The Zine Revolution in the Age of the Internet

“Fanzines from the 1970s” by Jake is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Zines, self-published DIY booklets that combine art with written content, have been a staple of counterculture and grassroots political organizing since the 1970s. Seen as a form of resistance to consumer capitalism and the mainstream media, zines take on many different shapes and offer a combination of the personal and the political,  to be shared and traded with like-minded individuals.

Zines spawned out of sci-fi fan culture in the 1930s, but took on a new, political life after being adopted by the punk rock subculture of the 1970s. As photocopying became more accessible, anybody could make their own zine without relying on a mainstream publisher, cementing the medium in the DIY and anti-establishment ethos. Zines were a physical manifestation of American counter-culture – a way for those at the fringes of society to express their political frustrations and offer solutions, create art, and find community. 

Those searching for fame and riches will have little interest in the world of zines, as they are typically traded or given away. Zines are advertised through word of mouth, and primarily distributed person to person, at a concert, or a coffee shop, or the dim lit kitchen of a friend-of-a-friend.

“A zine doesn’t really live without being shared with another person”, said Isabel Gonzales, an assistant professor in the UVA Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Isabel teaches a zine-making workshop in her Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality class, as well as creating and sharing zines herself – sometimes even using one of her own as a business card.

“They are meant to be shared. They aren’t meant to be things you just hoard away and hide in your house,” said Gonzales. “They are these things that are meant to be copied, reproduced, and shared.” 

Collaboration and community are the heart of zine culture, a type of radical resistance against systems of power. The ethos of zine making builds off of an idea originating in feminist politics that the personal is political. The individual experiences of marginalized groups are shaped by larger social and political structural forces, and the only way to enact change is through discussion.

Dr. Amanda Wyatt Visconti, Scholars' Lab Director, manages the Scholars' Lab Zine Bakery, a collection of zines available to students located on the third floor of Shannon Library. The Zine Bakery offers a space for connection through art, politics, and identity, in a way that is accessible to all students.

“It's beautiful to have a place where I can just pin up stacks of free paper zines, and leave a sign telling people that yes, these are free for anyone, that you can even take them all to share with friends or hand out elsewhere, we can just print more,” said Visoconti.

There is no such thing as a “typical” zine: each one is its own labor of love, a reflection of its creator and their values. The DIY element is what has kept zines so deeply ingrained in punk and other underground subcultures. You don't need to know fancy theory, or be a good public speaker - all you need is something to say and access to a photocopier.

“I love how accessible zines are that anyone with access to paper and a writing implement can make them, and circulate them without going through a publisher's gatekeeping mechanisms that they don't need to look good to be effective,” said Visconti. “There are great zines that are just scrawly penned thoughts on white paper! That so many of them are free, in a world where most things (including knowledge!) cost money.”

As the world becomes more and more digitized, the future of zines may appear uneasy, but luckily, this is not the reality. Zines operate as a shadow to the mass media, carrying messages that would never be discussed in the mainstream news and would risk censorship on the internet and social media platforms. This censorship puts important information such as personal stories that could be deemed too dark by the algorithm or important mutual aid information and radical political critiques at risk.

“Zines can share information that might be targeted for removal when online - info that is also friendly for sharing at political protests and organizing meetings,” said Visconti. “Zines are easier to circulate just among a small community.”

Paper zines epitomize the intersection of art, politics, and human connection, and they are here to stay. The space they provide for ideas and identities that face restriction within online platforms makes them an invaluable form of aesthetic rebellion in the digital age.  

“I find that we are in a zine renaissance, kind of as a response to the way everything has gone digital,” said Gonzales. “I do think there is a future for zines, both because of censorship on platforms and because I think people have this yearning for a physical object that is becoming more and more apparent.”

Zines continue to be a beloved medium for grassroots political organizing in their analog form. They are now being shared digitally as well, expanding their reach and securing them their proper place in the modern activist’s toolbox. The cost of making zines has decreased exponentially in the past few decades. New technology and platforms allow zines to be created and shared online for free, making zines even more accessible.

Zines are experiencing a surge of popularity right now among youth activists, and can be found across Grounds if you know where to look. 

“On Grounds, you'll see a lot of different student organizations utilizing the form of the zine as a way to give voice to their experiences and political positions,” said Gonzales. “But also as a way to ask people to pay attention to a cause that they are interested in.”

The Fossil Fuel Free Virginia committee, a group within Sunrise Movement UVA, recently made and distributed a zine of their own that focused on statewide and federal issues concerning the new Dominion gas plants. The plans for the new plants come from an expected increase in energy demand due to an increase in data centers due to AI. Cameron Burke, a member of the Fossil Fuel Free Virginia committee, explained why they chose to create a zine to address such a large issue.

“We were talking about how upset AI-generated art makes us feel, and so we decided that we were going to make a zine with our hands and distribute it,” said Burke. “And it will be like us fighting against the data centers and the gas plants in both a physical way, and also a deeper way, fighting back with art and humanity.”

Art and politics have always been permanently intertwined, from the long history of protest music and controversial historical monuments to government propaganda and influential street art. Zines nestle in the heart of this tradition, using art and personal stories to effect greater political change without the incentive of monetary or social gain.

“A lot of society right now feels very instantaneous - instant gratification, whatever will make money,” said Burke. “The value of social movements isn’t how much money they have. It’s the ability to inspire, and I think art is a representation of that.”

Zines show that resistance can come in small packages - ones hand-drawn and stapled, shared among friends. In a world of censorship and consumerism, zines use art, love, and anger to create community and enact political change.