TrapdoorSaysThings

The Discussion Model By Trapdoor (iykyk) I write this to describe a different model of debate. What if we were to center pedagogy instead of technique? What if we were to think about the game in a radically different way?  Every game is determined by the norms and protocols that determine structure its rules and institutional culture. What makes debate interesting is that the institutions that govern it are often not in the room while the game is played, and the rules only exist insofar as they are enforced. The asymmetrical relationship between the judge and debaters allows for interventions at every step of the process. Yet while debaters often try to break the game, they run into the problem that there is no precedent for what an altered state of the game could look like. What does the ballot mean? What about speaks? What about time? So many questions, and so little time or experience with adjudicating rules on the fly in the moment to resolve it. Given that, I want to present a...

  Is There Radical Potential In Policy Debate? By Trapdoor (IYKYK) Intro Debate is a privileged activity. Despite our best efforts to provide valuable educational skills or cultivate a safe space for activist thought, the backdrop of any debate tournament requires exploitation. Many critiques of debate highlight its relationship to academia and the variety of ways that universities control what types of thinkers and thoughts are deemed accessible. While this is one component of what makes debate exploitative, what I want to focus on here is how the logistics of a debate tournament uncritically perpetuate the violence of the university.  Much of this dawned on me this past year, as I began being faced with the choice between working on debate and doing the things that I advocated for in debate rounds. As I began working with political groups, tenants unions, and talking with politically active people who do not have an academic background I found that the world of debate to be ...