Cooptification and Subversion

This is an article I posted to rec.music.artists.ani-difranco on 04/04/2000. People seemed to think it was reasonable so I thought I would post it here too.
blu_grl@my-deja.com wrote:
> Mayhaps i'm a little brain dead from work. i'm stumbling over "co-
> opted". Would you please reiterate? thanks

here's the best I can do from my impression of this phenomenon, this
may or may not capture what the original poster meant:

Cooptification is when the mainstream establishment starts using the
language/images/ideas of a radical movement in a watered down,
sanitized, often "hip" way. This shifts the meaning of the symbols in
this language and drowns out the radical message.

Cooptification is the opposite of subversion. A radical movement can
subvert the mainstream language to subtly radicalize the meaning of
"safe" mainstream symbols. The establishment can coopt the radical
language to subtly de-radicalize the meaning of "unsafe" radical
symbols.

These examples aren't so good because I am sleepy but try them out to
get around the edges of the concept:

Perhaps a relevent example might be if you start out with a call for
gay marriage defined as "full government recognition of married gay
couples with rights equal to those of straight couples" and at some
point this shifts to being defined as "gay couples to be able to enter
into a thing they call a marriage relationship without
persecution". The first is a radical call for fundamental governmental
change, the second is a much more watered down call for everybody to
just get along (but no real political change). If the meaning of the
phrase changes, it is hard to know when you have won the fight and
when you have lost the fight.

The environmental movement's language has been coopted when big
corporations get away with talking about "responsible use" (for
instance as a justification for logging or oil mining in our public
lands). This is nothing to do with what environmentalists would
consider "responsible" but these horrible companies get to get off
seeming all green. 

Hippie, punk, goth, you name the subcultural group with a distinctive
style, its all been coopted the moment you can buy the clothes at the
local shopping mall.

Serious political rap has been coopted by the commercial gansta rap
machine. Folk music has been coopted by Jewel. Country music has been
coopted by Garth Brooks and the rest of the spice-girls-in-cowboy-hats
pop country crowd. 

The ironic thing is that it appears that the word "coopt" is used
subversively in radical language. The radical usage is quite different
from the dictionary definition. Cooptification is an even more made up
word that you just won't find in the dictionary, maybe I'm the only
one who uses it but I like it...it rhymes with gentrification which is
like the cooptification of a neighborhood in a way.

 co-opt (k&schwa.U'opt), v. [ad. L. cooptare, f. co(m) together +
 optare to choose.  In L. strictly `to choose as a colleague, friend,
 or member of one's tribe or family'; sometimes also `to elect into a
 body', otherwise than by its members.  Cf. the earlier uses of
 CO-OPTATE, CO-OPTATION.]
 
   trans.  To elect into a body by the votes of its existing members.

   1651 HOWELL Venice 158 The favour they did him to co-opt him into
 the body of their Nobility. 1651 HOWELL Venice 183 He sufferd himself
 to be coopted into the Colledg of Cardinalls. 1724 Reg. Trin. Coll.,
 Dublin in Fraser Life Berkeley iv. (1871) 101 Dr. Clayton was admitted
 and co-opted Senior Fellow.  1860 W. G. CLARK Vac. Tour 17 A body of
 bravoes..who co-opt into their body those who, by strength of arm and
 skill in the use of the stiletto, may have shown themselves worthy of
 the distinction. 1862 Sat. Rev. XIV. 217/1 The claim of the existing
 Residentiaries to coopt to a vacancy. 1875 STUBBS Const.
 Hist. III. xx. 418 These eight co-opted two more, and these ten two
 more. 1881 Nature XXIII. 292 He was co-opted a Senior Fellow..[and]
 made Vice-Provost.

   Hence co-'opted, co-'opting ppl. adjs.

   1875 SYMONDS Renaiss. Italy I. iii. 149 The Grand Council..as a
 co-opting body, tended to become a close aristocracy. 1881 Times 17
 May 4/1 The Convocation of Canterbury..by means of members of their
 own body and co-opted scholars and divines..have completed one portion
 of the work. 1887 Q. Rev.  Jan. 176 Coopted trustees.

Its interesting to see the connection. Cooptification is very much a
situation where a very large mainstream group simply says "ok this
hunk of radical language is ours now, we elect it into our body" and
the folks who used to control that hunk of language (simply by
speaking it) have no say in the process.