Oppositions

Bonuses for Some

OPPOSITIONS

Oppositions: An Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference

28th and 29th September 2012 

University of Salford 

This conference seeks to explore ideas of opposition through the full range of disciplines in the arts, media, and social sciences. In the context of the current crisis of capitalism, there are many examples of the forms ‘opposition’ can take: the Tea Party in the United States, the rise of fascist groups, campaigns run via new technologies and social media, religious fundamentalisms, and general strikes in Greece. Though it carries radical overtones, ‘opposition’ in itself is not tied to any particular dogma, left or right. 

We invite papers that explore the value and values of opposition as a position to be adopted by individuals or groups. We welcome proposals for papers from postgraduates that engage with any aspect of opposition. 

These could include, but are by no means limited to: the ‘culture industry’ and alternative youth cultures; opposition parties within parliamentary politics; grass-roots activism; the history and future of the labour movement; hegemony; Foucauldian ‘resistance’ and its limits; radical pedagogies and the role of the University; community and class; the aesthetic value of non-mainstream or outsider art; aesthetic oppositions such as contrapuntal music or bricolage; and the formation of creole or pidgin languages. 

Papers are welcome from fields such as politics, literature, philosophy, anthropology, religions and theology, geography, sociology, history, classics, translation studies, linguistics and social linguistics, visual and screen studies, new media and communication studies, and the performing arts. Interdisciplinary papers are very welcome. Keynote speakers TBC. 

Abstracts of 250 words are invited for presentations of 20 minutes. Proposals for performances, screenings etc. are also accepted. The conference intends to publish an edited volume of the best papers presented.

Send abstracts to oppositionsconference[at]gmail.com by 6 July 2012.

Oppositions: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/node/46251

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

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

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Learning with Adults: A Critical Pedagogical Introduction – by Leona English and Peter Mayo

LEARNING WITH ADULTS: A CRITICAL PEDAGOGICAL INTRODUCTION

New – Just Released!    

LEARNING WITH ADULTS: A Critical Pedagogical Introduction  

Leona M. English and Peter Mayo

Authors: Leona M. English, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada; and Peter Mayo, University of Malta

Cover Art by Annemarie Mayo

International Issues in Adult Education Volume 8
ISBN 978-94-6091-766-6
paperback USD49/EUR45
2012, 292 pages 

Click here for a free preview of this new book

This book is written at a time when our own field of adult education is under assault from a variety of capitalist and neoconservative forces pressuring us… to turn away from the causes of criticality, lifelong learning, and education for freedom. Rather than succumb to these pressures, we have hope that our long term goals of education for life and living can and will be accomplished alongside professional and vocational education.
 
“This book offers new insight into what is a very dark moment of our human civilization.” — From the preface by Dr Carlos Alberto Torres, Professor, GSEIS, Director, Paulo Freire Institute, University of California at Los Angeles
 
“The book offers decidedly critical and international perspectives on various aspects of adult education, especially on state, citizenship and neoliberal policies. Critical in both content and method, it is at the same time the part of the collective work needed to advance the Belém call to action by furthering awareness and capacity in the field of adult education.” — Dr Katarina Popovic, Professor,Universität Duisburg-Essen, University of Belgrade and DBB International 

“In the midst of diminishing resources and growing inequalities, English and Mayo provide an incisive and much needed critique of adult education in ways that highlight not only its historical and philosophical roots but also its major significance to the practice of democracy. In a direct challenge to the neoliberal accountability craze, Learning with Adults offers a rigorous political reading of the field-one that systematically challenges oppressive educational policies and practices, while affirming an emancipatory vision of civic engagement. Truly an informative treatise that sheds new light on the education of adults.” — Dr Antonia Darder,  Professor and Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Education, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
 
“Leona English and Peter Mayo challenge hegemonic assumptions and ideas, while offering a constructive alternative based on the principle of working with learners and not just for them. Their analysis is accessible enough for newcomers to the field, while the authors’ wide-ranging coverage and radical approach provide refreshing and challenging  messages for the most experienced adult educator. Up-to-date, genuinely international and passionately committed, Learning with Adults is a great book.” — Dr John Field, Professor,University ofStirling

SENSE PUBLISHERS was founded in 2004 and is today the fastest growing publisher of books in Educational Research and related fields, featuring a current backlist of nearly 700 titles and more than 120 new titles published annually. With offices in Rotterdam (NL), Boston (USA), andTaipei (Taiwan), and a cast of top international authors that make up a veritable “Who’s Who” in their specialities, Sense brings a true global perspective to its publishing efforts.

 

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

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Critical Theories of ‘Social Representation and Reality’

Critical Education Against Global Capitalism – Paula Allman

CRITICAL THEORIES OF ‘SOCIAL REPRESENTATION AND REALITY’

SYMPOSIUM

Critical theories of ‘social representation and reality’

See: http://educationaldevelopment.liverpool.ac.uk/2012/04/07/symposium-critical-theories-of-social-representation-and-reality/

 

Organised in affiliation with the International Herbert Marcuse Society

University of Liverpool, Monday 18 June 2012 (1pm-5pm)

A symposium that will be of interest to researchers, students and professional practitioners who are engaged with or use critical approaches in their work.

The multiple and proliferating streams of Critical Theory continue to enrich scholarly and research fields in the humanities and political sciences. In the fields of education theory to media analysis, from cultural theory to theories of ‘the city’, from aesthetics to theories of the law critical theorists continue to employ perspectives and approaches that challenge, provoke and subvert the standard clichés and tropes of empirical sociology and positivism in the humanities and political sciences.

At this symposium we will hear papers presented by four scholars whose work questions and exposes the power dynamics and hidden conflicts that underlie and structure our social realities. Each in their different ways explore the myriad meanings of ‘representation’ in our culture. Douglas Kellner (UCLA) considers the role that critical educators can play in the context of the Arab Spring revolutions; Penny Burke (Paulo Friere Institue, Roehampton) interrogates the British widening participation agenda with a ‘critical eye’; Catalina Montoya (Javeriana University, Bogota) explores the changing role of the media in Colombian civil society using Chomsky’s ‘propaganda model’; and Mark O’Brien (Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Liverpool) considers the deceptions of language in the policy rhetoric of the UK Coalition Government.

All critically-inclined researchers, students and professional practitioners are invited to this symposium. A collaboration between the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Liverpool and the Paulo Friere Institute at the University of Roehampton and organised in association with the International Herbert Marcuse Society, the event takes place at theUniversityofLiverpoolon Monday 18 June.

To book your free place from within the Universityof Liverpool, go to (click on date):  http://www.liv.ac.uk/cll/booking/

 To book your free place from outside the University (or if you are a student) go to: eddev@liv.ac.uk (please provide your institution, if relevant, your email and a contact number).

 For more information contact Mark O’Brien at mtobrien@liv.ac.uk

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 ‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

 Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

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

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Online University of the Left

We Are the Crisis

ONLINE UNIVERSITY OF THE LEFT

Why a Marxist School?

Karl Marx’s ideas are a common touchstone for many people working for change.  His historical materialism, his many contributions to political economy and class analysis, all continue to serve his core values–the self-emancipation of the working class and a vision of a classless society.  There are naturally many trends in Marxism that have developed over the years, and new ones are on the rise today.  All of them and others who want to see this project succeed are welcome here.

Who Are We?

Founder: Carl Davidson

Initial Core Group: Linda Alcoff, Mark Alper, Gar Alperovitz, Burton Lee Artz, Salvatore Babones, Rose Brewer, Renate Bridenthal, Roderick Bush, Dominique Caouette, Orlando Caracas, Dana Cloud, Michael Duff, Jon Gobeil, Larry Hanley, Jerry Harris, Richard Huggins, David Fryett, Mark Johnson, Timothy Johnson, Athina Karatzogianni, Gavin Kitching, Lauren Langman, Marnia Lazreg, Kathy McAfee, Peter Mclaren, Bharat Mehra, Hannah Miyamoto, Gregory Morales, Joshua Morris, Kathleen Newman, Jonathan Nitzan, Juan Pablo Ochoa, Tom O’Donnell, Teresa Pac, William Pelz, Sanjay Perera, Frank Phelan, Garry Potter, Melvin Rothenberg, Saskia Sassen, Ellen Schwartz, Justin Schwartz, David Schwartzman, David Schweickart, Navin Singh, Geoffrey Skoll, William Tabb, Harry Targ, Bharat Thakkar, Joseph Varga, Rob Watts, Richard Wolff.

“This is a radical education and left unity project. All on the left willing to work cooperatively for its success are invited to join and lend a hand” — CARL DAVIDSON

Online University of the Left: http://ouleft.org/

This is a tremendous development — Glenn Rikowski

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Class Dismissed: Why we can’t teach or learn our way out of inequality – John Marsh

John Marsh

CLASS DISMISSED: WHY WE CAN’T TEACH OR LEARN OUR WAY OUT OF INEQUALITY

John Marsh

Paperback, 328 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-58367-243-3
Cloth (ISBN-13: 978-1-58367-244-0)
Released July 2011

Monthly Review Press

In Class Dismissed, John Marsh debunks a myth cherished by journalists, politicians, and economists: that growing poverty and inequality in the United States can be solved through education. Using sophisticated analysis combined with personal experience in the classroom, Marsh not only shows that education has little impact on poverty and inequality, but that our mistaken beliefs actively shape the way we structure our schools and what we teach in them.

Rather than focus attention on the hierarchy of jobs and power—where most jobs require relatively little education, and the poor enjoy very little political power—money is funneled into educational endeavors that ultimately do nothing to challenge established social structures, and in fact reinforce them. And when educational programs prove ineffective at reducing inequality, the ones whom these programs were intended to help end up blaming themselves. Marsh’s struggle to grasp the connection between education, poverty, and inequality is both powerful and poignant.

“Marsh’s forceful, erudite treatment lays bare the fact that the U.S. seems largely unwilling to change underlying social structures that sustain poverty and inequitable life chances….the drumbeat of his important message needs to be amplified in a nation widely deaf to it. Highly Recommended.” ——CHOICE

“This well-researched and well-argued book chillingly illustrates the toxic effects of growing inequality in contemporary U.S. society by revealing how educational opportunity and the myth of meritocracy carries more of people’s hopes and dreams than its shoulders can bear. Class Dismissed is a powerful treatise towards explaining the hidden and not-so-hidden costs of economic inequality and why abolishing poverty would be the best thing we can do to increase equality of educational opportunity…. John Marsh makes a bold and courageous case for a politics of economic justice.” ——Peter McLaren, author, Capitalists and Conquerors; professor, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

“At a moment when the increasing inequality of American life is almost universally blamed on the failures of our schools, nothing could be more timely than this powerful demonstration that bad education has not produced the growing gap between the rich and the poor and that better education will not reduce it. If you really want less poverty, Marsh argues, don’t give poor people more advanced degrees, give them more money—and help them join unions.” ——Walter Benn Michaels, professor of English, University of Illinois, Chicago

“John Marsh asks some uncomfortable but necessary questions about the current drive for mass college education. In a clear, persuasive, and troubling account, he shows that education is not the cure-all, as it is advertised by many across political lines. A must-read for those thinking about higher education.” ——Jeffrey J. Williams, co-editor, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism; professor of literary and cultural studies, Carnegie Mellon University

John Marsh is Assistant Professor of English atPennStateUniversity. In addition to many articles and reviews, he is the author of Hog Butchers, Beggars, and Busboys: Poverty, Labor, and the Making of Modern American Poetry, and the editor of You Work Tomorrow: An Anthology of American Labor Poetry, 1929-1941, which won the Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing.

Original Source: http://monthlyreview.org/press/books/pb2433/

John Marsh talks about his book at Against the Grain via Pacifica Radio: http://www.againstthegrain.org/program/549/id/151209/wed-4-11-12-education-and-inequality – This is brilliant! – Glenn Rikowski

Against the Grain: http://www.againstthegrain.org/

Review of Class Dismissed by Alex Snowdon at Counterfire: http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/articles/book-reviews/15094-class-dismissed-why-we-cannot-teach-or-learn-our-way-out-of-inequality

At Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Class-Dismissed-Cannot-Teach-Inequality/dp/1583672443 (Hb) and http://www.amazon.com/Class-Dismissed-Cannot-Teach-Inequality/dp/1583672435/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 (Pb)

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Institue for Critical Education Studies

Education Crisis

INSTITUTE FOR CRITICAL EDUCATION STUDIES

About ICES

As Paul Simon sings “that’s astute…why don’t we get together and call ourselves an institute.” So that’s what we’ve done.  ICES supports studies within a critical education or critical pedagogy tradition, and maintains a network that conducts and circulates cultural, educational, or social research and discourse that are critical in method, scope, tone, and content.

ICES, Critical Education and Workplace defend the freedom, without restriction or censorship, to disseminate and publish reports of research, teaching, and service, and to express critical opinions about institutions or systems and their management.  Co-Directors of ICES, co-Hosts of ICES and Workplace blogs, and co-Editors of these journals resist all efforts to limit the exercise of academic freedom and intellectual freedom, recognizing the right of criticism by authors or contributors.

ICES: http://blogs.ubc.ca/ices/

Some Recent Articles:

School improvement in USA and Canada requires an ‘attitude adjustment’

Weaker teacher unions won’t improve schools

Anarchist scholar to speak at RF@AERA denied entry to Canada

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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Why Young People Can’t Get the Jobs They Want and the Education They Need

Lost Generation

WHY YOUNG PEOPLE CAN’T GET THE JOBS THEY WANT AND THE EDUCATION THEY NEED

New free-to-view E-book 

Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley       

Download here:  e-book -why young people….

Or go to Radicaled: Rethinking Education, Economy and Society at: http://radicaled.wordpress.com/   

Already referred to as a ‘Lost Generation’, after almost two years of Coalition government, young people now have even less to look forward to and are likely to end up worse off than their parents. This publication builds on, develops and updates arguments from our book Lost Generation? New strategies for youth and education (2010) and, in particular, those in our previous e-pamphlet Why young people can’t get the jobs they want (2011)

A paper version is also available @ £3 per copy, contact mar.all@btinternet.com to order.

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

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

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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Educating Future Generations of Community Gardeners

The Pond at Night

EDUCATING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF COMMUNITY GARDENERS

Educating Future Generations of Community Gardeners: A Deweyan Challenge

Shane Jesse Ralston

 

Abstract

In this paper, I formulate a Deweyan argument for school gardening that prepares students for a specific type of gardening activism: community gardening, or the political activity of collectively organizing, planting and tending gardens for the purposes of food security, education and community development. Though not identical, a related type of gardening activism, guerrilla gardening, or the political activity of reclaiming unused urban land, sometimes illegally, for purposes of cultivation and beautification, is also implicated. Historically, community gardening in the U.S. has been associated with relief projects during periods of economic downturn and crisis, urban blight and gentrification, as well as nationalism, nativism and racism. Despite these last few unfortunate associations, the American philosopher John Dewey detached school gardening from the nativist’s tool-kit, portraying it as a gateway to more enriching adult experiences, not as a technique for assimilating immigrant children to a distinctly American way of life. One of those experiences that school gardening can prepare children for is environmental political activism, particularly involvement in gardening movements. Dewey did not mention this collateral benefit. Nevertheless, an argument can be made that garden advocacy—or, more specifically, participation in politically-motivated gardening movements—is an acceptable interpretation, or elaboration, of what Dewey meant by “a civic turn” to school gardening.

To read the full article, go to:

Critical Education, Vol.3 No.3 (April 17, 2012): http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/182349

 

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.com

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Educating from Marx: Race, Gender, and Learning – by Sara Carpenter and Shahrzad Mojab

Educating from Marx

EDUCATING FROM MARX: RACE, GENDER, AND LEARNING – BY SARA CARPENTER AND SHAHRZAD MOJAB

Series: Marxism and Education

Palgrave Macmillan

ISBN-10: 0230115810

ISBN-13: 978-0230115811

270 pages; hardback

 

This text is an articulation of a renewed Marxist-feminist framework for adult education. In recent years adult educators have been working to develop an important body of literature on neo-liberalism, capitalism, and imperialism. Many of these analyses draw on various strands of Marxist theorizing. With the exception of Jane Thompson’s work as an early socialist feminist, a Marxist-Feminist framework has yet to be articulated for adult education. This text combines original empirical studies with literature review from critical adult education and feminist theory to examine the sites, theories, and practices of adult education from a Marxist-Feminist perspective.  

Contents:

PART I: MARXIST-FEMINISTS ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE

Introduction: A Specter Haunts Adult Education: Crafting a Marxist-Feminist Framework for Adult Education & Learning; Sara Carpenter & Shahrzad Mojab

Ideology, Science, and Social Relations: A Reinterpretation of Marx’s Epistemology; Dorothy E. Smith

Building from Marx: Reflections on ‘Race’, Gender, and Class; Himani Bannerji

PART II: MARXIST-FEMINIST PRAXIS

Examining the Social Relations of Learning Citizenship: Citizenship and Ideology in Adult Education; Sara Carpenter

Learning to Mentor Young People: A Saintly Vocation or an Alienating Experience?; Helen Colley

Exploring the Social Relations of Class Struggle in the OntarioMinimum Wage Campaign; Sheila Wilmot

The Ideological Construction of ‘Canadian Work Experience’: Adult Education and the Reproduction of Labor and Difference; Bonnie Slade

PART III: MARXIST-FEMINISM, IMPERIALISM, AND CULTURE

Adult Education in/and Imperialism; Shahrzad Mojab

Materiality and Memory: A Marxist-Feminist Perspective on the ‘Cultural Turn’ in Adult Education; Tara Silver 

Epilogue: Living Revolution, Learning Revolution, Teaching Revolution; Shahrzad Mojab & Sara Carpenter

 

SHAHRZAD MOJAB Professor in the Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Canada.
SARA CARPENTER is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Adult Education & Counselling Psychology at theUniversity ofToronto’s OISE,Canada.

“Congratulations to the editors and other outstanding contributors to this exemplary text. The collaborative project that underpinned and drove the production of this work is clearly evident throughout: therefore, in one text we find the critically analytical/theoretical coherence one expects from a single-authored text with the added benefit of that coherence being brought to bear on a multiplicity of contexts that only a multiple-authored text can provide. An amazing contribution to critical revolutionary praxis inspired and informed by Marx” — Paula Allman, author of Critical Education Against Global Capitalism: Karl Marx and Revolutionary Critical Education

At Palgrave Macmillan: http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9780230115811

At Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Educating-Marx-Learning-Marxism-Education/dp/0230115810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333664978&sr=1-1

At Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Educating-Marx-Learning-Marxism-Education/dp/0230115810

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘The Lamb’ by William Blake – set to music by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3VloKBvZc

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Trade Unions, Free Trade and the Problem of Transnational Solidarity

Glenn Rikowski

TRADE UNIONS, FREE TRADE AND THE PROBLEM OF TRANSNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

Workshop at Nottingham 2/3 December 2011 – Papers now Available!

Resistance against free trade agreements has increased since the demonstrations at the WTO ministerial conference inSeattlein 1999. Positions by trade unions on free trade agreements are, however, ambiguous. While trade unions in the North especially in manufacturing have supported free trade agreements to secure export markets for ‘their’ companies, trade unions in the Global South oppose these agreements, since they often imply deindustrialisation.

Academics, trade union researchers and social movement activists met in a two-day workshop, hosted by the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) at the School of Politics and International Relations/University of Nottingham, on 2 and 3 December 2011 to discuss these issues in detail. The purpose of the workshop was to understand better the dynamics underlying free trade as well as explore possibilities for transnational solidarity between labour movements in the North and South. The papers of the workshop can be downloaded below:

Panel 1 – Conceptual and methodological considerations
Panel 2 – Free trade and particular sectors
Panel 3 – European trade unions and free trade
Panel 4 – Free trade negotiations
Panel 5 – Free trade and the Global South
Panel 6 – Resistance to free trade agreements and the quest for alternatives

Original source: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/now-available-contributions-from-decembers-trade-unions-free-trade-and-the-problem-of-transnational-solidarity-workshop-at-nottingham

The Battle in Seattle: Its Significance for Education, by Glenn Rikowski (London, Tufnell Press, 2001)

From the publishers: http://www.tpress.free-online.co.uk/seattle.html

“It’s a wonderful outline of the new anti-capitalist activity It pulls together all aspects of changes to all levels of education, as it is drawn into the profit business ­ and ever further away from wider concepts of education.” — Caroline Benn, Hillcole Group of Radical Left Educators, and President of the Socialist Education Association

“This is essential reading for all those the world over who have been driven to the margins of existence by forces of the current phase of capitalism – globalisation. It helps to understand the forces hiding behind bodies such as the World Trade Organisation that drive us relentlessly towards giving up control over our minds and bodies. This booklet looks particularly at the dangers facing education systems from the global search for mega profits. It also shows that people’s resistance can make a difference in snatching control over their lives.” — Shiraz Durrani, Information for Social Change

“Glenn Rikowski vividly demonstrates the centrality of education in capitalist globalisation. With precision and utmost clarity, he also details the historical background to ‘The Battle in Seattle’ as well as the other mass demonstrations against global capitalism and its agents of destruction. Rikowski’s seminal text is destined to become essential reading for critical/radical educators and political activists, but it should be read by everyone who is concerned with, and about, the future of education indeed, the future of humanity.” — Paula Allman, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, and author of Critical Education Against Global Capital: Karl Marx and Revolutionary Critical Education

“Glenn Rikowski has produced a brilliant and I believe historical landmark in Left education.” — Peter McLaren, University of California, Los Angeles, and author of Che Guevara, Paulo Freire, and the Pedagogy of Revolution

“I felt compelled to grab the red flag and take to the streets as I worked through Glenn Rikowski’s well documented exposé of what the World Trade Organisation is up to and its plans for education. But Glenn’s analysis is much more than a clarion call. It anchor’s that call in solid theory and critique so that my immediate response can now be matched by informed and focused action. An activist’s true handbook.” — Helen Raduntz, University of South Australia

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Battle-Seattle-Significance-Education/dp/1872767370/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333617350&sr=1-3

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

The ‘Critical’ in ‘Critical Political Economy’

Critique

THE ‘CRITICAL’ IN ‘CRITICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY’

Thursday 20 – Friday 21 September 2012, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

To be ‘critical’ in one’s work is a common rhetorical aspect of political economy research, especially in the post-2007 world. However, what ‘critical’ refers to, and the implications of being ‘critical’, are frequently neglected or left unclear. For example, does it entail: the promotion of normative commitments in one’s work; the highlighting of previously ignored/neglected topics or aspects of the world; the unravelling of taken-for-granted assumptions in a text; the attempt to take inspiration from different social science disciplines; or the support for particular ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies’ Or should we consider broader issues as well, such as: the changing nature and role of Higher Education in contemporary societies; the relationship between academia and wider society; participation in social and political movements, such as Occupy; and attempts to reform government policies in a more progressive direction’

This two-day conference in Barcelona seeks to explore these issues in an open, honest and reflexive manner. We are interested in all of the above plus more, and wish for the conference to cover a wide range of topics. As such, we seek contributions from those with an interest in political economy research, regardless of their disciplinary affiliation and whether they are in academia or not. We also hope to attract a diverse range of participants, from a number of countries and backgrounds. To this end, limited funds will be available for assisting PhD researchers who present a paper – especially those from Central and Eastern Europe- with their travel and accommodation costs.

Introducing the conference will be Mònica Clua-Losada, Visiting Professor in Public and Social Policy in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. This will be followed by a plenary address by Professor Vicenç Navarro, Professor in Public Policy atJohnHopkinsUniversityand Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and the Director of the Social Observatory of Spain.

The conference language will be English, and there is no fee for attending and participating in the conference. However, as a network formally affiliated with the ESA, we encourage those participating in the conference to: (i) join our mailing list through the above URL; and (ii) consider becoming a member of the ESA, through which for a small supplementary fee one can affiliate with CPERN and therefore support its present and future activities.

Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be submitted to cpern@criticalpoliticaleconomy.net by no later than Wednesday 25 April 2012. The applicants will be informed of the selection committee’s decision by no later than Wednesday 9 May 2012.

ABOUT CPERN

The Critical Political Economy Research Network (CPERN) promotes and facilitates research aimed at understanding recent transformations of capitalism and capitalist societies. The primary focus is onEurope, but CPERN is in no way restricted to just this part of the world. CPERN’s purpose is to reassert the centrality of political economy perspectives and to promote critical and emancipatory scholarship. It is a hub for interdisciplinary exchange, straddling principally the disciplines of sociology, politics and economics, but also reaching out to geography, social policy and law.

Published in http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/cfp-the-critical-in-critical-political-economy-barcelona-20-21-sept.-2012

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

‘Stagnant’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo  

‘Cheerful Sin’ – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

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Paulo Freire: The Global Legacy

Paulo Freire

PAULO FREIRE: THE GLOBAL LEGACY

A Celebration of Freire’s 91^st Birthday

A major international conference, Hamilton, New Zealand, November 26-28, 2012

A major international conference hosted by the University of Waikato, Te Whare Wananga o Waikato, New Zealand, November 26-28, 2012, will be held at the Novotel Hamilton Tainui Hotel on the banks of the Waikato River, in central Hamilton.

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The University of Waikato, Te Whare Wananga oWaikatois delighted to be hosting a major international conference, “Paulo Freire: The Global Legacy” as a retrospective celebration of his work and its legacy and influence across the globe.

The University of Waikato, with a student population of about 13,000 and 2000 academic and support staff, is committed to delivering a world-class education and research portfolio, providing a full and dynamic university experience, distinctive in character, and pursuing strong international links to advance knowledge.

The University works closely with Maori tribes (iwi), particularly Tainui, to make the University accessible to Maori students and to foster an environment of success. http://www.waikato.ac.nz/maori/ & http://www.waikato.ac.nz/about/  &  http://www.waikato.ac.nz/. 

Paulo Freire, one of the greatest educators of all time, was born in Recife, Brazil, on September 19, 1921 and died of heart failure in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 2, 1997. Freire taught Portuguese in secondary schools from 1941-1947 before becoming active in adult education and workers’ training. He was the first Director of the Department of Cultural Extension of the University of Recife(1961-1964). Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) is an argument for a system of education that emphasizes learning as an act of culture and freedom. His works became justly famous as he gained an international reputation for his program of literacy education especially for the rural and dispossessed in Northeastern Brazil. He was jailed by the new government after 1964 and was forced into a political exile that lasted fifteen-years, eventually returning to Brazil in 1979. As a living testimony, his many works have been translated into many languages, and have inspired the tradition of critical pedagogy.

The conference is aimed at experienced and new researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from all around the world who engage with Freire’s work in any of the following broad themes that the conference will be organized around:

·      Globalization

·      De-colonisation

·      Indigenous cultures

·      Cultural studies

A Stream in Portuguese is planned for Portuguese speaking delegates to present and discuss their research in Portuguese. Abstracts will be available in both English and Portuguese. Dr Ana Ratto, from  Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil, who is Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Education at University of Waikato, in 2012 is coordinating this stream which will take place on Tuesday 27 November 2012.

 For further information, contact ratto.ana@gmail.com

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‘Human Herbs’ – a new remix and new video by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com