Youth Fight for Jobs

 

Youth Unemployment

YOUTH FIGHT FOR JOBS

 

 

Youth Fight for Jobs is to have a national demonstration against youth unemployment. Youth Fight for Jobs is supported by the RMT, the PCS and the CWU, and will be calling a national demonstration on 28 November around the slogans “for real jobs – for free education”.

Ben Robinson, Youth Fight for Jobs chair, said “There is absolutely no evidence of this recession ending for young people. Job losses continue to rise, vacancies are still falling, and the unemployment figures continue to rise.”

“What does the government offer? For college students hoping for university places next week, tens of thousands of them will be unable to get in because of Browns penny pinching. For all those in education, there will be over £65 million worth of cuts enforced. Against a background of lowered living standards for the majority, the Westminster consensus is university fees will rise. For young people on the dole, the Future Jobs Fund will be wholly inadequate and is open to exploitation of young people.”

“That is why we are getting organised and fighting back. We are calling a national demonstration on 28 November to bring together young people and trade unionists to call for a real program of job creation, for a decent education system open to all. We are also calling a lobby of Parliament in September to coincide with the next set of unemployment figures.”

“Our members have been down to picket lines supporting the CWU postal workers on strike today, building unity amongst workers and young people to say that we won’t pay for the bosses’ crisis.”

Youth Fight for Jobs was launched through a ‘March for Jobs’ to the G20 meeting in London on 2nd April. Over 600 unemployed youth, young workers, graduates and school leavers marched through four of the poorest boroughs in London before rallying at the G20 meeting. Youth Fight for Jobs is supported by three major trade unions, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and the Communications Workers Union (CWU).

For more information on Youth Fight for Jobs see: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/

Video of the Youth Fight for Jobs march, Thursday 2^nd April, at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJP72UXdBeY

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

Disciplining Dissent

Dissent

DISCIPLINING DISSENT

 

Circulated by Jonathan Pugh, Director, The Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space” network: http://www.spaceofdemocracy.org

Interdisciplinary Workshop on ‘Disciplining Dissent’, Verdon Smith Room, Institute for Advanced Studies, Royal Fort House University of Bristol, United Kingdom, 18-19 September 2009

Recent years have seen an upsurge of scholarly interest in the activities and significance of the activist groups and resistance movements which have come to be associated with ‘anti-globalisation’ politics.  Whilst analyses of the diverse assemblages, solidarity movements and activist networks involved in resisting neoliberal globalisation and promoting alternatives are an important addition to literatures on globalisation and global politics, there has been a tendency in some of this work to romanticise the activities and transformative capacities of these groups and networks.  What is often missing from the analysis is consideration of the formal and informal forms of discipline that operate towards, within and through resistance movements – be it through coercive repression, through interventions to co-opt social movements, or through the production of particular resisting subjects.

We are organising an interdisciplinary workshop at the University of Bristol on 18-19 September 2009 that will explore the different forms of discipline and power that operate towards, within and through contemporary resistance movements.  The workshop builds on a panel session at the British International Studies Association Annual Conference in Exeter in December 2008 and a collaborative workshop held at the International Studies Association Annual Convention in New York in February 2009 that explored these themes.  It will bring together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds who share an interest in the ways in which contemporary forms of political dissent, such as those represented by ‘anti’- or ‘alter-globalisation movement(s)’, are both disciplined and disciplining.

Selected papers from the workshop will be published in a special issue of the journal Globalizations, which will be dedicated to the theme of Disciplining Dissent. 

The workshop fee is £30 (with a discounted rate of £20 for research students/low incomes) and includes lunch and refreshments on both days. 

For more details, and to download a registration form, please go to https://www.bris.ac.uk/ias/int-events/disciplin-dissent.html   Registration forms must be returned to Louise Chambers (louise.chambers@bristol.ac.uk) by Wednesday 19^th August.  Places are strictly limited, and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Please contact Lara Coleman (lara.coleman@bristol.ac.uk) and Karen Tucker (karen.tucker@bristol.ac.uk) if you require any further information.

The workshop is generously supported by:

The Anarchist Studies Network: http://anarchist-studies-network.org.uk/

The Global Insecurities Centre at the Department of Politics, University of Bristol: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/politics/gic/

Roberts Skills Fund ( University of Bristol )

The University of Bristol Alumni Foundation: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alumni/

The University of Bristol’s Institute for Advanced Studies – Research Student Interdisciplinary Events and Fast -Track Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship Schemes: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/ias/int-events/rsie.html
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/ias/fellows/bmeaker.html

For “The Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space” network website: http://www.spaceofdemocracy.org

For Radical Politics Today magazine: http://www.spaceofdemocracy.org/resources/publications/magazine.magazine.html

For more on the book ‘What is radical politics today?’ published20in 2009 by Palgrave MacMillan: http://www.spaceofdemocracy.org/resources/resources_bookstoread.html

Jonathan Pugh, Senior Academic Fellow, Director “The Spaces of Democracy and the Democracy of Space” network, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, 5th Floor Claremont Tower, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom, Honorary Fellow, The Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Centre for the Study of Education and Work – Update 3rd August 2009

Radiator

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF EDUCATION AND WORK – UPDATE 3rd AUGUST 2009

 

OUR MANDATE: The Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) brings together educators from university, union, and community settings to understand and enrich the often-undervalued informal and formal learning of working people. We develop research and teaching programs at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) that strengthen feminist, anti-racist, labour movement, and working-class perspectives on learning and work.

To change your subscriptions settings, visit: http://listserv.oise.utoronto.ca/mailman/listinfo/csewbroadcast

For more information about CSEW, visit: http://www.csew.ca

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

•   RESOURCE FROM CSEW – BEYOND PD DAYS: TEACHERS’ WORK AND LEARNING IN CANADA

•   GOOD GREEN JOBS FOR ALL CONFERENCE

•   CALL FOR PAPERS – CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FILM STUDIES / REVUE CANADIENNE D’ÉTUDES CINÉMATOGRAPHIQUES

•   THE CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE HALL OF FAME IS NOW LIVE!

•   CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – OUR VOICE/NOTRE VOIX: VIEWPOINTS OF THE PSYCHIATRIZED / POINTS DE VUES DES PSYCHIATRISÉS

•   PROTECTING VULNERABLE WORKERS IN ONTARIO

•   THE RIGHT-WING PRESCRIPTION FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY: LIONIZE THE RICH AND DEMONIZE THE POOR

•   WALL DECLARES WAR ON ORGANIZED LABOUR IN SASKATCHEWAN

•   FROM MERGER TO CIVIL WAR: MEASURING THE COST OF UNION INFIGHTING

•   ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION TREND REPORTS

•   A ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN NEEDS VITAL AND HEALTHY NONPROFIT SECTOR

•   THE UNHEARD VOICES: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICE LEARNING

•   BUILDING THE FUTURE WE WANT: FINDING OPPORTUNITY IN ADVERSITY

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RESOURCE FROM CSEW – BEYOND PD DAYS: TEACHERS’ WORK AND LEARNING IN CANADA

By R. Clark, F. Antonelli, D. Lacavera, D. W. Livingstone, K. Pollock, H. Smaller, J. Strachan, & P. Tarc

This book (and accompanying DVD, “No Two Alike”) encapsulates key findings from a decade of research into teacher work and formal and informal learning. It explores issues in teacher professional development, and provides practical suggestions. Using this book for supporting evidence and job-embedded strategies, PD planners can now go Beyond PD Days.

Ontario Teachers’ Federation, Toronto, 2007

Available from OTF by phone 416-966-3424 or 1-800-268-7061

GOOD GREEN JOBS FOR ALL CONFERENCE

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Allstream Building, CNE at the Princess Gate

Registration: 8:00 am – 9:00 am

Conference: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

The former Automotive Building, now Allstream, has been restored to LEEDS Silver standard and is easily accessible by public transit.

For more information, please contact the Good Jobs for All Coalition: http://www.goodjobsforall.ca or call one of these numbers:

Judy Persad 416-441-3663 ext. 224

Julius Deutsch 416-892-4380

Ana Fonseca 416-441-3663 ext. 221

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CALL FOR PAPERS – CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FILM STUDIES / REVUE CANADIENNE D’ÉTUDES CINÉMATOGRAPHIQUES

http://www.filmstudies.ca  email: cjfsedit@filmstudies.ca

The editors of CJFS/RCEC – Charles Acland (Communication Studies) and Catherine Russell (Cinema Studies) at Concordia University, Montreal – seek submissions of manuscripts in film and moving image studies for the following special topics issues:

* Film Publics Reconsidered

* Star Performance

* Expanded Screens

As always, we continue to seek high quality research for general topic issues. The CJFS/RCEC is Canada’s leading scholarly venue for moving image studies, refereed using a double-blind review process. We publish innovated research on all topics and formats related to moving image studies. We also regularly publish book reviews.

Complete guidelines for contributors can be found in each issue of the journal, as well as on our website at: http://www.filmstudies.ca  Send queries and manuscripts to cjfsedit@filmstudies.ca

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THE CANADIAN CO-OPERATIVE HALL OF FAME IS NOW LIVE!

Launched at the Canadian Co-operative Association’s 2009 National Congress as part of CCA’s 100th anniversary celebrations, the Hall of Fame honours the legacies and achievements of outstanding Canadian co-operators past and present.

Inductees into the Hall of Fame include all winners of CCA’s Canadian Co-operative Achievement Award and Global Co-operator Award, as well as 14 pioneers of the Canadian co-op movement, as nominated by co-operators and supporters across Canada.

Visit the Hall of Fame to learn about Canada’s greatest co-operators including Alphonse Desjardins, named history’s Greatest Canadian Co-operator in an on-line vote; Glen Tully, winner of the 2009 Canadian Co-operative Achievement Award and Olha Zawerucha Swyntuch, winner of the 2009 Global Co-operator Award.

The Canadian Co-operative Hall of Fame can be found at http://www.coopscanada.coop/public_html.hof

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – OUR VOICE / NOTRE VOIX: VIEWPOINTS OF THE PSYCHIATRIZED SINCE 1987 / POINTS DE VUES DES PSYCHIATRISÉS DEPUIS 1987

Our Voice/Notre Voix – Viewpoints of the Psychiatrized since 1987/Points de Vues des Psychiatrisés depuis 1987 calling for submissions for their 50th issue.

The theme is “Dare to Imagine: From Lunatics to Citizens”. They are accepting submissions of poems, opinions and articles and the call is open to all stakeholders. Honorariums provided to all who have their work published.

Deadline is September 30 at 4 pm.

For details email ovnvletters@nb.aibn.com. Visit http://www.ourvoice-notrevoix.com to learn more about the organization.    

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PROTECTING VULNERABLE WORKERS IN ONTARIO

Deena Ladd, co-ordinator of the Workers’ Action Centre, reports that the Ontario Ministry of Labour has just released a consultation paper addressing provincial protections needed on issues facing live-in caregivers and workers coming into Canada through the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. The information gathered from this consultation will form the basis for new legislation introduced later on this year.

To read more:  http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/LandingPage.aspx?id=412853&lm=20377760&q=138135738&qz=0fca39212d4c8e01b58be5b10647f9f2

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THE RIGHT-WING PRESCRIPTION FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY: LIONIZE THE RICH AND DEMONIZE THE POOR

By Dylan Headley, AlterNet

Wing-nut commentary about the crisis blames the victims. As if things weren’t already bad enough.

To read more: http://www.alternet.org/media/141035/the_right-wing_prescription_for_economic_recovery%3A_lionize_the_rich_and_demonize_the_poor/

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WALL DECLARES WAR ON ORGANIZED LABOUR IN SASKATCHEWAN

By J.F. Conway, Bullet No. 239

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has had a cakewalk since defeating Lorne Calvert and the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the November 2007 provincial elections. After Calvert’s resignation and as the NDP went through a leadership contest, Wall enjoyed a period of easy living. You can call this a honeymoon for the new Saskatchewan Party government, or you can admit that the NDP in opposition has been singularly pathetic. There are just no fundamental ideological differences on the big economic issues, and that will be even more true now that Dwain Lingenfelter, the former deputy premier under Roy Romanow, has been anointed NDP leader.

Continue Reading: http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet239.html

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FROM MERGER TO CIVIL WAR: MEASURING THE COST OF UNION INFIGHTING

By Robert Hickey

In 2004, the clothing and textile union UNITE, merged with the hotel and gaming union, HERE. What began as the merger between two of North America’s most progressive and activist-oriented unions has disintegrated into a destructive civil war.

Fierce internal politics are not new to the labour movement. The tools of union democracy provide rank-and-file members with accountability from their leaders and a source of strength for their organization. However, a divided house of labour hurts unions and working people in general.

To read more: http://rabble.ca/news/2009/07/merger-civil-war-measuring-cost-union-infighting

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ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION TREND REPORTS

In order to keep abreast of change and make healthy adaptive choices for your community and organization, non-profit organization leaders need to keep an ear to the ground and identify the latest trends, threats and opportunities. For readers working in Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided a concise way to keep up with changes in your local community.

Your Community in Profile are a series of customized statistical reports on economic, social and demographic trends in Ontario. They put a face to Ontario communities and provide the most recent demographic data and analyses available about 16 regions in Ontario and the province as a whole.

Find them at: http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/Your_Community_in_Profile//english/index.html

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A ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN NEEDS VITAL AND HEALTHY NONPROFIT SECTOR

Economic recovery throughout the Greater Toronto Region requires the active engagement of all sectors, including the vital non-profit sector that delivers a variety of critical programs and services and provides a valuable boost in the form of jobs and other economic activity

The Greater Toronto Region Economic Summit held in May has released their economic recovery plan, Choosing Our Future, focused on the role of nonprofits in ensuring a vibrant economy.

To read more: http://wellesleyinstitute.com/greater-toronto-region-economic-recovery-plan-needs-vital-and-healthy-non-profit-sector

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THE UNHEARD VOICES: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICE LEARNING

http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/2023_reg.html

This book is based on the work of a student seminar using a community-based research methodology. Its design (along with one of its chapters) is informed by community organization staff. Its content is based on interviews conducted by students to understand how community organization staff think about service-learning.

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SYMPOSIUM – BUILDING THE FUTURE WE WANT: FINDING OPPORTUNITY IN ADVERSITY

The symposium will bring together a broad range of individuals and organizations to explore the ways in which the current economic and social crisis may provide opportunities to rethink how government, the non-profit sector, and business can renew our social safety net for the 21st century.

Keynote speaker: Hon. Edward Broadbent, Former Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada, and Past Director, International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development

Speakers will include:

* John Cartwright, President, Toronto and York Region Labour Council

* Don Drummond, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist, TD Bank

* Marvyn Novick, Professor Emeritus, Ryerson University

* Ratna Omidvar, President, Maytree Foundation

* Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Panels will include: Ending Poverty, Social Infrastructure, Good Jobs, Social Security, and Economic Stabilizers

Cost and further information: $50.00 (includes lunch and refreshments). More information and registration package to follow.

For more details visit: http://socialplanningtoronto.org/councilnews/building-the-future-we-want-finding-opportunity-in-adversity/

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Centre for the Study of Education and Work – Update 22nd June 2009

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF EDUCATION AND WORK – UPDATE 22^nd JUNE 2009

OUR MANDATE: The Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) brings together educators from university, union, and community settings to understand and enrich the often-undervalued informal and formal learning of working people. We develop research and teaching programs at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) that strengthen feminist, anti-racist, labour movement, and working-class perspectives on learning and work.

To change your subscriptions settings, visit: http://listserv.oise.utoronto.ca/mailman/listinfo/csewbroadcast

For more information about CSEW, visit: http://www.csew.ca

TABLE OF CONTENTS

•    AVAILABLE IN SUMMER 2009! EDUCATION & JOBS: EXPLORING THE GAPS
•    JOBS & JUSTICE: DRIVE TO WORK CARAVAN
•    WORKERS ARTS AND HERITAGE CENTRE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (PERMANENT FULL TIME)
•    CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – WORKPLACE ACTIVISM, THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS (Briarpatch Magazine)
•    FORUM – TIME FOR A BOLD REVIEW: MAKING SOCIAL ASSISTANCE MEET THE POVERTY REDUCTION TEST   
•    OUR TIMES LABOUR MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE
•    TEN+ YEARS LATER – WE ARE VISIBLE REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE
•    COURSE – POPULAR EDUCATION: LEARNING TO ORGANIZE FOR CHANGE
•    ARTICLE – COMMUNITY GROUPS FIGHT FOR BETTER LIVING, WORKING CONDITIONS FOR TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS AND LIVE-IN CAREGIVERS
•    ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

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AVAILABLE IN SUMMER 2009! EDUCATION & JOBS: EXPLORING THE GAPS
D.W. Livingstone (Editor)
ISBN: 978-1-44260-050-8
Paperback $32.95 US & CDN

“Education and Jobs is a profound contribution to our understanding of modern economies and education systems. Edited by one of the world’s leading educational sociologists, based on national survey data and close-focus case studies, this book makes a powerful case for new policy, industrial, and educational thinking.” – Raewyn Connell, University of Sydney

The Education-Job Requirement Matching (EJRM) Research Project team, including M. Lordan, S. Officer, K.V. Pankhurst, M. Radsma, M. Raykov, J. Weststar, and O. Wilson worked closely together for several years conducting and analyzing both survey and case study data. Education and Jobs is the most thorough exploration to date of relations between workers and jobs. The book develops a new paradigm intended to reshape future studies of learning and work.

D.W. Livingstone is Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work at the University of Toronto, Head of the Centre for the Study of Education and Work at OISE/UT, and Director of the SSHRC national research network on “The Changing Nature of Work and Lifelong Learning” (see http://www.wallnetwork.ca).

For more information, please visit http://www.utphighereducation.com

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JOBS & JUSTICE: DRIVE TO WORK CARAVAN

The Ontario Coalition for Social Justice’s choice of a campaign on Jobs & Justice is especially apt for the continuing economic crisis affecting so many people. Talking about the public need for good jobs and in general, about  everyone’s need to be treated with justice, is a clear contrast to the sheer greed by a few persons, who seem to be able to get “bailouts” to add to the wealth they already have. The OCSJ and allies and partners advocate different goals:

+++DRIVE TO WORK CARAVAN

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is completing its caravan next week, continuing to visit communities in all regions of Ontario, to encourage people to speak out about how the economy is affecting them. Supporters of the OCSJ in numerous communities are joining union members at events in the remaining days:

June 22    At 10:00 a.m. a rally in London will be held outside London City Hall, to reinforce the points made yesterday at a rally with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers’ picket-line at Kellogg’s in that city.

June 23    From 4:15 – 7:00 p.m. a rally will be held at the CAW Local 1999 Hall in St. Catharine’s at 124 Bunting Rd.

June 23    A rally will also take place at 4:30 p.m. in Hamilton at the Hamilton General Hospital at 237 Barton St. E.

June 25    The caravan’s final rally will take place in Toronto at 2:00 p.m. outside the Legislature at Queen’s Park.

The OFL website at http://www.ofl.ca has a link to this campaign named Join the DRV2WRK on a licence plate, with more detail for the events of the caravan. As well, at the bottom of the opening page for the Drive to Work link, you can “have your say” – that is, you can add an anecdote of how you are affected by the economic crisis.

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WORKERS ARTS AND HERITAGE CENTRE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (PERMANENT FULL TIME)

The Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, located in Hamilton, Ontario is seeking a dynamic, creative and motivated individual to fill the position of Executive Director. This is a permanent position which will start no later than September 1, 2009. The purpose of the job is to provide professional competency and effective strategic leadership for the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors through the Executive Committee of the Board. 

Located in the Historic Custom House in Hamilton, Ontario, WAHC works collaboratively with others to engage in artistic activity, preserving the historical, cultural and contemporary experiences of working people in their diverse identities. WAHC performs a number of services including education, research, exhibits, facility rental and a virtual museum. We have a diverse market including workers, their unions and organizations, politicians, youth, heritage supporters, newcomers, aboriginal artists, women and the public. At a provincial and national level we work in a network of labour and community arts practitioners and organizations to produce, support and otherwise engage communities in exchanges and production of cultural events, activities and projects.

For more information, visit: http://www.wahc-museum.ca/w-jobs.php

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – WORKPLACE ACTIVISM, THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS (Briarpatch Magazine)

Striking Back: Workplace activism, the labour movement and the economic crisis

The economic crisis is taking a grim toll on working people and on the labour movement. Is labour condemned to watch decades of hard-fought gains undone, or can it organize an effective response and go on the offensive?

In our November/December issue, “Striking Back: Workplace activism, the labour movement and the economic crisis,” Briarpatch will assess the impact of the global economic crisis on working people and on the labour movement, and investigate the opportunities for advancing a new vision of economic wellbeing grounded in workplace democracy, respect for human rights and an equitable distribution of resources.

If you’ve got something to contribute to this discussion, then we want to hear from you. We are looking for articles, essays, investigative reportage, news briefs, project profiles, interviews with luminary thinkers, reviews, poetry, humour, artwork & photography that shed light on the current situation.

Queries are due by July 6. If your query is accepted, first drafts are due by August 10.

For more information, visit: http://briarpatchmagazine.com/2009/06/11/call-for-submissions-5/

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FORUM – TIME FOR A BOLD REVIEW: MAKING SOCIAL ASSISTANCE MEET THE POVERTY REDUCTION TEST   

June 23, 2009
9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Multi-Faith Centre Auditorium, Koffler Institute Building
University of Toronto, 569 Spadina Avenue

In December 2008, the Ontario government committed to review the province’s social assistance system. This commitment was part of Ontario’s new Poverty Reduction Strategy and was restated in the 2009 budget.

765,000 people rely on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. And thousands of newly unemployed Ontarians will soon be forced to turn to these programs. We are all entitled to a system that gives real assistance when we need it. Social assistance must provide adequate income and meaningful supports to ensure recipients can live lives marked by dignity, decency and opportunity.

Our four insightful and powerful panellists will discuss why we need a bold Social Assistance Review, and how this kind of significant change can take place:

Crystal Chin- Crystal is currently a recipient of ODSP and an active advocate on the Barrier Free Council at Ann Johnston Health Station. Crystal has recently become involved with the ODSP Action Coalition and is a long-time volunteer at Bloorview Kids Rehab.

Marion Overholt- Marion is Staff Lawyer at Legal Assistance of Windsor and a long time poverty law activist and social justice advocate. She is the Social Justice Representative on the Windsor and District Labour Council and chairs the Ford/CAW Local 200 Workplace Adjustment Committee.

Angela Robertson- Angela is the Executive Director of Sistering — A Woman’s Place, and a dedicated community advocate with a commitment to anti-racism, feminism, community-based research, and social justice. Angela is the 2009 YWCA award recipient for social change.

Judy Rebick- Judy is a well-known social justice activist, educator, writer and speaker, and holds the Sam Gindin chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University. She is also the founder of rabble.ca, Canada’s most popular independent online news and discussion site.

Join us to make a clear and compelling call for a bold and broad Social Assistance Review- one that leads to economic security for all Ontarians.
 
For more information about this event: email isac@lao.on.ca or call 416-597-5820.

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OUR TIMES LABOUR MAGAZINE SUMMER ISSUE

“In Cornwall, a high school teacher told us that while they used to raise funds for school trips and sports teams, now they raise money to buy food, because too many students are too hungry to learn.”- Irene Harris, Ontario Federation of Labour’s Drive to Work Caravan

Our Times’ summer issue (Vol. 28 No.3) will be heading to the printer shortly. In this issue, we’re highlighting the courageous struggle of migrant agricultural workers for safe and healthy working conditions and the right to unionize. We’re also featuring the recent historic union stewards’ assembly in Toronto. Plus we’ve got some great creative fiction and non-fiction, including Part 2 of Newfoundland writer Mike Heffernan’s story about a deadly explosion aboard an oil tanker. It’s a great issue, geared to building solidarity in hard times.

If you think you may want to order extra copies of this issue as an education resource for your workshops, schools, or to include in your conference or convention kits, please contact our business manager by June 25 at the latest. Telephone: 416-703-7661. Toll-free: 1-800-648-6131. E-mail: office@ourtimes.ca. Discounted prices are available for bulk orders.

For more information, visit: http://www.ourtimes.ca/index.php

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TEN+ YEARS LATER – WE ARE VISIBLE REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE

Ten+ Years Later – We Are Visible: Ethno-cultural/racialized women with disabilities speak out about health care issues was launched on June 5, 2009 at the People in Motion Exhibition, Toronto.

Project Partners: Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO) and Ontario Women’s Health Network (OWHN)

Ten+ Years Later – We Are Visible updates the innovative community-based research project, We are Visible, conducted in 1996, and highlights the experiences of health and health care of ethno cultural/racialized women with disabilities in Toronto. Through community-based research and a literature review, this project works to understand the barriers to health and health care that ethno-cultural/racialized women with disabilities face and whether any progress has been made to address the issues discussed by the women in the original We Are Visible project.

Both Ten+ Years Later – We Are Visible and the original We are Visible report are available online at http://owhn.on.ca/wearevisible.htm and http://erdco.ca

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COURSE – POPULAR EDUCATION: LEARNING TO ORGANIZE FOR CHANGE

‘Popular Education: Learning to Organize for Change’ is designed to build your understanding and experience in processes to lead groups in social justice education and activist organizing. If you are an educator, community organizer or worker looking for an experiential process to help you build greater consciousness in groups and lead others to act, this course could be for you.

After exploring an overview of popular education and feminist popular education principles, you will participate in hands-on approaches and tools for; bringing groups together, creating spaces for dialogue, analysing the situation you hope to change, planning and taking action and evaluating group processes.
In the final part of the course you will apply these approaches to the work you are doing (or hope to do). All participants will have the opportunity to present possible workshop processes, activities or dilemmas so that the group can offer their ideas and support.

No experience necessary, but experience is welcome.

Facilitator: Christine McKenzie is a popular educator who has developed and facilitated anti-oppression organizing processes with diverse groups in Canada and Central America over the past 15 years. She has led popular education trainings with groups such as the Canadian Auto Workers Union, Equitas International Centre for Human Rights Education, and the Girls Action Foundation, among others.

Dates and Times: (attendance at each day & evening required for the certificate)
Sat July 25 (10:00-6:00), Sun July 26 (10:00-6:00), Tues July 28 (6:00-9:00 pm) and Wed July 29 (6:00-9:00 pm)
Location: OISE – 252 Bloor St W. Toronto, Ont.
Cost: $175 (Cdn).  sliding scale available – please ask!

To Register:  Fill out and mail in the registration form on the Transformative Learning Centre website – http://tlc.oise.utoronto.ca/wordpress/si2008/registration/registration-form/ Course Code: SI09 –C04

For questions contact Christine at: c-mckenzie@sympatico.ca.

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ARTICLE – COMMUNITY GROUPS FIGHT FOR BETTER LIVING, WORKING CONDITIONS FOR TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS AND LIVE-IN CAREGIVERS

by John Bonnar (reprinted from rabble.ca)
June 11, 2009

Eleven o’clock Tuesday morning at the Workers’ Action Centre. Media and supporters are jam-packed into a room to listen to representatives of the newly formed Caregivers Action Centre, comprised of former and current caregivers working for change in Temporary Foreign Worker programs including the Live-In Caregiver Program and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.

To read more, visit: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/johnbon/2009/06/community-groups-fight-better-living-working-conditions-temporary-for

++++++++++++++++++++

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

Social Services, Faith-Based Organizations, and the Poor
Marci B. Littlefield
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly published 8 June 2009, 10.1177/0899764009337627
http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0899764009337627v1

The outsourcing of social care in Britain: what does it mean for voluntary sector workers?
Ian Cunningham and Philip James
Work Employment Society 2009;23 363-375
http://wes.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/2/363

Book Review: Gay W. Seidman Beyond the Boycott: Labor Rights, Human Rights, and Transnational Activism New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2007, $26.00 hbk (ISBN: 0871547619) xvi + 176 pp
David Bartram
Work Employment Society 2009;23 385-387
http://wes.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/23/2/385

Community Service Among A Panel of Beginning College Students: Its Prevalence and Relationship to Having Been Required and to Supporting “Capital”
James Griffith
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly published 18 June 2009, 10.1177/0899764009338218
http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0899764009338218v1

****END****

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND POPULAR EDUCATION

C-SAP Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education Special Interest Group

LAUNCH OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY PODCASTING PROJECT

“Podcasting Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education”

Date: 3^rd July 2009, 10:00 – 3:30.

Venue: Aston University, Main Building, Room 404C,

Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 2ET

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Aston%20university&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

The C-SAP – Critical Pedagogy/Popular Education Special Interest Group (SIG) seeks to hold a day seminar to expand upon ideas discussed at its 20 February 2009 event 

Whilst the prior event explored the relevance and importance of the bodies of ideas known as Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education for HE teachers and educators, the 3 July event seeks to take forward the discussion from that day with a slightly different focus.  In 2008 Dr Gurnam Singh, one of the members of the SIG, obtained funding from C-SAP to develop a series of podcasts on themes associated with Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education. Gurnam, with, support from other colleagues, has now completed a series of 8 podcasts that will provide the basis for the day’s activities. The day will be divided into two sessions, with the morning session bringing together as many as possible of those who participated in making the dialogical podcasts with Gurnam will discuss the significance of this process for themselves and the wider audience. The afternoon will focus on the work of the Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education SIG to both publicise the availability of the material on the C-SAP website and consider the wider issues raised by the podcasts.

 

 The programme of the day will be as follows:

10:00 Coffee and welcome

10:30 – 11:15 Overview of Podcasting Project: Gurnam Singh will offer a general overview of the project, what he sought to achieve and what came out of it.

11:15   – 12:30 Responses from Interviewees in which the issues raised within the interviews will be discussed.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:30 Developing and Extending the work of the Special Interest Group.

This discussion aims to respond to the prior event and is entitled, “We have the analysis, now what do we do with it?”

Much of what happens in academia concerns discussion and analysis of the current situation in which we find ourselves.  Whilst this is essential work, as Critical Pedagogy is not just a method but a practice, we also want to think about how we build a bridge between theory and practice, in other words how can Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education be used as means to facilitate real change in HE today. 

Cost and who can attend: The workshop is free for participants and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. The event is primarily aimed at HE teachers and students.

If you would like to attend please contact Sarah Amsler: S.S.Amsler@aston.ac.uk  

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Update on ‘Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor’

UPDATE ON ‘WORKPLACE: A JOURNAL FOR ACADEMIC LABOR’

Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor

The Editorial Team of Workplace is proud to announce the journal’s new home, new outlook, and new publishing system!

We encourage you to browse the Workplace open journal system, submit a manuscript, or volunteer to review http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/workplace/index.

We also welcome proposals for Special Issues; if you have an idea or have assembled a group of scholars writing on higher education workplace activism and issues of academic labor, send us a proposal.

Current preprints include John Welsh’s “Theses on College and University Administration” and “The Status Degradation Ceremony.” As a whole, both feature articles challenge scholars to rethink the administration of higher education and how we frame research into this process http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/workplace/issue/current.

Thank you and please forward this invitation to colleagues and networks.

–

Stephen Petrina & E. Wayne Ross, Co-Editors

Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor
Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy
University of British Columbia
http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/workplace/index

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com

The Institute for Education Policy Studies

The Institute for Education Policy Studies

Website Update – May 2009

The Institute for Education Policy Studies is an independent Radical Left/ Socialist/ Marxist institute for developing analysis of education policy. It is at http://www.ieps.org.uk . The Institute seeks to develop Marxist analysis of policy, theory, ideology and policy development. It also seeks to develop Marxist transformative education theory, analysis and policy analyse and develop socialist/Marxist transformative policy for schooling and education from a number of Radical Left perspectives, including Freirean perspectives. The IEPS and its journal address issues of Social Class, ‘Race’, Gender and Capital/ism; Critical Pedagogy; New Public Managerialism and Academic / non-Academic labour, and Empowerment/ Disempowerment.

The IEPS critiques global, national, neo-liberal, neo-conservative, New Labour, Third Way, and postmodernist analyses and policy, together with New Public Managerialism . It was set up in 1989 and hosted the formation of the Hillcole Group of Radical Left Educators (1989-2001). The IEPS organises and publicises national conferences and also publishes on-line papers by Radical Left/ Socialist/ Marxist writers.

IEPS publishes an online journal, the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (http://www.jceps.com/) twice a year. The editors of JCEPS are Prof Dave Hill (Chief/ Managing Editor), Prof Pablo Gentile (Latin America) and Prof Peter McLaren (North America). The journal welcomes articles from academics and activists throughout the globe. It is a refereed / peer juried international journal.

The Institute for Education Policy Studies has recently updated its web site. In particular, the biographical details of the Institute’s key writers have been updated, for: Dave Hill, Glenn Rikowski, Paula Allman, Mike Cole, Peter McLaren and Sharhzad Mojab. You can view these updates at: http://www.ieps.org.uk/iepsbios.php

 

The Institute for Education Policy Studies: http://www.ieps.org.uk/

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com

Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues XII

Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues XII

From Critique to Contestation

MARXISM AND EDUCATION: RENEWING DIALOGUES XII

A Day Seminar, 10.00– 4.30, Saturday July 4^th 2009, Birmingham City University, Perry Barr, B42 2SU, Attwood Building, Room: 044

This is to announce: the 12th Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues (MERD) Seminar

We will be focusing upon: Current Issues in Marxist Education Research

We are pleased to confirm the following line-up of speakers:    
Andrea Beckmann, Charlie Cooper, Richard Hatcher, Ken Jones, and Gurnam Singh

More information on paper titles and details of the timetable will be sent to you in due course.

The seminar is free but places are limited.

To reserve a place and receive a numbered ticket, please contact Joyce Canaan at: joyce.canaan@bcu.ac.uk  
A waiting list will come into operation when all the places have been allocated

Please forward this invite to those who may be interested

Convenors: Joyce Canaan and Richard Hatcher

The Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues (MERD) Seminars were founded by Tony Green (University of London, Institute of Education) and Glenn Rikowski in 2001. The first MERD Seminar was run at the Institute of Education in October 2002. For details on MERD Seminars 1-10, see: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=events&sub=MERD

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

The Rouge Forum – Update 20th May 2009

The Rouge Forum – Update 20^th May 2009

Rouge Forum Update: War, Decay and Sane Resistance!

A Message from Rich Gibson 

Dear Friends,

We will circulate a full report from the Rouge Forum Conference at Eastern Michigan University over the weekend. This is a very brief preliminary report from the student newspaper:
http://www.easternecho.com/content/rouge-forum-discusses-youth-education-emu-0

On the Education Front:

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/19/ca-special-election-051909/?california&zIndex=101745&dsq=9568515#comment-9568515

The California Teachers Association and NEA bosses wasted more than $12.2 million on their outrageous tax the poor scam that failed completely and, worse, managed to convince even more poor and working people that organized education workers are actually enemies. Nice work, CTA.

Meanwhile, UTLA managed to cower their way out of what was to be last Friday’s mass walkout, fearful of a judge’s order against it.

Everyone should be clear on this. The only illegal job action is one that fails. If thousands of teachers walked out, the judge would do nearly nothing, indeed nothing except try to fine CTA. So? CTA is not a bank and CTA members can picket judges’ homes.

The Green Dot Takeover: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-greendot11-2009may11,0,3289443.story

Since UTLA and NEA have done so little to build a base among poor and working class parents and kids, and since AFT loves Green Dot, this plan to seize the school system is conceivable.

And it is another move from the LATimes to attack the rising militancy of the education workers who have a walkout scheduled this week. There are thoughtful and active alternatives to all this … http://www.rougeforumconference.org/
        
Obama placed Bob Bobb, paid jointly by the Broad Foundation and the Detroit Public Schools, in charge of DPS. Then The One declared Detroit “Ground Zero,” in the education wars. Bobb announced a plan to federalize DPS. Would that be a first? http://www.susanohanian.org/show_nclb_outrages.html?id=3621

On the Perpetual War Front (the education agenda is a war agenda):

Obamagogue To Cover up Torture Photos: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/white-house-wants-a-delay-in-the-release-of-detainee-photos/?hp

Escobar: Pipelineistan Part 2: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175071/pepe_escobar_pipelineistan_goes_af_pak

On the Fake Radicals Front:

Once the Weathermen were liberals (and police agents) with bombs. Terrorists who opposed the hard work that it takes to build a mass class conscious movement to transcend the system of capital. Now, they are just liberals without bombs. But, unlike Billy Ayers and the rest of the Weathermen, at least Mark Rudd admits he and his ganglet destroyed the Students for a Democratic Society on the eve of the biggest outpouring of mass action from 1950 on. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/books/review/Barrett-t.html

On the Organized Decay is an Element of Fascism Front:

Detroit Photo Essay: Who is next? http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/detroit-troubled-city

Neighbors Prevent Firefighters from Saving Detroit Drug Den: http://www.detnews.com/article/20090518/METRO01/905180378/Neighbors-harass-Detroit-fire-crews-fighting-blaze-at-drug-house

Foreclosures hit high in April http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/13/us-foreclosure-rates-051309/?california&zIndex=98434

The troubling reality that fascism in the past has sometimes been a popular mass movement: The Third Reich at War:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/books/review/Reich-t.html?pagewanted=2&ref=books

On the “This is not, not, for sure, not a depression, it’s ah, well, ahem,” Front:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/books/review/Rauch-t.html?ref=books

Tickled by the NYTimes reassurance that this is not, surely not, absolutely not, could not be, a GREAT depression, it’s just a depression. And good time are right around the corner.

On the Unions Became What They Claimed to Set Out to Oppose Front:

UAW Won’t Strike Chrysler Until 2015: http://www.freep.com/article/20090513/BUSINESS01/90513086/UAW+won+t+strike+Chrysler+through+2015

You don’t need to pay a union to surrender. You can throw up your hands and do that alone. Concessions do not save jobs. They just make bosses want more. The UAW is a prime example. When they say cut back, we should say, Fight Back!

The Torment and Demise of the United Auto Workers Union: http://clogic.eserver.org/2006/gibson.html

Unions are unfit to meet the crisis at hand. While it may be important to have one toe in a union in order to meet people and build a base for real change, it is equally important to have ten toes out of the union—in an organization that can connect reason, passion, and power. Like the Rouge Forum. Please spread the word. There is no single “Line” of the RF. We have many voices and many varying talents.

Here are the last two stanzas to the great workers’ song Solidarity Forever:

They have taken untold millions
that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle
not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power;
gain our freedom when we learn
That the Union makes us strong.

In our hands is placed a power
greater than their hoarded gold;
Greater than the might of armies,
magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world
from the ashes of the old
For the Union makes us strong.

Well, the union didn’t make us strong, but the rest is on the mark and the struggle continues.

Thanks to Joe Bishop and the Eastern Michigan volunteers, Adam and Gina, WayneO,  Nancye, Patricia,  Faith and Craig, Greg (whose speech will be up by the weekend), Pat B, Bill-Scott–the youths-and Marty, Paul, Cory, Connie,  Travis, Roger, Doug S and Doug Y, Gil G (that book is terrific) Billy X, Donna, Sherry, Zena, Em, Candace, Rebecca, Sonia, Maria, Chris (what a long drive), Susan O and H, O and Ido and the baby, Steve and Perry for getting things going and you too Kevin and Marc, Michael who is a smart guy and good friend, the heroic Sergei and the secretaries, Jeremiah, The Uprising and Tainted Machine, Staughton Lynd who is a beacon of good sense, Marty G who should have been there, Big M, Bob and Tommie, and all who made the conference a delight.

Good luck to us, every one.
Rich Gibson

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

The Ockress: http://www.theockress.com

UEL Political Closure during G20

UEL Political Closure during G20

 

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 31st 2009, 3.00pm.

 

G20 SUMMIT: PUBLIC OUTRAGE AS UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON CLOSES CAMPUS TO EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY

 

The G20 Alternative Summit must go on! Classes and lectures must go on!

• In only a few hours a petition to Keep UEL Open receives over 1400 signatories from across the world, including well-know academics and writers, e.g. Naomi Klein.
• University is a crucial centre of democracy. Democracy is now the only safe path for the world out of the current multifaceted crisis.

 

London – Following the decision of the University of East London’s Corporate Management Team to close down the entire university on Wednesday, April 1st and Thursday, April 2nd, staff and students have launched a petition to keep the university open, arguing that they “would feel ashamed of UEL if this institution […] were to become known as the university that had closed its doors to democratic debate and education in times of crisis such as these.”

 

The University of East London was scheduled to host the G20 Alternative Summit on Wednesday, April 1st, intended as a popular assembly for everyone engaged in current struggles for social justice. Amidst fears over ‘security’ in light of these G20 protest events, management first withdrew its support for the Alternative Summit and subsequently decided to shut down the entire campus for the duration of the G20 summit and protest events, cancelling lectures and classes and shutting the library.

 

In the petition, staff and students are arguing that such ‘security’ considerations are a “classic excuse for every historic attempt to curtail free speech. Instead of seizing the opportunity to become a common space thriving with creative energies, [the University of East London] plans to become an empty shell for two days.”

 

The petition states that,

 

“It is time for the university management to become accountable not only to the government funding bodies, but to the wider public to whom it owes both its livelihood and a duty to fulfil its role as a part of civil society. The past 3 decades have seen public spaces such as universities hollowed out by the state and by corporations, as more and more of our common resources are transformed into sterile commodities, valued only in cash terms. In universities this has led to a policy regime which increasingly sees ‘employability’ in the ‘creative industries’ or in ‘business and finance’ as the only benchmark of success by which a university education can be judged; which sees research separated from teaching; which sees ‘knowledge transfer’ to the commercial sector as the only legitimate destination for the fruits of inquiry.”

 

The signatories to the petition, which include a number of well-known academics from universities across the globe, including writer and activist Naomi Klein, are urging UEL management to “reconsider [their] decisions and take this unique opportunity to open the university as a crucial centre of democracy, since democracy is now the only safe path for the world out of the current multifaceted crisis. We must keep our university open to staff and students, rejecting the claims and ‘risk assessments’ that reproduce fear instead of promoting dialogue. We urge you to take responsibility for enabling the university to act as a truly public space for debate in a time when nobody can doubt that radical new ideas are needed.

 

 

Ends

 

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk