic dialogue: Real democracy requires not only democratic access to information, but also the kind of deep and meaningful dialogue that promotes listening, learning, and empowerment.  For this reason we provide space for commentary on all of our content and encourage our writers to engage in critical but respectful dialogue with our readers.

Social justice: We are committed to working to transform the persistent forms of hierarchy, injustice, and inequality that characterize our world.  We also believe that we cannot develop ethical, effective strategies for creating positive social change unless we learn to seek out and take seriously a wide range of perspectives on pressing social issues.   

If you are interested in making a donation to support the work of the Weave, please visit our donation page.  Thank you!