Liberation 2005

The Vivirito Times
17 May 2005

After nearly six months of concerted effort, a certain UCB student is proud to announce that library records indicate she has only eighteen books currently charged out. Her apartment, officespaces, gym locker, and boyfriend's car and studio are all joining in a celebration for what they dub "Liberation 2005: Words off our Backs."

Elizabeth had nearly 280 books charged out at the peak of her thesis-writing last semester. Most of them occupied floor and desk space in her room. "Well, when you have a ten-page bibliography there's only so much you can do [with all the books]. I began lining them up along my walls, but I had to start doubling them up after a while. I finally caved down and bought a bookshelf."

But even that could hold only so many. The books, she insists, started taking on a life of their own. Although friends have indicated in the past that Elizabeth sometimes misplaces things-- both physically and psychogenically-- she believes they mobilized on their own accord.

"A good number of them were social theory books, so they had to have been getting ideas. It would not have been hard for them to know how to organize with Gramsci, Marx, and Foucault as instigators." Books poured from her room and infiltrated several other spaces she frequents.

Liberation 2005 is actually a backlash movement against the Gramsci-Marx socialist movement. When asked for comment, her floor said, "The books were heavy. They argued all the time and used words like 'hegemony,' 'alienation,' and 'panopticon'. We [her furniture] felt they didn't understand us, the workers. We were left out of the discussion and we were still doing all the work."

Elizabeth is largely indifferent to the politics that have been going on inside her walls. "I'm a woman," she said. "Their politics do not affect me."

But others protested. "She's just happy that her floor space is back, so she can continue to exploit it" some said. The books agreed, noting that she "used" them too.

In the spirit of the celebration, she thanked her rolling luggage and her back for their assistance on the multiple trips to return the books. She notes that she still has more books to return before she leaves the area but finally sees an end in sight. And regarding the clashes?

"I'm sorry it had to happen. I was naïve to think that I could bring the two spheres together, but clearly the intellectual and the working classes are pitted in an eternal strugle against each other-- one that transcends humanity. I'm just thankful to have corporate capitalism working for them both."