AMASS in Historical Perspective
AMASS Magazine was founded in 1976 at the University of Minnesota by Tom Conley under the name of ENclitic and has been published continuously since.
Originally conceived as a journal of literary and cultural criticism with a European slant, it also published creative writing and visuals from authors around the world. Some of the prominent contributors of this period were Jacques Derrida, Yve-Alain Bois, Maurice Blanchot, Marie Claire Ropars, Kaja Silverman, Dudley Andrew, Mary Ann Doane, David Bordwell, Samuel Weber, Mary Ann Caws, Marguerite Duras, Louis Marin, and Wlad Godzich.
Later the publication evolved into a quarterly, interdisciplinary venue for culture and politics. Some of the notable contributors of this period were Nat Hentoff, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Hubert Selby, Jr., Paul Krassner, Robbie Conal, Richard Goldstein, Harry Shearer, Michael Urban, Carolee Schneemann, Dave Alvin, J. Hoberman, Greil Marcus, Kate Braverman, Richard Meltzer, Allen Cohen, Kedric Robin Wolfe, Larry Grossberg, Andrew Ross, Nikki Finke, Wanda Coleman, Ruben Martinez, Nancy Fraser, Jack Hirschman, Amy Gerstler, Erika Rothenberg, Andrei Codrescu, Charles Bukowski, James Ragan, Lewis MacAdams, John Powers, Sandra Tsing-Loh, Marc Cooper, Jill Stewart, Carl Boggs, Susanna Hecht, Jamie Court, Charlie Rose, and Clarence Page.
The name of the magazine was changed to AMASS in 2000 to clarify its dedication to the urgent social, political, economic and cultural issues of the day and to reflect a change in readership consistent with it. One important addition in this phase has been a greater representation of journalism: literary, op-ed, and investigative. All of the writing attempts to address an audience that seeks solutions to these issues, as well as one that remains unsure of the questions to ask about a system that sometimes appears broken. These issues certainly include the economy and the two-party domination of the political process. It exposes the increasing gap between the vested interests at the top and the powerless below (See A People’s Manifesto, 2015, by John O’Kane). But the magazine also represents a broader vision of social and political life. It publishes a great deal of critical and creative writing on media, environment, health, food, lifestyles, and culture not found in the mainstream media. Consistent with this focus, it avoids sectarian positions and the restrictive languages that accompany them.
The magazine’s overriding purpose is to increase awareness of these issues and ideas and expand knowledge about the world we live in, convert consumers and readers into literate observers. This notion of conversion is central to the name and the logo’s graphic design (produced by Robbie Conal). The most popular meaning of “amass” is to accumulate, but the one intended by this publication is to gather together the bodies and ideas that can catalyze this expansion. One of the unfortunate consequences of mass society is a considerable degree of alienation and isolation. It manufactures atomized individuals who easily accept limited messages; a groupthink instead of an awareness that contributes to the formation of new consensuses.
The publication is not meant to suggest a thematic kinship with The Masses or The New Masses, publications from the past century focused on the issues of mass society. The name and the meaning and the publication itself are closely linked to the substack blog, Musing the Masses. This title suggests inspiring or influencing large groups of people through thought-provoking ideas, creative works, or philosophical perspectives. It implies sparking meaningful conversations, reflections, or insights that resonate with many.
The publication is free locally but sold nationally and internationally through distributors, as well as to libraries, archives and individual subscribers. The free circulation is concentrated in the Harbor Area of Los Angeles, primarily Long Beach and San Pedro, but also reaches Venice and parts of West Los Angeles.
Some of the more prominent contributors since the name change are Mike Davis, Tim Robbins, Peter Dale Scott, Gore Vidal, Erwin Chemerinsky, Arianna Huffington, Philomene Long, Harry Northup, Noam Chomsky, James H. Kunstler, John Hyde Barnard, S.A. Griffin, Lionel Rolfe, Greg Palast, Bill McKibben, Chris Hedges, Jeremy Scahill, Francis Fukuyama, Paul Krugman, Michael Moore, William Blum, Robert Borosage, Robert Reich, Dave Zirin, Bill Maher, Rachel Maddow, David Sirota, Cindy Sheehan, Ralph Nader, John Pilger, Naomi Wolf, James Galbraith, Bill Moyers, Tom Hayden, Harvey Wasserman, Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Craig Roberts, Van Jones, Ximena Ortiz, Nomi Prins, Andrew Bacevich, Medea Benjamin, William Greider, Ron Paul, Michael Hudson, Jeffrey M. Smith, Linh Dinh, David Cay Johnston, Ellen Brown, Dean Baker, Bill Quigley, Jim Hightower, Richard Modiano, David Brooks, and Ross Douthat.
As AMASS continues to evolve, it remains a venue for musing the masses with articles about social issues, ideas, and literary culture.