Subversivt is not neutral.
Not in the face of unaccountability. Not in the face of intellectual dishonesty. Not in the face of narratives that make the world seem simpler than it is, and people more powerless than they need to be.
Subversivt starts from reality, not from ideologies, identities or institutions’ descriptions of themselves.
Here, authority is treated as something that must be earned rather than something conferred by title, position or organisational affiliation. Here, arguments carry more weight than status, consequences matter more than intentions, and facts matter more than keeping everyone comfortable.
When reality and the narrative do not align, it is the narrative that must give way.
The task of Subversivt is to dismantle those narratives. To demolish them when necessary.
To distinguish explanation from excuse-making, to identify root causes, and to trace consequences through organisations, technology, culture and legislation. To look beyond reductive explanations. To challenge authority when it is used as a substitute for argument. To refuse to accept complexity as an excuse for irresponsibility.
To push back against the age’s irritating habit of describing problems without ever naming their causes.
To push back against the powerful institutional narratives that insist what happened was inevitable, that no reasonable person could have acted differently, and that responsibility—if it exists at all—certainly does not rest with them.
Narratives that shift responsibility downwards until it lands on individuals with ever less power to influence either circumstances or outcomes. Narratives that allow causes to disappear upwards, into structures, priorities, governance models and decisions that no one any longer regards as their own. Narratives that blur power, responsibility and consequence until nothing remains but The System.
As though processes created themselves, regulatory frameworks emerged spontaneously, and technology had no creators. As though these things were neutral rather than expressions of priorities, power relationships and human choices.
The greatest threat to society is not ignorance, mistakes or poor decisions—these are inevitable and can be overcome. The greatest threat is responsibility that is displaced, power that is concealed, people who lose their capacity to act, and institutions that become ever more adept at avoiding accountability for the consequences of their decisions.
Unaccountability does not deserve neutrality.
That is why Subversivt is not neutral.
Hanna-Karin Grensman
About Subversivt
Subversivt is an independent publishing and media project owned and operated by Grensman & Grensmans AB. Through Subversivt, opinion journalism, podcasts, books and other formats are published in support of the project’s overarching purpose: to understand, analyse and scrutinise contemporary society.
Grensman & Grensmans AB
Company registration number: 556893-4748
Legal form: Private limited company
Year of registration: 2012
Approved for F-tax in Sweden
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