Demonstration Against Higher Education Fees!

Higher Education

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST HIGHER EDUCATION FEES!

 

Government puts education into the hands of big business

No university fees! Demonstrate 28 November!

We won’t pay for the bosses’ crisis!

New Labour and the Conservatives are determined to make young people and workers pay for this crisis. On the one hand, they say there are jobs available for all, all you need is ‘determination’. At the same time, they slash funding for youth training and put corrupt fat cats in charge of setting university fees.

Lord Mandelson refused the National Union of Students a voice in the review of university fees because that would harm the ‘objectivity’ of the review. Instead, we have an ‘objective’ board of some of the biggest capitalists and privateers in Britain, chaired by Lord Browne. Lord Browne was Chief Executive of BP until 2007, making billions of pounds out of war in Iraq and environmental destruction. Browne left BP, amidst allegations of corruption, with a £5 million payoff and a £21 million pension pot. Is this man seriously going to say that society cannot afford our education?

David Eastwood, Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, also sits on the review. As part of the Russell Group, he has been demanding students pay more for education for years. The university is currently trying to close its entire sociology department, without consultation with staff, because it is not bringing in enough money. Aston University’s vice chancellor is also ‘objectively’ reviewing university funding, fresh from slashing 18 jobs over the summer.

The rest of the board is made up of a former advisor to Tony Blair (the Prime Minister who abolished free university education), two NGO bigwigs and, unbelievably, Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank. Is he going to demand the same level of investment in education, in our future, that him and his peers have received over the last eighteen months? Of course not. The bosses organisation, the CBI, call for fees of £7,000 a year. Labour and the Tories say similar. Before the review board has met, the outcome is clear. Peter Sands, Lord Browne, Lord Mandelson and all the others want to make us pay for the crisis of their system.

£350 million cuts are being made in vocational education. Out of around 600,000 school leavers, 8,000 will get real apprenticeships, ones which lead to a job and a qualification.

Never mind that young people want to learn, want to work! Never mind that 55% think university education should be free! Since when did the politicians care what we think? Since when did big business and university bosses do favours for us?

Since we organised and fought them. Youth Fight for Jobs says no to university fees, no to writing off our generation, no to mass youth unemployment. We are demonstrating on 28 November – for real jobs, for free education. Join us in the fightback!

Join the demonstration in central London, Malet Street, WC1E, nearest tube Euston / Russell Square. For details of transport from outside London, see: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/transport

Youth Fight for Jobs: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

The Gramscian Moment

Gramsci

THE GRAMSCIAN MOMENT

 

The Gramscian Moment: Philosophy, Hegemony and Marxism

Peter D. Thomas

http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=29354

Publication year: 2009
Series: Historical Materialism Book Series, 24
ISBN-13 (i): 978 90 04 16771 1
ISBN-10: 90 04 16771 4
Cover: Hardback
Number of pages: xxv, 477 pp.
List price: € 115.00 / US$ 170.00

Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks are today acknowledged as a classic of the human and social sciences in the twentieth century. The influence of his thought in numerous fields of scholarship is only exceeded by the diverse interpretations and readings to which it has been subjected, resulting in often contradictory ‘images of Gramsci’.

This book draws on the rich recent season of Gramscian philological studies in order to argue that the true significance of Gramsci’s thought consists in its distinctive position in the development of the Marxist tradition. Providing a detailed reconsideration of Gramsci’s theory of the state and concept of philosophy, The Gramscian Moment argues for the urgent necessity of taking up the challenge of developing a ‘philosophy of praxis’ as a vital element in the contemporary revitalisation of Marxism.

Peter D. Thomas (Ph.D, 2008) studied at the University of Queensland, Freie Universität Berlin, L’Università “Federico II”, Naples, and the Universiteit van Amsterdam. He has published widely on Marxist political theory and philosophy. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Historical Materialism: research in critical Marxist theory.

REVIEWS

Peter Thomas’ book should become the standard text in English on Gramsci’s thought. Acquainted as he is with the latest wrinkle in the Italian debate on Gramsci, Thomas combines an unmatched philological research into the sources and a mastery of the ongoing debates about the sense we should make of key ideas like hegemony. He deftly overturns the received orthodoxy and the various abuses of the ideas of the Marxist militant by theorists of cultural studies, both restoring Gramsci’s work to its true status and opening up fruitful possibilities for understanding his contribution to political theory more generally. The best book on Gramsci’s political theory for three decades — Alastair Davidson, Author of Antonio Gramsci: the Man, his Ideas, and Antonio Gramsci: Towards an Intellectual Biography

Peter Thomas’s Gramsci is the one we need in an era of economic and geopolitical crises that bears some resemblances to Gramsci’s own time. This Gramsci is no embarrassed culturalist, confused strategist, or incipient post-Marxist. Thomas’s Gramsci, developed from rigorous critical study of the Prison Notebooks and of the now extensive scholarly literature, is a deeply consequent thinker intent on reconstructing revolutionary Marxism in opposition to the most advanced bourgeois thought of his day. This is also a Gramsci for whom political economy is of central methodological and substantive significance.  Not content with scholarly interpretation, Thomas draws his Gramsci into dialogue with contemporary radical thought, illuminating both sides of the conversation. This is a book that will recast the understanding of Gramsci, especially but not exclusively in the Anglophone world — Alex Callinicos, Professor of European Studies, Social Theory and International Political Economy, King’s College, London

What superlatives can I use to describe this book? Terms like ‘outstanding,’ ‘superb’ and ‘tour-de-force’ suggest themselves, but even these do not fully capture the extraordinary power of The Gramscian Moment. Peter Thomas’s erudite, wide-ranging, and staggeringly sophisticated reading of Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks completely overturns the dominant interpretations including those of Louis Althusser and Perry Anderson. Never again will we be able to read Gramsci solely through their lenses. Henceforth, Thomas’s magisterial exploration of Gramsci’s thought will become the critical point of reference for all serious work in the field. But Thomas does more than meticulous exegesis. He also insists on the actuality of Gramsci’s work, urging that we approach it in the spirit of “both continuation and transformation, fidelity and renewal.” He succeeds brilliantly on all counts — David McNally, Professor of Political Science, York University, Toronto

Peter Thomas’s The Gramscian Moment demonstrates the extent to which Gramsci’s thought represents a singular synthesis of virtually the entire tradition of Western political thought. The richness of his interpretative frameworks allows him both to integrate partial approaches and contributions and to throw new light on the central questions inherited by this tradition. This work succeeds in presenting Gramsci as a “living classic”, an author absolutely central to our understanding of modernity. Given its scope, richness and originality, I have no doubt that this work will represent a milestone in Gramscian scholarship and an important contribution to contemporary debates in political theory and philosophy — Stathis Kouvelakis, Author of Philosophy and Revolution and Co-editor of a Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism

The Gramscian Moment is the most thorough and illuminating philosophical study of Gramsci yet to appear in English. It sets a new standard for work not only on Gramsci himself but on the whole complex of issues associated with his legacy – on the mechanics and dimensions of hegemony, on the role and nature of the subject of political action, on the relation between theory and practice, and between civil society and the state. Thomas does more than any previous reader of Gramsci to demonstrate how his philosophy can fairly claim to meet Marx’s famous prescription – not merely “to interpret the world but to change it” — Peter Hallward, Professor of Modern European Philosophy, Middlesex University, London

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

Valences of the Dialectic – Fredric Jameson

Porcupine Tree - The Incident

VALANCES OF THE DIALECTIC – FREDRIC JAMESON

 

NEW FROM VERSO

VALENCES OF THE DIALECTIC

BY FREDRIC JAMESON

After half a century exploring dialectical thought, renowned cultural critic Fredric Jameson presents a comprehensive study of a misunderstood yet vital strain in Western philosophy.

The dialectic, the concept of the evolution of an idea through conflicts arising from its inherent contradictions, transformed two centuries of Western philosophy. To Hegel, who dominated nineteenth-century thought, it was a metaphysical system. In the work of Marx, the dialectic became a tool for materialist historical analysis. More recently, the dialectic has come under attack from poststructuralist thinkers such as Deleuze or Laclau and Mouffe.

Jameson brings a theoretical scrutiny to bear on the questions that have arisen in the history of this philosophical tradition, contextualizing the debate in terms of commodification and globalization, and with reference to thinkers such as Rousseau, Lukács, Heidegger, Sartre, Derrida, and Althusser.

Through rigorous examination, Valences of the Dialectic charts a movement toward the innovation of a “spatial” dialectic. Jameson presents a new synthesis of thought that revitalizes dialectical thinking for the twenty-first century.

http://www.amazon.com/Valences-Dialectic-Fredric-Jameson/dp/185984877X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257803840&sr=1-1

Hardback • $49.95 • ISBN 978-1-84467-877-7 • 640 pages
November 2009
Available now in good bookstores and online
Distributed by W.W. Norton: tel. 1800 233 4830
Please submit desk copy requests to clara@versobooks.com

“Fredric Jameson is America’s leading Marxist critic. A prodigiously energetic thinker whose writings sweep majestically from Sophocles to science fiction … One of the great writers of our times, not just one of the most formidably gifted critics and cultural theorists” – Terry Eagleton
“Probably the most important cultural critic writing in English today … It can truly be said that nothing cultural is alien to him.” – Colin MacCabe

FREDRIC JAMESON is the Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at Duke University. His many books include Postmodernism, Brecht and Method, Late Marxism, The Cultural Turn, A Singular Modernity, The Modernist
Papers, Archaeologies of the Future, and The Ideologies of Theory. He was a recipient of the 2008 Holberg International Memorial Prize.

 Links:
   1. http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Papers-Fredric-Jameson/dp/1844670961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257800242&sr=1-1
   2. http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Papers-Fredric-Jameson/dp/1844670961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257800242&sr=1-1
   3. http://www.amazon.com/Modernist-Papers-Fredric-Jameson/dp/1844670961/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257800242&sr=1-1
   4. http://www.amazon.com/Archaeologies-Future-Desire-Science-Fictions/dp/1844675386/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257805858&sr=1-2

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

Anthropologies of The Present

Tate Britain

ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT

 

Two Talks in the Series ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT
Tate Britain, London SW1

Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kristin Ross, ‘Democracy for Sale’
Setting out from the controversy over Ireland’s ‘no’ vote to the European constitution, this talk will consider the current global stakes of the more radical form of democracy associated with the Paris Commune. Kristin Ross is Professor of Comparative Literature, New York University. Her books include The Emergence of Social Space (1988) and May ‘68 and its Afterlives (2002).

Tuesday, 8 December 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kojin Karatani, ‘The End of Capitalism?’
Capitalism may be on the verge of extinction, but it will not end by itself, because states do everything possible to prolong its life. This talk will consider the role of the state in this context and the counter-politics it provokes. Kojin Karatani is the author of Architecture as Metaphor (1995) and Transcritique: On Kant and Marx (2003) and a founder of the New Associationist Movement in Japan.

Peter Osborne, an editor of the journal Radical Philosophy, will act as Chair and Respondent.

The Auditorium, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1
£8 each talk (£6 concessions) – price includes drink reception afterwards
Tate.org.uk/tickets or tel. 020-7887-8888

Anthropologies of the Present at Tate Britain: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/talks/anthropologiesofthepresent.htm
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

The Future of Capitalism: Alex Callinicos and Martin Wolf

Capitalist Crisis

THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISM: ALEX CALLINICOS AND MARTIN WOLF DEBATE

 

The Future of Capitalism: Alex Callinicos & Martin Wolf Debate

Around 300 people attended the debate between Alex Callinicos & Martin Wolf on Monday 2nd November.

The Great Hall was absolutely full, and many more watched via a video to an overflow lecture room.

If you missed out, you can watch the event:

Alex Callinicos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6CZAQvAMaY

Martin Wolf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXKqqgwAIeI

Questions & Answers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYpHLnlUrFg

Or download the audio from: http://rapidshare.com/files/302959451/Wolf_Callinicos_Full_Audio.wav

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

Ruth Rikowski News Update 33

Ruth at UEA

RUTH RIKOWSKI NEWS UPDATE 33

 

Ruth Rikowski’s 33rd News Update is now out at: http://ruthrikowskiupdates.blogspot.com/

It includes writing on such topics as:  Douglas Kennedy, Gloucestershire Libraries, Energy Monitors, Managing Information, Critical Pedagogy, Peter McLaren, Marxism, Analytical Philosophy, Capitalism, MERD, The Feminist Library, Information for Social Change, … and much more!

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

A Century+ of May Days: Labor and Social Struggles

May Day - London

A CENTURY+ OF MAY DAYS: LABOR AND SOCIAL STRUGGLES

 

A Century+ of May Days: Labor and Social Struggles
International Conference

In Chicago during May Day weekend 2010, there will be a conference to discuss, debate and analyze labor and social struggles, both past and present.

Call for Papers, workshop and panel proposals (by December 15^th).

We hope to cover an array of important historical and political topics. In addition to purely academic pursuits, conference participants will have the opportunity to participate in the May Day rally organized by the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois Labor History Society.  If there is sufficient interest, we will set up a Chicago labor history tour.

Initial list of participants and endorsers: Illinois Labor History Society; James Thindwa, In These Times; Suzie Weissman, Saint Mary’s College of California; Bryan Palmer, Labour/Le Travail (Canada); Ronald van Raak, M.P. (The Netherlands); Kim Bobo, Interfaith Worker Justice; Michael McIntyre, DePaul University; Peter Hudis, Loyola University; Sungur Savran, Author (Turkey); Lea Haro, University of Glasgow (Scotland); George Gonos, SUNY-Potsdam; Janine Hatman, University of Cincinnati; Lauren Langman, Loyola University; Alexander Pantsov, Capital University; Francis King, Secretary–Socialist History Society (London); Mark Lause, University of Cincinnati; Eric A. Schuster, Truman College; Knud Jensen, DPU Aarhus University (Copenhagen); Axel Fair-Schulz, SUNY- Potsdam; JP Page, CGT (France); Dianne Feeley, Against the Current; Kevin Anderson, UC – Santa Barbara; Fritz Weber (Vienna); Jerry Harris, DeVry University; Joe Berry, University of Illinois; Theo Bergmann, (Stuttgart); Dan LaBotz, Author (Cincinnati); Sobhanlal Datta Gupta,. Surendra Nath Banerjee Professor, Calcutta University. (India); Spectre Magazine (Belgium); Steven McGiffen, American Graduate School of International Relations (Paris); Len Kaufmann (Wisconsin); William A. Pelz, Institute of Working Class History (Chicago)

Further details: mayday1890.2010@gmail.com <mailto:mayday1890.2010@gmail.com>  or write: Institute of Working Class History, 2335 W. Altgeld Street Chicago, IL. 60647-2001 U.S.A.A

Web site: http://www.mayday2010.info/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

Marxism and Psychology Conference

Marxism and Psychology

MARXISM AND PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE

 

Call For Papers

Marxism and Psychology Conference, The University of Prince Edward Island, August 5-7, 2010

Website: http://vre.upei.ca/mprg/

Contact: marfken@upei.ca

Submission Deadline: January 15, 2010

In the history of social thought, it is difficult to find a more divisive figure than Karl Marx. For many, the mere mention of his name conjures up images of totalitarian regimes dominating nearly every aspect of an individual’s existence. Yet for others, Marx’s critique of the capitalist mode of production draws attention to the fact that our beliefs, thoughts, and desires inevitably emerge against the background of specific cultural, historical, and social practices.

The purpose of this conference is to bring students, scholars, and activists together to discuss exciting issues at the intersection of Marxism and Psychology. While it is clear that a number of organizations are making important contributions to this area of study, we believe that the time is right to open up a space for students, scholars, and activists from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to reflect on the role that Marxism can play in psychological theory, research, and practice.

In bringing together scholars at the forefront of research in Marxism and Psychology, we also hope to give new students and activists an opportunity to interact with individuals who have made significant contributions within this area. By organizing an impressive collection of plenary participants, we hope to foster an environment where students, activists, and scholars can identify potential graduate advisors, research assistants, and participatory investigators.

This year, confirmed plenary participants include: John Cromby, Raquel Guzzo, Lois Holzman, Gordana Jovanovic, Joel Kovel, Athanasios Marvakis, Morten Nissen, Ian Parker, Carl Ratner, Hans Skott-Myhre, Thomas Teo

Biographical information for the plenary participants can be found on the conference website.

We welcome submissions for individual papers and panel sessions. For individual papers, please submit an abstract (150-200 words) no later than January 15, 2010. For panel submissions, please include an abstract (150-200 words) for each paper as well as a brief description of the panel (150-200 words). Please submit all materials to marfken@upei.ca. Abstracts should either be in the body of the email or sent as an attachment (DOC or PDF format).

While the conference poster is available at the conference website, we also have color posters that need to be distributed widely. If you are interested in receiving some posters, please send us an email (marfken@upei.ca) with your mailing address.

For further information, please visit the conference website: http://vre.upei.ca/mprg/

Sincerely,

Michael Arfken, PhD. Director, Marxism & Psychology Research Group (MPRG), Department of Psychology, University of Prince Edward Island, marfken@upei.ca, http://sites.google.com/site/marfken/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

Chris Harman 1942-2009

Chris Harman

CHRIS HARMAN 1942-2009

 

A message from Sebastien Budgen (07/11/2009 15:24:57 GMT Standard Time, Historical Materialism list)

Chris Harman 1942-2009

Supporters and readers of Socialist Worker as well as socialists from around the world will be sad to hear the tragic news that Chris Harman died last night in Cairo where he was speaking.

Our condolences go out to Talat, his partner, his children and all his family and friends.

Chris Harman was a towering figure on the left in Britain and he made an immense theoretical and personal contribution to the Socialist Workers Party. He was editor of International Socialism Journal and was previously the editor of Socialist Worker for over two decades.

He was also an influential and highly respected figure on the international left.

He was greatly loved and will be sorely missed. We will let comrades know about the funeral as soon as we know any details.

There will be a full obituary in the next issue of Socialist Worker.

If you would like to send any messages of condolences please send them to martins@swp.org.uk and we will make sure they are forwarded to Talat and his family.

In comradeship

The SWP Central Committee

© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated)

You may republish if you include an active link to the original.

Socialist Worker Online (statement): http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=19502

Socialist Resistance: http://socialistresistance.org/?p=728

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Harman

Arabist.net: http://arabist.net/arabawy/2009/11/07/chris-harman-rip/  

Dave’s Part (David Osler): http://www.davidosler.com/2009/11/chris_harman_19422009.html  

Chris Harman was a valiant socialist who had an eye for the ‘big picture’ as well as the salient details in the struggle for socialism. He was also an astute and insightful Marxist analyst. His latest book, Zombie Capitalism will become a defining text regarding the current crisis of capital – Glenn Rikowski

Resisting the Capitalist Production of Space

RESISTING THE CAPITALIST PRODUCTION OF SPACE

http://boiteaoutils.blogspot.com/2009/11/resisting-capitalist-production-of.html
Resisting the Capitalist Production of Space is a ten days conference organized in Brooklyn by Oppositional Architecture proposing discussions between sociologists, architects, geographers, historians, economists about resisting the systematic embodiment of capitalism in urban spaces.

Here is the program:

Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture Towards Post-Capitalist Spaces

Location: Gair Building No 6, 81 Front Street , Brooklyn NY 11201 / York stop on the F Train

Wednesday, November 11 // 6 pm
Opening Reception

Thursday, November 12 // 7 pm
The Decommodification of Housing
Discussion with James deFilippis, geographer, Rutgers University, New Brunswick · Esther Wang and Helena Wong of CAAAV, Organizing Asian Communities, New York

Friday, November 13 // 7 pm
Bar + programming by Lize Mogel and Alexis Baghat, An Atlas of Radical Cartography*

Saturday, November 14 // 7 pm
The Real Estate Crisis, Private Property and the Prospects of Planning
Discussion with David Kotz, economist, University of Massachusetts Amherst · Teddy Cruz, architect, San Diego

Sunday, November 15 // 7 pm
Bar + programming by tba*

Monday, November 16 // 7 pm
On the Commons: Taking versus Granting Rights
Discussion with Peter Linebaugh, historian, University of Toledo · Brett Bloom of Midwest Radical Culture Corridor, Urbana · Rob Robinson of Picture the Homeless, New York

Tuesday, November 17 // 7 pm
Bar + programming by common room*

Wednesday, November 18 // 7 pm
Territory as a Means of Struggle
Discussion with Veronica Dorsey of United Workers, Baltimore · Neil Smith, geographer, City University New York

Thursday, November 19 // 7 pm
Bar + programming by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO architecture

BELOW HIGH-WATER MARK
An evening of film footage and musical improvisation exploring hidden connections along the water ways of New York City. Musical Improvisation by Joe Warner

Friday, November 20 // 7 pm
Reclaiming Capitalist Spaces
Discussion with Janelle Cornwell and Julie Graham, geographers, University of Massachusetts Amherst · Max Rameau of Take Back the Land, Miami

Saturday, November 21 // 12 pm
Towards Post-Capitalist Spaces
Lecture by David Harvey, geographer, City University New York, 12 pm
Workshops with special guests*, 2 – 6 pm
Final presentation and discussion, 7 pm
Party, 10 pm

Posted her by Glenn Rikowski

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