Interview with Glenn Rikowski – Marxism & Sciences

Interview with Glenn Rikowski – Marxism & Sciences

This interview is now available at:

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368654826_Interview_with_Glenn_Rikowski_-_Marxism_Sciences

Academia: https://www.academia.edu/97210925/Interview_with_Glenn_Rikowski_Marxism_and_Sciences   

Glenn Rikowski is interviewed by Siyaveş Azeri and Ali C. Gedik

Marxism & Sciences: A Journal of Nature, Culture, Human and Society, Volume 2 Issue 1 (2023), pp.178-184.

For a PDF of all of the interviews, see: https://marxismandsciences.org/interviews-rethinking-the-foundations-of-marxism-and-ilyenkovian-contributions/ and https://marxismandsciences.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/interviews_ms_230102107.pdf  

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2023), The Foundations of Marxism II: Ilyenkovian Contributions – see: https://marxismandsciences.org/volume-2-issue-1/  

Marxism & Sciences: A Journal of Nature, Culture, Human and Society – see: https://marxismandsciences.org/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

@ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

@ Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski  

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF MARXISM AND EDUCATION

Encyclopaedia of Marxism and Education

Edited by Alpesh Maisuria

Published by Brill: Leiden

ISBN: 978-90-04-50560-5

Published: 6 January 2022

For those concerned with exploring education through Marx and Marxism this is an important book. Alpesh Maisuria has assembled a tremendous international array of authors to address the significance of Marx and Marxism for education today.

Introduction by the Publisher:

This encyclopaedia showcases the explanatory power of Marxist educational theory and practice. The entries have been written by 51 leading authors from across the globe. The 39 entries cover an impressive range of contemporary issues and historical problematics. The editor has designed the book to appeal to readers within the Marxism and education intellectual tradition, and also those who are curious newcomers, as well as critics of Marxism.

The Encyclopaedia of Marxism and Education is the first of its kind. It is a landmark text with relevance for years to come for the productive dialogue between Marxism and education for transformational thinking and practice.

For Table of Contents, see: https://brill.com/view/title/61529?language=en

My chapter in the book is: Marxism and Education: [Closed] and …Open… pp.421-438.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski  

Glenn Rikowski at Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Schools of War – Online

SCHOOLS OF WAR – Online

This is an article I have written with Alisson Slider do Nascimento de Paula, and it was published in the ‘Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology’, and this journal can be viewed at: https://www.j-psp.com/.

Schools of War is now available at:

Academia: https://www.academia.edu/49357589/Schools_of_war

And at

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352709060_Schools_of_war    

ABSTRACT: In his classic ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’ (1845), Friedrich Engels argued that workers engaged in industrial action gained knowledge of economic processes, tactical awareness in struggles and grasped the value of solidarity in the face of employers‟ assaults on pay and working conditions. These struggles constituted “schools of war”; significant learning experiences for workers, argued Engels. Yet schools of war can take other forms, such as struggles against the capitalisation of education; educational institutions becoming sites of capital accumulation and preparation for capitalist work. In this sense, education has become a battleground as its privatisation, commodification, marketisation, commercialisation and monetisation have gathered pace in many countries since the second half of the twentieth century. This article argues that there are two main fronts in the war over the penetration of education by capital in contemporary society: the business takeover of education, as educational institutions become value- and profit-making sites; and the reduction of education to labour-power production. It explores these two fronts of war in terms of education policies in England and Brazil and argues for the establishment of forms of education beyond capitalist states and capital’s commodity forms.

Glenn Rikowski

@ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

London

9 July 2021

Schools of War

SCHOOLS OF WAR

This is an article I have written with Alisson  Slider do Nascimento de Paula, and it was published today in the ‘Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology’. You can see, and download the article (free, open access) at: https://www.j-psp.com/article/schools-of-war-10993.

ABSTRACT: In his classic ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’ (1845), Friedrich Engels argued that workers engaged in industrial action gained knowledge of economic processes, tactical awareness in struggles and grasped the value of solidarity in the face of employers‟ assaults on pay and working conditions. These struggles constituted “schools of war”; significant learning experiences for workers, argued Engels. Yet schools of war can take other forms, such as struggles against the capitalisation of education; educational institutions becoming sites of capital accumulation and preparation for capitalist work. In this sense, education has become a battleground as its privatisation, commodification, marketisation, commercialisation and monetisation have gathered pace in many countries since the second half of the twentieth century. This article argues that there are two main fronts in the war over the penetration of education by capital in contemporary society: the business takeover of education, as educational institutions become value- and profit-making sites; and the reduction of education to labour-power production. It explores these two fronts of war in terms of education policies in England and Brazil and argues for the establishment of forms of education beyond capitalist states and capital’s commodity forms.

Glenn Rikowski

ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

Education and the Tragedy of Labour

EDUCATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glenn Rikowski

 

This Draft paper of mine, Education and the Tragedy of Labour – completed on 25^th June 2020 – can now be found at Academia, in the ‘Drafts & Pre-prints’ section, at:

https://www.academia.edu/43678143/Education_and_the_Tragedy_of_Labour

 

Abstract:

The argument of this paper is that, insofar as education is tied to the social production of labour-power in capitalism, or is infused with the business takeover of education, then, by default, it is in a tragic condition. This argument is pursued in conjunction with an exploration of some aspects of the literature on tragedy. The tragedy of labour results from the opposition between labouring for value production and capital’s profit system, and labouring for ourselves – individually and collectively – for human desires, needs and enhancement. Radical alternatives are required for the latter, otherwise education is doomed to be tied to capital’s prerogatives.

 

Glenn Rikowski at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

The System Isn’t Working

George Floyd

THE SYSTEM ISN’T WORKING

 

 

 

On Spotify

 

 

 

This is a brilliant podcast by Professor Mike Cole (University of East London) on ‘race’, racialisation and racism. There is also discussion and debate on Marxism, eco-socialism and the poverty and anti-humanity of contemporary Right and alt-right politics.

It includes material on public pedagogy, Trump, Theresa May, Brexit, the Covid-19 crisis and a wealth of historical analysis regarding racialisation.

All this, and more, is related to the current protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

This is an excellent teaching resource for those working in schools, colleges and universities.

See Mike Cole’s podcast on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fmzQlqPvUM7JYV2XdHqTe

 

Glenn Rikowski

London

12^th June 2020

 

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

The Student As Producer: How Do Revolutionary Teachers Teach?

Student As Producer

 

A forthcoming book by Mike Neary

Zer0 Books

31 July 2020

 

Student as Producer brings critical theory to life in a contribution to the dynamic, emerging genre of critical higher education studies.

It is for students and teachers who want to change the world through critical pedagogy and popular education.

 

Synopsis:

Mike Neary’s account finds itself set in a particular moment of time: between the student protests and urban riots that erupted in England in 2010-2011 and the 2017 General Election, during which students and young people played a significant role by protesting the politics of austerity and by supporting the politics of Corbynism. The revolutionary curriculum in this book is framed around unlearning the law of labour and the institutions through which the law of labour is enforced, including the capitalist university which, more and more, seeks growth and expansion for the sake of growth, neglecting the intellectual and educational needs of students in favour of the needs of the capitalist state.

Through thought experiments and reference to the work of the Soviet legal theorist, Evgeny Pashukanis, Student as Producer searches for solutions to how cooperatives might be brought about by a sense of common purpose and social defense. This is a practical, probing response to the ongoing assault on higher education by the social power of Money and the State. Mike Neary grounds his answers in a version of Marx’s social theory known as ‘a new reading of Marx’, as advanced by authors such as Werner Bonefeld and Moishe Postone. The theory is applied to various aspects of pedagogy, criminology, and political sociology to create a curricula for revolutionary teaching that will aid activists and those involved with co-operative movements who are seeking ways in which to engage critically with higher education.

 

To Pre-order The Student As Producer:

Paperback: 978-1-78904-238-2, £16.99 || $27.95

e-Book: 978-1-78904-239-9, £13.99 || $22.99

See: https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/student-as-producer

 

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Mike Neary

Notes on Commodity Forms and the Business Takeover of Schools

Glenn Rikowski

NOTES ON COMMODITY FORMS AND THE BUSINESS TAKEOVER OF SCHOOLS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These notes are for a seminar with second year Education Studies students at the University of East London, Stratford Campus, on 20^th November 2019.

 

Introduction

Commodification, marketisation, monetisation (the increasing scourge of money), and competition, commercialisation (advertising and selling-centred image manipulation) in education: how do we challenge and terminate these developments, if we wish to? Do we rely on the state to protect us from these insurgencies by capitalist interests and motivations in contemporary education? Will pressure from below, from us, urge the state to curb and end the role of business in education? Do we hope for a victory of Corbyn’s Labour Party in the forthcoming General Election to end the business takeover of education?

These notes indicate a way forward regarding posting answers to these questions. It is argued that we need to attack the business takeover of education at the micro level: at the level of the commodity, first and foremost.

The first Part of these notes focuses on this micro-level: commodity forms, the basic, elemental phenomena of capitalist society. Part Two explores one of these commodity forms, the general class of commodities, in terms of its development in contemporary schools. The focus is on how the general class of commodities, through the business takeover of schools, grows and spreads. The examples explored in Part Two come from schools in England, though, as Verger, Fontdevilla and Zancajo (2016) demonstrate, what they call the ‘global education industry’ (which is roughly equivalent to what I take as the business takeover of education) is a world-wide phenomenon, not confined to the UK, the US or Europe.

The perspective of these notes rests on Marxism; the ideas of Karl Marx and those who embrace his critique of capitalist society and its social scientific armoury. There are many forms of Marxism, and I stand within what has been called ‘Open Marxism’ – based on the work of people such as John Holloway and Werner Bonefeld. For 40 years, I have studied and organised around what has become known as Marxist educational theory.

 

The rest of these Notes can be found at Academia, in my ‘Teaching Documents’ section: https://www.academia.edu/40918435/Notes_on_Commodity_Forms_and_the_Business_Takeover_of_Schools

 

Glenn Rikowski

14 November 2019

 

More of Glenn Rikowski’s publication and papers can be found at:

Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

 

Education Crises as Crises for Capital

Glenn Rikowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My article, Education Crises as Crises for Capital was recently published in ‘Theory in Action’, Vol.12 No.3 (July). See doi:10.3798/tia.1937-0237.1924.

Alternatively, you can get it from Academia, at: https://www.academia.edu/40121601/Education_Crises_as_Crises_for_Capital

ABSTRACT

Accounts of education crises typically start out from the notion that these are derivative of economic crises. Hard times for capitalist economies – with recession and consequent shortfalls in tax takes as unemployment rises – leads to cutbacks in budgets for state services, including education. The victims of these cuts are schools, colleges, universities, and students (as provision is trimmed) and staffs (redundancies, recruitment freezes and restructurings). This is The Classical Theory of Education Crisis. A critique of this perspective on education crisis is outlined in this article. Alternatively, it is argued that education crises can be crises for capital, where capitalist development in education institutions becomes threatened or terminated. Through the analysis of commodity forms, the conditions for education crises generating crises for capital are demonstrated. In this perspective, it is capital that is the victim. It is argued that when conscious attempts to go beyond existing forms of capitalist education are forged along anti-capitalist lines in alternative, oppositional educational organisations, then this poses the most threatening scenario for capital and its human representatives.

Glenn Rikowski

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

 

The Concept of Educative Experience in Walter Benjamin’s Critical Theory

Walter Benjamin

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Talk by Matthew Charles (University of Westminster)

At the UCL Institute of Education

20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL

Wednesday, 19^th July 2019

5.00pm – 7.15pm

Room 828

 

Free

Open to All

No booking required

 

Organised by Judith Suissa for the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB), London Branch

 

Following a revival of interest in a theory and practice of learning influenced by the critical theory of Walter Benjamin, Matthew Charles (University of Westminster) proposes to examine Benjamin’s philosophy of education through the focus of his concept of educative experience.

 

Matthew Charles

Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities, University of Westminster.

Matthew is the author of a forthcoming book ‘Modernism Between Benjamin and Goethe’, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, forthcoming entries on Walter Benjamin for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and chapters and articles on critical theory and education in the Sage Handbook of Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Pedagogies of Disaster, New German Critique, Boundary Two, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Pedagogy, Culture and Society and Radical Philosophy. His next book, to be published in Punctum’s Risking Education imprint, is on the ‘educational grotesque’.

See: https://benjaminpedagogy.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/talk-the-concept-of-educative-experience-in-walter-benjamins-critical-theory-wed-19th-july-2019-london/ and https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2019/jun/concept-educative-experience-walter-benjamins-critical-theory

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Privatisation: Education and Commodity Forms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An article by Glenn Rikowski

My article has recently been published in:

Keywords in Radical Philosophy and Education: Common Concepts for Contemporary Movements

Edited by Derek R. Ford

Brill | Sense

Leiden | Boston

2019

 

This article, Chapter 25, is now available at Academia: https://www.academia.edu/39344962/Privatisation_Education_and_Commodity_Forms

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

While education is an inherently political field and practice, and while the political struggles that radical philosophy takes up necessarily involve education, there remains much to be done at the intersection of education and radical philosophy. That so many intense political struggles today actually center educational processes and institutions makes this gap all the more pressing. Yet in order for this work to be done, we need to begin to establish common frameworks and languages in and with which to move.

Keywords in Radical Philosophy and Education takes up this crucial and urgent task. Dozens of emerging and leading activists, organizers, and scholars assemble a collective body of concepts to interrogate, provoke, and mobilize contemporary political, economic, and social struggles. This wide-ranging edited collection covers key and innovative philosophical and educational themes–from animals, sex, wind, and praxis, to studying, podcasting, debt, and students.

This field-defining work is a necessary resource for all activists and academics interested in exploring the latest conceptual contributions growing out of the intersection of social struggles and the university.

Contributors are: Rebecca Alexander, Barbara Applebaum, David Backer, Jesse Bazzul, Brian Becker, Jesse Benjamin, Matt Bernico, Elijah Blanton, Polina-Theopoula Chrysochou, Clayton Cooprider, Katie Crabtree, Noah De Lissovoy, Sandra Delgado, Dean Dettloff, Zeyad El Nabolsy, Derek R. Ford, Raúl Olmo Fregoso Bailón, Michelle Gautreaux, Salina Gray, Aashish Hemrajani, Caitlin Howlett, Khuram Hussain, Petar Jandric, Colin Jenkins, Kelsey Dayle John, Lenore Kenny, Tyson E. Lewis, Curry Malott, Peter McLaren, Glenn Rikowski, Marelis Rivera, Alexa Schindel, Steven Singer, Ajit Singh, Nicole Snook, Devyn Springer, Sara Tolbert, Katherine Vroman, Anneliese Waalkes, Chris Widimaier, Savannah Jo Wilcek, David Wolken, Jason Wozniak, and Weili Zhao.

 

See: https://brill.com/abstract/title/54628?rskey=CsCTpk&result=1&fbclid=IwAR2QI5FkI42O-ZaKJXeE0FmlfSn-uKBKU02a9tFOpFMN6P0Se2q8bIqplrc

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

 

Keywords in Radical Philosophy and Education: Common Concepts for Contemporary Movements

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Derek R. Ford

Brill | Sense

Leiden | Boston

2019

 

While education is an inherently political field and practice, and while the political struggles that radical philosophy takes up necessarily involve education, there remains much to be done at the intersection of education and radical philosophy. That so many intense political struggles today actually center educational processes and institutions makes this gap all the more pressing. Yet in order for this work to be done, we need to begin to establish common frameworks and languages in and with which to move.

Keywords in Radical Philosophy and Education takes up this crucial and urgent task. Dozens of emerging and leading activists, organizers, and scholars assemble a collective body of concepts to interrogate, provoke, and mobilize contemporary political, economic, and social struggles. This wide-ranging edited collection covers key and innovative philosophical and educational themes–from animals, sex, wind, and praxis, to studying, podcasting, debt, and students.

This field-defining work is a necessary resource for all activists and academics interested in exploring the latest conceptual contributions growing out of the intersection of social struggles and the university.

Contributors are: Rebecca Alexander, Barbara Applebaum, David Backer, Jesse Bazzul, Brian Becker, Jesse Benjamin, Matt Bernico, Elijah Blanton, Polina-Theopoula Chrysochou, Clayton Cooprider, Katie Crabtree, Noah De Lissovoy, Sandra Delgado, Dean Dettloff, Zeyad El Nabolsy, Derek R. Ford, Raúl Olmo Fregoso Bailón, Michelle Gautreaux, Salina Gray, Aashish Hemrajani, Caitlin Howlett, Khuram Hussain, Petar Jandric, Colin Jenkins, Kelsey Dayle John, Lenore Kenny, Tyson E. Lewis, Curry Malott, Peter McLaren, Glenn Rikowski, Marelis Rivera, Alexa Schindel, Steven Singer, Ajit Singh, Nicole Snook, Devyn Springer, Sara Tolbert, Katherine Vroman, Anneliese Waalkes, Chris Widimaier, Savannah Jo Wilcek, David Wolken, Jason Wozniak, and Weili Zhao.

See: See: https://brill.com/abstract/title/54628?rskey=CsCTpk&result=1&fbclid=IwAR2QI5FkI42O-ZaKJXeE0FmlfSn-uKBKU02a9tFOpFMN6P0Se2q8bIqplrc

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski