Discussion on the Education White Paper for England and Extensions of the Commodification Process on Libraries and Schools

Ruth Rikowski

DISCUSSION ON THE EDUCATION WHITE PAPER FOR ENGLAND AND EXTENSIONS OF THE COMMODIFICATION PROCESS IN LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS

This, rather long title, pertains to the only paper / article written by us (Ruth and Glenn Rikowski) jointly. It appeared in the winter 2005/06 edition of Information for Social Change, Issue 22. We were both mightily concerned with processes and policies relating to the commodification of public services at the time, with Ruth focusing on libraries and Glenn on schools in England.

Furthermore, at the time, both of us were interested in the international dimension to the commodification of public services. Specifically, we were concerned with the likely impact of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This joint interest brought us together in a practical political sense too, when we became members of Attac London in 2000 and along with others organised a conference on the commodification of state services.

Of course, these topics have gained renewed importance with the current development of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Maybe the halting of significant advances in the WTO’s GATS process since Seattle 1999 in some way precipitated this development.

It is a shame that we have not written more together, and this is something that we aim to rectify in the future.

Meanwhile, this ‘Discussion’ piece can now be found at Academia:

For Glenn, it is at: http://www.academia.edu/12010645/Discussion_on_the_Education_White_Paper_for_England_and_Extensions_of_the_Commodification_Process_in_Libraries_and_Schools

For Ruth, it is at:

http://www.academia.edu/12010645/Discussion_on_the_Education_White_Paper_for_England_and_Extensions_of_the_Commodification_Process_in_Libraries_and_Schools

Glenn Rikowski’s papers and articles at Academia can be viewed at: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Ruth Rikowski’s papers and articles at Academia can be viewed at: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth and Glenn Rikowski

London

September 2015