Dear AoIRists, “Capitalism transforms life into the money necessary for living. One tends to do any particular thing towards an end other than that implied by the content of the activity.” Funding for academic activity that is tied to the needs of industry ties academic thought to the capitalist system. As John le Carre put it, once the Cold War against the failings of Communism had been won it was time to focus on the failings of capitalism, but such a project is impossible when “the wage system makes one foreign to what one does, to what one is, to other people.” Research Assessment in such an academic environment requires each academic, focussed on her/his c.v., to yoke their thought to the capitalist pragmatic, write what will get into print for the sake of being in print, bid for funds that are made available in the service of industry for the sake of having funds to justify one’s continued employment and progression in academic heirarchies. REFerents seeks to explore what academics might do in their spare time, so to speak, to showcase work divorced from the industrial referent, to provide an unassessed – but peer-reviewed - space for true exploration. REFerents will be a free bound book, published annually with discretionary funds. Authors are invited to break free from standard academic paper formats, to make their work visual as well as cerebral: Information is Beautiful. Documentation of disruptive events is especially welcomed. REFerents pays homage to Semiotexte and to the creative naivety of May 1968 and the radicalism of Seattle 1999. In the Society of the Surveilled, creating GPS psychogeographies with our mobile devices, the spectacle of hyperreality has us mesmerised: post-industrial capitalism as counter-revolutionary baroque inspires a geeked-up awe in our techno-commodity fetishism, dominating our lives with the exchange of pixels. REFerents invites playful outrage and Not-Safe-For-Work lampoon. David Kreps is a cultural theorist, and currently the Director of the Information Systems, Organisations and Society (ISOS) Research Centre at the University of Salford, a former Local Authority Arts Centre Director, and one-time 1980s Glastonbury hippy. Gordon Fletcher is Salford Business School’s Associate Head of Marketing and unashamedly flirts with the ‘creative industries’ but, after first hand experience with a collectively managed media outlet, knows that the feelings are only platonic. Marie Griffiths is a onetime Madchester raver, a technophile and digital society observer. Bruce Robinson lived through May 68 from the UK side of the Channel, going on two marches to the French embassy while it was happening. David, Gordon, Marie and Bruce are all active members of the ISOS research centre. Paul Sermon is Professor of Creative Technology, both academic, as Associate Head of School of Art & Design (Research) and practicing artist and pioneer of telematic artworks, having worked in the field for nearly 20 years. We welcome all subversive and radical contributions that combine the immediacy of contemporary communication with questioning of the assumptions of the information society. Abstracts for contributions to REFerents should be received by the editors by 28th February 2011, not limited to but including: • Documentation of happenings o Experimental theatre o Disruptive events • Write-ups about Academic presentations at conferences turned into performance art pieces • Situationism in an “Information Everything” era • Are we still within the Society of the Spectacle? • Spectacle : Hyperreality? • Self-critique of REF – academia succumbing to the Society of the Spectacle? • The Society of Surveilled • Location-based-services / GPS apps Happenings • DRIFTING and PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY on the internet Short pieces for a special section title “irREFerents” also welcomed. If any questions please don't hesitate to contact any of us offlist. Editors: David Kreps d.g.kreps@salford.ac.uk, Gordon Fletcher g.fletcher@salford.ac.uk, Marie Griffiths m.griffiths@salford.ac.uk, Bruce Robinson bruce@brucerob.eu ISOS, University of Salford Paul Sermon p.sermon@salford.ac.uk, Art & Design, University of Salford