Abstracts
Abstract
Librarians have responded to the decades-long “serials crisis” with a common narrative and a range of responses that have failed to challenge the ideology and structures that caused it. Using Walter Rodney’s theory of a guerilla intellectual, we critically examine the dominant understanding of this so-called crisis and emphasize the role that capital plays within it. The imperial nature of scholarly journal publishing and some of its many contradictions are discussed. “Transformative” agreements receive special attention as a hyper-capitalist manifestation of these contradictions at the heart of commercial publishing.The politics of refusal are one response to the commercialism, prestige, and power imbalances that drive the academic publishing system. Highlighting the differences between refusal and reform, this paper explores the protagonistic role that librarians can play in a protracted struggle within and beyond the confines of our profession. Select open access efforts are identified at the end as examples of different forms of refusal. This paper is intended to move beyond the traditional discourse of laying blame solely at the feet of the academic publishing oligopoly and also expounds on the bourgeois academy’s use of knowledge production for capital accumulation.
Keywords:
- publishing,
- scholarly communications,
- serials crisis,
- transformative agreements,
- big deals,
- crisis,
- imperialism,
- prestige
Résumé
Les bibliothécaires ont répondu à la crise des périodiques qui dure depuis des décennies avec un récit commun et une gamme de réponses qui n'ont pas réussi à remettre en question l'idéologie et les structures qui l'ont provoquée. En utilisant la théorie du guérillero intellectuel de Walter Rodney, nous examinons de manière critique la compréhension dominante de la soi-disant crise et soulignons le rôle que le capital y joue. La nature impériale de l'édition de revues savantes et certaines de ses nombreuses contradictions sont discutées. Les accords transformateurs reçoivent une attention particulière en tant que manifestation hyper-capitaliste de ces contradictions au cœur de l'édition commerciale. La politique du refus est une réponse au mercantilisme, au prestige et aux déséquilibres de pouvoir qui animent le système d'édition universitaire. Soulignant les différences entre refus et réforme, cet article explore le rôle principal que les bibliothécaires peuvent jouer dans une lutte prolongée à l'intérieur et au-delà des limites de notre profession. Cet article prévoit aller au-delà du discours traditionnel qui porte le blâme uniquement sur l'oligopole de l'édition universitaire et dévoile l'utilisation de la production de savoir pour l'accumulation de capital par l'académie bourgeoise.
Mots-clés :
- accords transformateurs,
- communications savantes,
- crise,
- crise des périodiques,
- édition,
- grands ensembles de périodiques,
- impérialisme,
- prestige
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Appendices
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