In the summer of 2026, Elizabeth and Ines Soto were sentenced to fifty years in prison for their participation in the anti-ICE protests at Prairieland, including a charge of “providing material support to terrorists.” In the trial that led to these exorbitant sentences, the Sotos’ production and distribution of zines, including literature on protest strategy, anti-ICE arguments, gay and trans issues, and plant propagation, were used as evidence in their conviction. Their printing press (a home office printer) was confiscated by the FBI. At the same time, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, who was not present at the protest, was sentenced to thirty years for “concealing documents,” including zines labeled as “political literature.”

The case raises major concerns about the criminalization of local printing and publishing and calls attention to the regionally specific impact that local printing has (and has had) on activism and politics in the United States.

This session invites proposals for papers exploring the relationship between local and regional printing, small presses, zine production, and grassroots activism and organizing in the US, both historically and contemporarily. We encourage work that examines the tensions between the small/local and the nation-state. We are also particularly interested in papers exploring a specific zine or publication archive that the authors hope to bring greater public attention. Papers on the Sotos’ zines (which are available online) also welcome.

Please submit abstracts of no more than 500 words to kliving@stanford.edu