Institutions and infrastructures? Some of us cringe at the word “institution” and others can’t imagine what “infrastructure” could possibly mean beyond highways, telephone lines and bridges. In the next issue of AREA Chicago, we aim to expand, illustrate, and elaborate on these terms to think about what we aspire to in the work that we do and the relationships that we build with that work. Much of the work documented in AREA Chicago proposes radical institutions, counter-infrastructures, different forms for networks and organizations—horizontal, democratic, antiracist. We also build on, make use of, and seek to change existing structures.

It is especially at times of upheaval and transformation that we have to be thoughtful and creative about what underlies and sustains our work and what connects our practices. From its beginnings five years ago, AREA was conceived of as an infrastructure. We wanted to create something that could connect and sustain our work, could build upon itself gradually to become something more ambitious than we could have first imagined. This project has featured the ideas of over 300 Chicagoans through events and publications that aspire to create a better sense of who the "we" is when talking about how to create the Chicago we want to live in. Does this mean, five years later, that it can be called an institution—in a broader, or narrower, or contrarian sense?

We see exciting work happening today in building and rethinking institutions. Some of it means reforming those we value, but want to change—from labor unions to cultural centers and museums. Many allies are testing new waters, thinking of how to create economically and socially sustainable spaces for ideas to be presented and conversations to unfold, such as archives, schools and publishing houses. Much the same can be said for creative work being done on infrastructures. There are inspiring examples of people working to develop free wireless internet throughout the city or agitating to improve transportation throughout the region. Others interpret infrastructure in a slightly more grassroots manner, saying that the tools to bring people together are already at our fingertips and what we need to strengthen are our own networks: car-sharing, tool libraries, independent media, food distribution and childcare.

There are many ways to interpret this theme of "Infrastructures and Institutions" and we invite contributors to send in proposals for developing this idea. Our problems will not be solved by the infrastructures and institutions that exist—but they won’t solved, either, by reinventing the wheel, starting entirely from scratch. With critical awareness, can we devise a combination of the known and the unknown to bring us closer to our goals of being more free, more fair, and more connected each other?

Call for proposals

Deadline for proposals for the print edition is June 1st 2010. Accepted proposals will go through an editorial process, with a first draft due July 1 and final version due August 1. Earlier proposals are accepted on a rolling basis for web preview editions. Proposals should be emailed to "AREA Editors" at areaeditors@gmail.com