Scruffy and Imperfect: Orienting Working-Class Knowledges In and Through Feminist Zine-Making

Zines, as self-published yet imperfect cultural objects have enjoyed increased visibility (and critique) within academic spaces in recent years (Gray, Pollitt and Blaise, 2022) but have not yet been explored in relation to working-class knowledge production. Piepmeier (2009) describes zines as ‘distinctly feminist’ embodied communities which we suggest can be extended to include working-class and other marginalised groups within the UK Higher Education context. In this chapter we argue that zines in their making, feeling, and circulation are modes of communication that allow working-class feminist academics to produce bodies of knowledge in our own language, as well as offering perspective and orientation through which to navigate inhospitable spaces. As such this chapter explores the significance of zines as a site of orientation, community building, hope and resistance for working-class feminist academics. Drawing on cultural and sociological theory, we argue from our own positionalities, that the form and culture associated with zines offer affective affordances rarely available to working-class feminist academics, and through their production, distribution and consumption offer alternative ways of being within UK Higher Education.