Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies - Volume 10 Number 2 (2012)


JOURNAL FOR CRITICAL EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES: VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 (2012)

Volume 10, Number 2: October 2012 – Now Out!

Some excellent and timely articles in this issue of Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies: Glenn Rikowski


ISSN 1740-2743 Online version / ISSN 2051-0959 Print version

The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS) is a peer-reviewed international scholarly journal published by The Institute for Education Policy Studies (IEPS). The free, online version is published in association with the University of Athens (Greece). The print version (available on subscription or purchase - click on the Subscriptions and Purchasing link is published by IEPS). JCEPS will have three issues per annum, as from 2013. The journal website is www.jceps.com 

Enquiries should be addressed to dave.hill@ieps.org.uk or naomi.hill@ieps.org.uk

The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies (JCEPS) seeks to develop Marxist and other Left analysis of education. JCEPS seeks and publishes articles that critique global, national, neo-liberal, neo-conservative, New Labour, Third Way, postmodernist and other analyses of policy developments, as well as those that attempt to report on, analyse and develop Socialist/ Marxist transformative policy for schooling and education from a number of Radical Left perspectives. JCEPS also addresses issues of social class, 'race', gender, sexual orientation, disability and capital/ism; critical pedagogies, new public managerialism and academic / non-academic labour, and empowerment/ disempowerment.


CONTENTS:



Mike Neary and Sarah Amsler
Occupy: a new pedagogy of space and time?
















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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com 




Marxism and Feminism: Past and Present



MARXISM AND FEMINISM: PAST AND PRESENT

Marxism and Feminism, Past and Present: On Helen Macfarlane, Rosa Luxemburg and Raya Dunayevskaya
London Public Meeting
Thursday 8 November 2012

7.30 pm at The Lucas Arms, 245a Grays Inn Road, King's Cross, London, WC1X 8QZ (5 mins. Kings Cross Tube)

Speakers:

Heather Brown, author of Marx on Gender and the Family: A Critical Study

Sandra Rein, author of Reading Dunayevskaya: Engaging the Emergence of Marxist Humanism, 1930-1955

David Black, author of Helen Macfarlane: A Feminist, Revolutionary Journalist and Philosopher in Mid-19th Century England; and co-author (with Chris Ford) of 1839: The Chartist Insurrection

Meeting sponsored by the International Marxist-Humanist Organization.

ALL WELCOME

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Radical Interpretations of the Present Crisis


RADICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE PRESENT CRISIS

November 14th, 2012
8-10:30PM
Wollman Hall
Eugene Lang Building
, 6th floor
65 W 11th St
New York, NY 10011

WITH: LOREN GOLDNER | DAVID HARVEY | ANDREW KLIMAN | PAUL MATTICK

The Present Crisis

The present moment is arguably one of unprecedented confusion on the Left.  The emergence of many new theoretical perspectives on Marxism, anarchism, and the left generally seem rather than signs of a newfound vitality, the intellectual reflux of its final disintegration in history.  As for the politics that still bothers to describe itself as leftist today, it seems no great merit that it is largely disconnected from the academic left’s disputations over everything from imperialism to ecology. Perhaps nowhere are these symptoms more pronounced than around the subject of the economy.

As Marxist economics has witnessed of late a flurry of recent works, many quite involved in their depth and complexity, recent activism around austerity, joblessness, and non-transparency while quite creative in some respects seems hesitant to oppose with anything but nostalgia for the past the status quo mantra, “There is no Alternative.”  At a time when the United States has entered the most prolonged slump since the Great Depression, the European project founders on the shoals of debt and nationalism.  If the once triumphant neoliberal project of free markets for free people seems utterly exhausted, the “strange non-death of neo-liberalism,” as a recent book title has it, seems poised to carry on indefinitely.  The need for a Marxist politics adequate to the crisis is as great as such a politics is lacking.

And 2011 now seems to be fading into the past.  In Greece today as elsewhere in Europe existing Left parties remain largely passive in the face of the crisis, eschewing radical solutions (if they even imagine such solutions to exist).  In the United States, Occupy has vanished from the parks and streets, leaving only bitter grumbling where there once seemed to be creativity and open-ended potential. In Britain, the 2011 London Riots, rather than political protest, was trumpeted as the shafted generation’s response to the crisis, overshadowing the police brutality that actually occasioned it.  Finally, in the Arab world where, we are told the 2011 revolution is still afoot, it seems inconceivable that the revolution, even as it bears within it the hopes of millions, could alter the economic fate of any but a handful.  

While joblessness haunts billions worldwide, politicization of the issue seems chiefly the prerogative of the right.  Meanwhile, the poor worldwide face relentless price rises in fuel and essential foodstuffs. The prospects for world revolution seem remote at best, even as bankers and fund managers seem to lament democracy’s failure in confronting the crisis. In this sense, it seems plausible to argue that there is no crisis at all, but simply the latest stage in an ongoing social regression. What does it mean to say that we face a crisis, after all, when there is no real prospect that anything particularly is likely to change, at least not for the better?

In this opaque historical moment, Platypus wants to raise some basic questions:

* Do we live in a crisis of capitalism today and, if so, of what sort — political? Economic? Social?

* Why do seemingly sophisticated leftist understandings of the world appear unable to assist in the task of changing it?

* Conversely, can the world be thought intelligible without our capacity to self-consciously transform it through practice?

* Can Marxism survive as an economics or social theory without politics?

* Is there capitalism after socialism?



Thanks to Ross Wolfe for alerting me to this important event: Glenn Rikowski

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Will Self Book Signing at Friern Barnet Library



WILL SELF BOOK SIGNING AT FRIERN BARNET LIBRARY

Will Self Book Signing at Friern Barnet Library
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
7:00 PM  
Friern Barnet Road, N11 3DR

Will Self will be attending the Friern Barnet Community Library to sign copies of his latest novel, Umbrella which is set in Friern Barnet and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012. Hopefully, given the location of the book signing, which has regularly made the national news in recent months (see below), there will be a lively political discussion to follow. 
Google map of location http://goo.gl/maps/7XhyS


Praise for Umbrella:
“Umbrella is a magnificent celebration of modernist prose, an epic account of the first world war, a frightening investigation into the pathology of mental illness, and the first true occasion when Self’s ambition and talent have produced something of real cultural significance.” (The Spectator)

A “brilliant and original work” (Mark Lawson, The Guardian)

“A stunning novel” (David Evans, The Independent)

Info and news links about the Occupied Library: http://fbpeopleslibrary.co.uk/?page_id=158

Sign the petition to re-open the library: http://petitions.barnet.gov.uk/RE-OPENFBLIB/#detail


“Last week a district judge in the London borough delayed eviction proceedings against squatters who a month ago occupied and reopened a library at Friern Barnet. It had been closed by the Conservative-controlled council as part of its radical experiment in shrinking local public services. “Guerrilla” librarians have kept the building open 48 hours a week and residents have donated 5,000 books to restock the shelves. There are children’s story sessions and exercise classes. Donations dropped into a biscuit tin keep the lights on.”
“”The community library is the ‘big society’ by definition, but it is not the ‘big society’ as the government envisaged it,” said Mrs Angry, whose real name is Theresa Musgrove. “They wanted the ‘big society’ to be obedient and to enable the cuts they wanted.”

This is an ecumenical insurrection where full-time activists and union leaders worried about jobs are joined by retirees and local mothers. The cause has attracted the support of the leftwing film-maker Ken Loach, who has contributed to a documentary about the matter called The Billion Pound Gamble.
But there is also anecdotal evidence that the aggression of the council’s cuts is alienating core Conservative voters.

Ann Foskett, a Tory-voting grandmother who has lived in the area for 40 years, dropped off a bag of books at the library as the activists celebrated their court victory with tea and biscuits. She said the closure was “absolutely scandalous” adding: “I do vote Tory normally, but things have gone to pot, particularly for old people. There used to be lots of local groups meeting in libraries, but there’s nothing now.”"

**END**

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com 
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog


Friday, October 19, 2012

The People Speak - by Anthony Arnove, Colin Firth and David Horspool


THE PEOPLE SPEAK: VOICES THAT CHANGED BRITAIN – BY ANTHONY ARNOVE, COLIN FIRTH AND DAVID HORSPOOL

A Message from Anthony Arnove

My new book with Colin Firth, THE PEOPLE SPEAK: VOICES THAT CHANGED BRITAIN, is just out from Canongate Books.

The book, inspired by the work of people's historian Howard Zinn, is a documentary collection of dramatic voices of protest and dissent from the twelfth century to the present.

You can read about the book here: http://www.canongate.tv/the-people-speak.html

There are some very moving readings and musical performances -- including by Vanessa Redgrave, a last-minute surprise guest -- from our launch event here: http://www.canongate.tv/the-people-speak-event-footage

Great photos from the event can be viewed here: http://www.eco-age.com/item/3807-The_People_Speak_
http://pinterest.com/ecoage/the-people-speak-2012/

An excerpt of Colin Firth's introduction and some selections from the book can be found here:
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/colin-firth-presents-the-people-speak-voices-that-changed-britain-1-2539941

And you can check out our BBC Culture Show profile here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxHB8eRmXpA

I hope the book might be of interest.

Yours
Anthony

The People Speak tells the story of Britain through the voices of the visionaries, dissenters, rebels and everyday folk who took on the Establishment and stood up for what they believed in. Here are their stories, letters, speeches and songs, from John Ball to Daniel Defoe; from Thomas Paine to Oscar Wilde; from the peasants' revolts to the suffragists to the anti-war demonstrators of today. Spanning almost one thousand years and over 150 individual voices, these are some of the most powerful words in our history.

Colin Firth (CBE) is a Bafta- and Academy Award-winning actor. His films include The English Patient, Fever Pitch, Bridget Jones's Diary, Girl with a Pearl Earring, A Single Man and The King's Speech. Alongside Anthony Arnove, he was instrumental in bringing a televised stage performance of The People Speak to the UK in 2010.

Anthony Arnove is the author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, editor of Iraq Under Siege, Howard Zinn Speaks and The Essential Chomsky, and co-author, with Howard Zinn, of Voices of a People's History of the United States and Terrorism and War. He is the co-director of The People Speak with Chris Moore and Howard Zinn.

David Horspool is a historian and editor at the Times Literary Supplement. He is the author of two previous books: Why Alfred Burned the Cakes and The English Rebel: One Thousand Years of Trouble-making from the Normans to the Nineties. He writes for The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and the New York Times.

‘The People Speak’ at Canongate Books: http://www.canongate.tv/authors/colinfirthandanthonyarnove



**END**

‘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
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com  
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Glenn Rikowski’s paper, Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society has been published at Heathwood Press as a Monthly Guest Article for September 2012, online at:

Heathwood Press: http://www.heathwoodpress.com 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

To Fight Austerity We Need a United Left - by Simon Hardy



TO FIGHT AUSTERITY WE NEED A UNITED LEFT

By Simon Hardy, Anticapitalist Initiative (Britain)
October 9, 2012 –  Submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

The urgent need for unity on the radical left is something that has been eloquently put forward by Dan Hind on the Al-Jazeera website. Asking a very pertinent question as to whether there can be a SYRIZA-type organisation in Britain, Hind draws out some of the most important lessons of the Greek struggle and poses a challenge to the British left -- can we break out of the ghetto as well?[1]

To plot a possible trajectory we have to be clear of the political alignment that has emerged for the left under the Conservative Party-Liberal Democrat coalition government. While Ed Miliband’s Labour Party might be surging ahead in the polls, the possibility of a Labour left revival is simply not on the cards. The Labour Party is hollowed out and bureaucratically controlled and all the best intentions and actions of Labour left activists will not change that. The Labour left is reduced to the old argument that there is nothing credible outside the Labour Party. They mockingly point to all the twisted contortions of the far left in Britain in the last decade (Socialist Alliance, Scottish Socialist Party, Respect, Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, Left list, Respect renewal, etc.) to forge a new unity and conclude that the Labour Party is the only show in town.

But this is not an argument made from the Labour Party left’s strength, it is an argument about the radical left’s weakness. They cannot point to any meaningful gains made by the Labour left in recent years because there hasn't been any. Even the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), the only significant bastion of the socialist left in the party, has failed to grow. On the crucial issue of the coalition government’s spending cuts they couldn't even get any commitment from their municipal councillors to vote against cuts to local government budgets. Some have claimed that the Labour Party could act as a dented shield against the coalition onslaught, but the truth is that the Labour Party is no shield at all.

The most significant recent press offensive by the Labour Party has been to force the government to re-examine the west-coast mainline rail franchise deal, not to re-nationalise it but to try and keep Richard Branson's Virgin Trains on the line. Yet barely a peep about the privatisation of the National Health Service, including privatising the pharmacies, some of which are also being taken over by Branson's Virgin company.

The Labour left is generally principled on issues like privatisation and fighting austerity, but they are drowned out by the party apparatus, which is overwhelmingly neoliberal and anti-socialist. John McDonnell's failure to even get on the leadership ballot in 2010 speaks volumes. As does the obvious non-growth of the labour left activist base. The magazine Labour Briefing, which recently became the official organ of the LRC, probably has a readership of around 500-600 people, smaller than some of the revolutionary left newspapers.

This is not to say that the Labour left has no role to play – far from it – they should just face reality squarely in the face and realise that reclaiming the Labour Party is a dead-end project.
But there is some truth in their criticism of the revolutionary left. Even where we have built new organisations that looked like they were about to achieve lift off (Respect, SSP), they collapsed in ignominy, usually caused by ego clashes and ridiculous control freakery by various organisations. While some of us criticised the political basis of these projects, the reality is that the political weaknesses barely even had time to come to the surface – the inveterate problems of the far left ran these initiatives into the ground long before they even had a chance to be put to the test of any kind of political power.

So a Labour left that can't get anywhere and a revolutionary left that can't get anywhere.

What lessons can we draw from these ”realities”? Certainly pessimism, although understandable, would be the wrong conclusion. The lesson of SYRIZA shows what can be done if the left gets its act together, puts aside its own empire-building projects and tries to do something that might actually make a difference. We have to start from the objective situation and work backwards – the reality of the cuts and a potential lost decade to austerity needs to sharpen our minds and our resolve. Starting from the necessity of a united, credible left we can work backwards to imagine the steps that we can take to get there.

I would go so far as to say that anyone at the present time who opposes attempts towards greater unity is, perhaps unconsciously, holding back the movement. The crisis is so acute and the tasks of the hour so urgent that we have no time for people who spend their hours constructing excuses for fragmentation, isolation and weakness. They are the past, and we desperately need a future.
Dan Hind is right and his voice joins a growing chorus of others who see the need for unity on the left. Does this mean every sect and group can just get together? No, of course real differences emerge. But there is so much that unites us in the current political context that it is criminal – absolutely criminal – that none of the larger groups are seriously talking about launching a new united organisation. The three-way division of the anti-cuts movement is the bitter fruit of this backward attitude on the British left -- a situation that should deservedly make us a laughing stock in other countries.

If the success of SYRIZA raises the benchmark for what the left can achieve then the natural next question is, “How could we create an organisation like SYRIZA in Britain?“ I think this question should dominate the discussions on the left in the coming months. But let's be clear – I am not saying we should just transplant SYRIZA's program and constitution and graft it onto the British left. Such an attempt would be artificial. An organisation like SYRIZA means a coalition of the radical left, united against austerity, united against privatisation, united in action and united in fighting social oppression. The kind of program that any new initiative adopts is largely the result of who is involved in it, certainly it should have an anti-capitalist basis, though it can leave some of the bigger questions unresolved, at least initially.

Let's focus on the goals that Hind identifies: "campaign for an end to the country's predatory foreign policy, for the dismantling of the offshore network, for democratic control of the central banks, urgent action to address the threat of catastrophic climate change, and reform of the national media regimes."

Each constituency does not need to dissolve itself, we just need to ensure checks and balances to prevent “swamping” of meetings. Each local unit of the organisation would retain certain autonomy while a national committee was permitted to adopt political lines, within the remits established at a conference. If an organisation or individual does not like any of the policies then they should have full freedom to speak their mind about it, while accepting that there is unity in the campaigns and actions the organisations agrees to pursue.

Everyone has to accept that they might be minoritised at some point. But they also have to understand that abandoning the organisation over a constitutional dispute or over this or that policy means abandoning the vital struggle for building a credible radical left in this country. Do people want us to live in glorious isolation for another decade or more, as people's living standards plummet?
We also have to overcome the very real difference in size between constituent parts on the left. The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) for instance is still the largest group on the radical left in Britain, although it is much smaller than it was when I joined the left in 2001. Members of the SWP argue that launching a new party is not practical because, as they will numerically “dominate it”, it would cause problems (as it has in the past). But there are a number of ways to overcome this, if there is a political will to make it happen. Changing the culture on the left also means changing how we “intervene” into campaigns or broad organisations, and taking a more open approach, transforming sects into networks and “giving of yourself” for the greater need of the new organisation, these can all be thoroughly healthy steps to take.

Possible alternatives, definite pitfalls

The danger is that the left attempts some kind of united initiative, but limits it to an electoral coalition – replicating the Socialist Alliance (1999-2004) but without the enthusiasm. While a genuine socialist alliance would be a step forward from the current situation, it will suffer the same crisis as the last version, where all the left groups did their campaigning work under their own banners but stood together only in the election.

Let's put it bluntly, British people generally don't vote for electoral coalitions. They are here today and gone tomorrow, people respect the concept of a party or at least something more tangible that looks like it is going to last beyond the next internal spat. The Scottish Socialist Party was credible because it was united and forced the smaller groups involved to campaign as SSP activists first and foremost. Putting party before sect is essential to the success of any project, just as it was in the early days of the Labour Party or any of the Communist parties internationally.

The Respect dĂ©bĂącle shows the danger of personality politics (the “great man” view of politics, when the entire project is hung around one person's neck). But its fragmentation also shows what happens when large constituent groups (in this case the SWP) act like control freaks and treat a coalition like their personal property. Although they blamed the disastrous outcome on John Rees, the fact is that the entire party was complicit in the mistakes that were made, both opportunism in political terms and bad practice in the organisational centre of the party. It was a feeling of loss of control when Galloway started to criticise the SWP's handling of Respect that led the SWP leadership to "go nuclear" in the words of one protagonist.[2] While we can be critical of the conduct of Galloway and some of his positions, the complaint about organisational manoeuvres and people swamping meetings is one that many on the left will be sadly familiar with. This kind of practice must stop.

The political problem with Respect was not so much its “liberal” program, at the end of the day it was largely old Labour social democratic in much of what it said, the unstable core at the heart of it was the drive for electoral success with people who had no real interests in extra-parliamentary movements and struggles. A temporary alliance with careerists can come back to bite you, as it did for Respect in the east end of London, where Respect councillors jumped ship, first to the Tories and Liberal Democrats and then to Labour.

Again this points up the importance of political movements on the streets and in the workplaces as being paramount, with elections as a subordinate part of that strategy. Moreover, it means a much more democratic and accountable relationship between any elected representatives and the rank and file members, one where they are subordinated to the wider organisation and struggle, and not seen as its “leaders” merely because they have been elected to a position within the capitalist state. This is a point that SYRIZA will also have to debate out in the coming months.

Today the remains of the cycle of left unity initiatives exists in the form of the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), an electoral alliance between the SWP and the Socialist Party (CWI), as well as a handful of independents. But again the TUSC only exists for elections and has no activist base. It seems to be doubtful that the TUSC can be transformed into something better; rather it appears to be a marriage of convenience for the two bigger Trotskyist groups. Its last conference had less than 60 people at it, despite the fact that the combined membership of the constituent groups must be over 1000 – real decisions are of course taken by the SWP and SP party leaderships.

While the past should not be forgotten, it can be forgiven, if people can prove their earnest support for a new initiative. Otherwise we are locked in a vicious circle with no way out.

Differences with SYRIZA

Regardless of the subjective problems of the British left’s sect-building ethos, there are two objective problems if we consider ourselves in relation to what the Greek left has achieved. The first is that SYRIZA's success is clearly the result of a country in complete meltdown. Wage cuts of 40% and closure of important services is at a qualitatively higher level than anything we have in Britain... so far. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that only around 10% of the cuts have gone through, so worse is to come.

Second, Syriza was launched in 2004 and has had the best part of a decade to build up its support in elections before the explosion in 2012. In most elections they received around 5% of the vote, which to the British left would be nothing short of a breakthrough. Patience and a long-term view of politics is essential to make such a project work. But then, maybe the British “explosion” will happen sooner since any new organisation built will be involved in tenacious struggle against austerity from day one.
We also could not limit ourselves to electoral politics as SYRIZA seems to have an inclination to do. While some of the more radical elements within the coalition are organising forums and initiatives outside of the parliamentary process, it is essential as part of our strategy to see elections as a subordinate part of the wider struggle, not the primary focus. If SYRIZA imagines that it can really reverse the austerity measures and revive Greece only through governing the capitalist state they will be in for a rude shock. When it comes to Greece's political and economic future, the European Central Bank and the leaders of France and Germany, not to mention the Greek capitalist class, are all in a far more powerful position than the parliament in Athens; removing their support and control mechanisms would be a crucial task for any radical government.

Campaigning for a united, radical left formation in Britain should be an essential part of the Anticapitalist Initiative’s (ACI) work in the coming months and years. Even more so, 2013 should be the year that serious steps are made to bring together a re-alignment on the left. We have had our fingers burnt in the past, but we cannot let past failures haunt us. If we fail to rise to the challenge, then we will deserve the defeats inflicted on us by the ruling class.

But the working class and the poor do not deserve them. It is not their fault the left is so weak – it’s ours. Now we have to get our house in order so that we can create a movement that can fight austerity and challenge capitalism.


Simon Hardy is a member of the new Anticapitalist Initiative (ACI), which, according to its website, seeks "to search out avenues for unity and co-operation that presents radical and socialist ideas in a way that is more appealing to new layers of activists. We will promote activity and struggle that aims to overcome division and sectarianism and points the way to a new type of society without exploitation and oppression."

Notes
[1] Read Dan Hind's article here http://aje.me/U5lUOj. It subsequently drew a critically examination from Socialist Workers Party member Richard Seymour at his Lenin's Tomb blog http://www.leninology.com/2012/08/the-problem-of-left-unity.html.

Originally at LINKS: International Journal of Socialist Renewal: http://links.org.au/node/3054

**END**

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com 
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski
Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Anarchist Bookfair 2012



ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR 2012

Saturday 27th October
10am to 7pm, Queen Mary UniversityMile End Road, E1 4NS. (Mile End tube)

Speakers include: Michael Albert, David Graeber, Selma James, Chris Knight.
Meetings on anarchist economics, Pussy Riot, South Africa, Palestine, G4S, workplace organising, workfare, feminism, 2013 G8 summit and much more.


The bookfair is one of a number of spaces for anarchists around the UK and the world to come together. But, as the Anarchist Bookfair is one of the bigger public events we put on as a movement, we want it to also be a place where those interested in anarchism can find out what we are about. So, we need help publicising the event (and anarchism generally) outside our normal scenes & movements.
It can also be a space where we counter the rubbish talked about anarchism by sections of the media and our opponents. We want to continue to make anarchism a threat again.
So, if you can help by taking leaflets or posters to distribute (especially in London) please email us at mail@anarchistbookfair.org.uk letting us know how many you want and we will get them to you.
With the space we have at Queen Mary’s now, it’s much better for parents and kids as the crĂšche and older kids space are much more part of the event, and we intend to build on this. It also means all the meeting rooms are now wheelchair accessible. If you have any other access requirements, please let us know in advance so we can try and meet your needs. If you are Deaf and require BSL interpreting and/or speech-to-text provision, please give us as much notice as possible and we will do our best to organise these.

To discuss any specific access needs, please contact us at access@anarchistbookfair.org.uk  
We will add meetings, lectures and workshops to the website as we get nearer to the day, so come back to the web site (noted above) and check out what’s going on.
This is all organised by a small collective – so any help before or on the day is very much appreciated. As are donations as all our costs are increasing - making it harder for us to break even. But, as ever, the bookfair will always be free to get into.
To make the bookfair a safe environment for children and adults alike, we ask people do not bring dogs to the event - except guide dogs. Thanks.


**END**

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

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com  
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Friday, October 12, 2012

Rethinking Marxism 2013


RETHINKING MARXISM 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

Rethinking Marxism 2013: Surplus, Solidarity, Sufficiency

RETHINKING MARXISM: a journal of economics, culture & society is pleased to announce its 8th international conference, to be held at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on 19-22 September 2013.

RETHINKING MARXISM's seven previous international conferences have each attracted more than 1000 students, scholars, and activists. They have included keynote addresses and plenary sessions, formal papers, roundtables, workshops, art exhibitions, screenings, performances, and activist discussions.

Among the confirmed keynote events for Rethinking Marxism 2013: SURPLUS, SOLIDARITY, SUFFICIENCY are Katherine Gibson giving the inaugural Julie Graham Memorial Lecture, a series of panels engaging with and celebrating the different aspects of the work of Steve Resnick and Richard Wolff and an installation of the late artist Susan Kleckner's work at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, along with a series of conversations and film screening organized by Susan Jahoda and Jesal Kapadia.

In 2013, 5 years into the greatest economic and social depression since the Great Depression, and 4 years after the last international conference convened, we want to invite participants to explore and interrogate three keywords: SURPLUS, SOLIDARITY and SUFFICIENCY. We find these keywords to be particularly useful in critically engaging with our historical conjuncture from different perspectives. Needless to say, fellow participants who would like to bring in other concerns, other concepts, other debates and engagements into the mix should definitely feel free to do so. Our international conferences have always functioned as pluralistic and open platforms that represent the vast richness of the Marxian tradition. When we propose these keywords, we only intend them as possible provocations for scrutiny and invitations for engagement.

The keyword SURPLUS, as in surplus labor (whether it takes the capitalist value-form or the various non-capitalist forms in our contemporary economies) and surplus laborers (especially with skyrocketing unemployment), enables us to approach the causes, consequences and solutions to the current economic crisis by deploying Marxian vocabularies and frameworks. The keyword SOLIDARITY, on the other hand, makes possible reflections on how to do things differently—together, collectively, communally, whether it is the organization of a democratically run workplace, a journal, a conference, a neighborhood association, a political party, a social movement, an international solidarity effort, or a revolutionary insurgence. And finally, the keyword SUFFICIENCY opens to investigation the bipolar convulsions of growth (fetishism) and austerity, various logics of invidious (over-)consumption, and the ecological and social destruction unleashed by the acephalous and endless movement of the circuits of capital.

Rather than uncritically endorsing these keywords, we would like them to be both utilized and rethought in investigating the current economic and ecological crises and articulating new revolutionary imaginaries and vocabularies that will enable the work of enacting communism here and now.

For more information on the proposed theme, visit: http://www.rethinkingmarxism.org/sss

We encourage, however, scholars and students in all disciplines, activists and artists working in areas that intersect with Marxism to submit proposals on themes other than those proposed above. Participants can present in areas such as critical race theory, feminism, political economy, anarchist studies, cultural and literary studies, art and art criticism, literature and literary studies, queer theory, working-class and labor studies, postcolonial studies, geography and urban studies, psychoanalysis, social and natural sciences, philosophy, history, and around issues of class, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, and disability. Historical analyses are especially welcome.

In addition to three plenary sessions, an art installation and screenings, there will be concurrent panels, workshops, and cultural events. We invite the submission of organized sessions that follow traditional or non-traditional formats (such as workshops, roundtables, and dialogue among and between presenters and audience) as well as individual presentations. Anyone engaging with Marxism in any discipline or form of activism is encouraged to submit paper and panel proposals. We also welcome video, poetry, performance, and all other modes of presentation and cultural expression.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals for papers, films, or other formats should include:
* Paper title
* Presenter's name and contact information (mail, email, phone, affiliations)
* Brief abstract (no more than 200 words)
* Technology/spacial requirements for the presentation

Proposals for panels should include:
* Panel title
* Name, contact information, and paper title for each presenter
* Brief abstract (no more than 200 words) explaining the panel's focus
* Brief abstract for each paper (no more than 200 words)
* Names and contact information for any discussant(s) or respondent(s)
* Technology required by the presenters
* Title, contact, and address for any sponsoring organization or journal

If your paper or panel proposal is intended for the track on the work of Steve Resnick and Rick Wolff, please indicate this in your submission.

The appropriate preregistration fee must be paid with all proposal submissions. Unfortunately, any proposal not accompanied by the appropriate preregistration fee cannot be considered. Proposals that are not accepted will have their preregistration fees returned in full. If you are submitting a proposal for an entire panel, please make sure the preregistration fee for all members of the panel is paid.

The deadline for proposal submission is July 1, 2013.

Submissions should be sent to Vincent Lyon-Callo at Vincent.lyon-callo@wmich.edu.

To submit a proposal and to pay the preregistration fee, follow the instructions on the conference website: http://www.rethinkingmarxism.org/RM2013

REGISTRATION RATES

______ Regular Rate $125

______ Low-Income Rate $60

PUBLICATIONS

Selected papers, poems, art, and other forms of presentation from the conference may be published in RETHINKING MARXISM and/or in separate edited volumes of contributions.

VENDORS AND ADVERTISEMENTS

Literature tables and display areas are available to groups, vendors, and publishers at reasonable rates. Ad space in the conference program is also available at reasonable rates. All ads must be camera-ready.

ORGANIZERS & SPONSORS

This conference is organized by a committee composed of the members of Association for Economic and Social Analysis and the editorial board of Rethinking Marxism and sponsored by Association for Economic and Social Analysis (AESA) and Rethinking Marxism.

For more information, visit the conference website: http://www.rethinkingmarxism.org/RM2013

All inquiries concerning the conference can be addressed to Vincent Lyon-Callo at Vincent.lyon-callo@wmich.edu.


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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
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com
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Glenn Rikowski’s MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski/blog

Glenn Rikowski’s paper, Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society has been published at Heathwood Press as a Monthly Guest Article for September 2012, online at:

Heathwood Press: http://www.heathwoodpress.com