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.

Originally published at: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/news/distributed/cfp-rethinking-marxism-2013-surplus-solidarity-sufficiency-amherst-ma-19-22-sept-2013

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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

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

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

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:

http://www.heathwoodpress.com/monthly-guest-article-august-critical-pedagogy-and-the-constitution-of-capitalist-society-by-glenn-rikowski/

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

Heathwood Institute and Press - An Independent Institute for Critical Thought

HEATHWOOD INSTITUTE & PRESS – AN INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE FOR CRITICAL THOUGHT

Heathwood Institute and Press

Heathwood Institute and Press is a non-profit, critical theoretical organization. Motivated and inspired by the Frankfurt School, our aim is to offer foundational social critique as well as promote concrete, critical alternatives to the type of social policy symptomatic of ‘damaged society’. As a critical theoretical organization, we strive to not only challenge the existing field of research and policy in contemporary society. We also strive to fundamentally challenge from a foundational and multidisciplinary perspective the existing social model, and with a mind toward the concept of systemic change.

Originally founded in December 2011 by a group of well-respected researchers, academics and activists, we are now actively bringing together and supporting individuals who are leaders in their area and whose scholarship possesses the potential to break new grounds in critical theoretical study and improve our understanding of how to sensitively measure and foster ‘human progress’ in contemporary society.

While our aim at Heathwood is to not only understand but also to measure social progress from a multidisciplinary, integrated and methodologically unique perspective; our motivation is to also develop simultaneously a post-Frankfurtian critical theory and to collectively promote the idea of foundational critique. In the interests of social progress we are geared toward excellence in scholarship and distinguished merit in terms of providing ground breaking research in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology and Education, and with the ultimate goal of communicating the findings of our research in an engaging, practical manner that is both applicable to policy makers and accessible to the general public.

Our Mission

The mission of Heathwood Institute and Press is to address the root causes of social, economic and environmental inequality. In the process we are committed to the promotion of an informed and engaged citizenry; to promote a foundational awareness and understanding of social, cultural, economic and political processes; as well as to fight economic and social injustice, and to protect the diversity of nature and society and the natural systems upon which all life depends.

By investigating more generally the idea of ‘damaged society’ our goal is to produce highly respectable, critical works, whose seminal theses offer the more broad foundations for concrete, critical alternatives which affirm the notion of systemic change and the need for fundamental public policy shifts. In principle, we seek to further this mission by advancing a new wave of critical theory in to the 21st Century.

Our mission is three-fold:

1) To understand the fundamental human issues that prevent individual and collective harmony and well-being, and that impede social progress as well as the healthy development of Western civilization;

2) To identify catalysts for change on a fundamental level across the different spheres of society;

3) To engage with researchers, policy makers and most importantly the general public in effort to promote critical dialogue as well as active leadership and participation in the manifestation of social change

The Heathwood Institute & Press website is at: http://www.heathwoodpress.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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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

Suspension of Ian Parker - International Protest!

SUSPENSION OF IAN PARKER – INTERNATIONAL PROTEST!

Dearest friends:

Something incredibly shocking has happened. Ian Parker has been suspended from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). It has happened suddenly and unexpectedly, and students and staff at the University have been given little to no explanation as to why.

Ian was suspended from work after having been unable to arrange, with barely 18 hours notice, for a union official to come with him to hear a charge that the university said amounted to ‘gross professional misconduct’. What this seems to mean is that Ian raised concerns within the University about the problem of secrecy and control in the department in which he works, and was suspended for doing so. Ian has had to leave his office and key, been told not to contact University staff and students, and his access to his email has been suspended.

For his students Ian has simply ‘disappeared’ overnight, and while he is keen to continue supervising and teaching, he is not allowed to.

I could never fully express what effect Ian’s sudden, shocking and completely unjustified suspension might mean for students at MMU and for the wider international academic community. Ian’s suspension is happening against a wider backdrop in the UK where while universities are now charging students £9000 a year (and much more for international students), and they are also cutting essential resources, often meaning staff have to work harder and complain less. This means that those staff who defend University as a space for open and democratic deliberation are often put under pressure to remain silent.

In fact another member of staff at MMU (and another member of the University and College Union – the UCU), Christine Vié, is also being victimised, and has been made compulsorily redundant (and there is an ongoing campaign to defend her). We are in shock, but only if we speak openly together will we be in a position to challenge and change what is happening to all of us.

Openness and democratic debate are the hallmarks of good education. Yet secrecy and silencing are key issues here. Ian has been silenced but his work continues to speak.

Yesterday I looked at the principle aims of ‘Psychology, Politics, Resistance’, which Ian helped to set up in 1994 as a network of people who were prepared to oppose the abusive uses and oppressive consequences of psychology, to support individuals to challenge exploitation, to develop a collective active opposition to oppression, and to make this a key element in the education of all psychologists.

So, let’s act together, and follow Ian’s example, and speak out – tell as many people as we can, and come together collectively as an international critical community to call upon the management of MMU to come to a resolution of this problem and to reinstate Ian.

Messages of protest can be sent to the Vice-Chancellor John Brooks (j.brooks) and the Head of the Department of Psychology Christine Horrocks (c.horrocks). These messages can be copied as messages of solidarity to the MMU UCU chair Pura Ariza (p.ariza) and it is imperative that, at the same time, support should be stepped up to support Christine Vié (c.vie).

The postgraduate students at MMU are sending a letter to the Vice Chancellor, and there will be flyers and posters put up on campus, and call outs in lectures all next week. Please do send letters and emails, and tell as many people as you can.

We will keep you posted about further action, and do let us know if you have any ideas for how we can fight this together (because we can fight this together). Please feel free to email me china.t.mills.

In solidarity,
China Mills (alongside many of the students at MMU)

From: http://criticalpsygreece.org/2012/10/06/suspention-of-ian-parker-international-protest/ 

Messages of protest can be sent to the Vice-Chancellor John Brooks (j.brooks@mmu.ac.uk) and the Head of the Department of Psychology Christine Horrocks (c.horrocks@mmu.ac.uk). These messages can be copied as messages of solidarity to the MMU UCU chair Pura Ariza (p.ariza@mmu.ac.uk) and it is imperative that, at the same time, support should be stepped up to support Christine Vié (c.vie@mmu.ac.uk). 

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Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

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

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

Consciousness and Revolt

CONSCIOUSNESS AND REVOLT: AN EXPLORATION TOWARD RECONCILIATION

Author: R. C. Smith
ISBN: 9780957096103
Publication Date: 01-12-2011
Pages: 424
Format: Soft Cover
Click for a 10 Page Preview

Price: £14.99

Heathwood Press is proud to announce the release of its inaugural publication, Consciousness and Revolt: An Exploration toward Reconciliation.

This highly anticipated work by R.C. Smith is one which cordially speaks as both an urgent existential and social declaration, as well as a shapely series of philosophical reflections on the subject of ‘damaged life’. Penetrating into some of the deepest and most problematic issues presently facing Western society, from the ravaged state of affairs subject to the global capitalist vision of life through to the most intimate distortions of contemporary experience, R.C. Smith presents to both the academic and everyday reader alike one of the more substantive social critiques of the past few decades. Expressed through a tone of voice born principally from the eye of self-witness, sensing and feeling; Book I of the Consciousness and Revolt series is a work with as much critical sting as human sensitivity.

Further details on Consciousness and Revolt: http://www.heathwoodpress.com/bookshop-candr/

Heathwood Press: http://www.heathwoodpress.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

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

All that is Solid Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com 

I ♥ Transcontinental: http://ihearttranscontinental.blogspot.co.uk/

I Love Transcontinental

I LOVE TRANSCONTINENTAL

I ♥ Transcontinental is a protest against corporate banality, mass-produced goods, human exploitation, and vulgarity.

We support originality, beauty, and harmony.

Our products are all individually mixed media hand-printed. No two are alike. We do not make more than three of any design (if that) because we want it to be yours, true, unique, and obscure. The clothes and accessories we craft are fair trade, organic cotton, using water based dyes and other such environmentally friendly materials.

This is a peaceful protest. We can only hope that beauty and art will tame the beast greed made our world into.

See I ♥ Transcontinental at: http://ihearttranscontinental.blogspot.co.uk/

This is a new, radical and dynamic development in art, design, music and protest – 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

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

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:

http://www.heathwoodpress.com/monthly-guest-article-august-critical-pedagogy-and-the-constitution-of-capitalist-society-by-glenn-rikowski/

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

D.H. Lawrence: A Journey

D.H. LAWRENCE: A JOURNEY

Blog item for ‘Serendipitous Moments’ by Ruth Rikowski

http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

In this piece, Ruth Rikowski briefly describes her ‘D.H. Lawrence Summer Journey’. It was actually a journey that we both went on, as she read various f bits out to me, as she was reading this summer 2012.

D. H. Lawrence: an incredible writer; a writer that profoundly changed both of our lives.

Ruth’s initial intention was to find out more about the so-called Nietzschean effect in Lawrence’s work; how much of it was real and how much imagined and/or exaggerated?

Together we concluded that it was more a Nietzschean way of life that Lawrence embraced; the ‘going for life’ mentality. It was this, rather than adhering to any particular philosophical positions of Nietzsche’s, such as the ‘Will to Power’, which Lawrence actually disagreed with.

And it was Frieda Lawrence, his wife, who loved Nietzche and read lots of him, who really drove all this forward – she wanted to nurture a male genius and to live life more fully.

Lawrence himself preferred reading and writing literature.

G. H. Neville, Lawrence’s closest childhood friend said in his book ‘A Memoir of D. H. Lawrence: the Betrayal’ (Cambridge University Press, 1981):

“We bemoan, I bemoan, Lawrence as a lost leader of men. I believe that, could his undoubted gifts have been applied in other directions, he would have become the leader of a new world movement. I know that he could have become such a leader, but I sometimes feel that, even now, he has completed his real work, and that, ultimately, when a right conception of our Lawrence has spread throughout the world, that dreamed-of leadership will yet be his.” (Neville, 1981, p. 142)

Do read the piece, and let us aim to live life more fully – even in the limiting and limited form of life that is capitalist society.

The article can be viewed at: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/d-h-lawrence-journey.html

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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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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

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

Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND THE CONSTITUTION OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY

Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society was a paper I wrote originally for the ‘Migrating University: From Goldsmiths to Gatwick’, held at Goldsmiths College, University of London, on 14^th September 2007. It has now been republished at Heathwood Press as the Monthly Guest Article for September 2012. Some of the links do not now work for the original paper, which was posted to The Flow of Ideas website in 2007. These have been rectified for the Heathwood Press version.

You can view the Heathwood Press republishing of Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society at: http://www.heathwoodpress.com/monthly-guest-article-august-critical-pedagogy-and-the-constitution-of-capitalist-society-by-glenn-rikowski/

Heathwood Press is the publishing arm of the Heathwood Institute – An Independent Institute for Critical Thought: a ‘radical academic collective of authors and researchers whose aim is to continuously and normatively break new grounds of intellectual and political thought’ (Heathwood website).

This is an exciting initiative: the sort of development that yields hope for the future.  

Heathwood Press can be viewed at: http://www.heathwoodpress.com

Glenn Rikowski, London 22^nd September 2012

References as:

Rikowski, G. (2012) Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society, Monthly Guest Article or September 2012, Heathwood Press, online at: http://www.heathwoodpress.com/monthly-guest-article-august-critical-pedagogy-and-the-constitution-of-capitalist-society-by-glenn-rikowski/

Rikowski, G. (2007) Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society, A paper prepared for the ‘Migrating University: From Goldsmiths to Gatwick’ Conference, Panel 2, ‘The Challenge of Critical Pedagogy’, Goldsmiths College, University of London, 14th September 2007, online at:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Critical%20Pedagogy%20and%20Capitalism

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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

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

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

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

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

Life in the Higher Sausage Factory - The Paper

LIFE IN THE HIGHER SAUSAGE FACTORY – THE PAPER


LIFE IN THE HIGHER SAUSAGE FACTORY
Dr. Glenn Rikowski, School of Education, University of Northampton
Guest Lecture to the Teacher Education Research Group
22nd March 2012, The Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London

At last, I have found the time to html code 'Life in the Higher Sausage Factory' and put it on The Flow of Ideas website.
I have added a short Preface to explain the provenance and development of the paper.

Here is the link to the paper: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Life%20in%20the%20Higher%20Sausage%20Factory

Here is the full reference:

Rikowski, G. (2012) Life in the Higher Sausage Factory, Guest Lecture to the Teacher Education Research Group, The Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London, 22nd March, online at:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Life%20in%20the%20Higher%20Sausage%20Factory

If you would like a Word version of this paper then send an email to Rikowskigr@aol.com and I will send it via email attachment.

Best wishes
Glenn Rikowski, London, 28th August 2012.

“Capitalist production is not merely the production of commodities, it is essentially the production of surplus-value. The labourer produces, not for himself, but for capital. It no longer suffices, therefore, that he should simply produce. He must produce surplus-value. That labourer alone is productive, who produces surplus-value for the capitalist, and thus works for the self-expansion of capital. If we may take an example from outside the sphere of production of material objects, a schoolmaster is a productive labourer, when, in addition to belabouring the heads of his scholars, he works like a horse to enrich the school proprietor. That the latter has laid out his capital in a teaching factory, instead of a sausage factory, does not alter the relation. Hence the notion of a productive labourer implies not merely a relation between work and useful effect, between labourer and product of labour, but also a specific, social relation of production, a relation that has sprung up historically and stamps the labourer as the direct means of creating surplus-value. To be a productive labourer is, therefore, not a piece of luck, but a misfortune” (Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I).

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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

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

Sustaining Alternative Universities

SUSTAINING ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSITIES


UK Free University Network (FUN)
Sustaining Alternative Universities
Collaborative Research Conference
1–2 December 2012
Oxford, UK

They will admit that little is to be expected from present-day governments, since these live and act according to a murderous code. Hope remains only in the most difficult task of all: to reconsider everything from the ground up, so as to shape a living society inside a dying society. [People] must therefore, as individuals, draw up among themselves, within frontiers and across them, a new social contract which will unite them according to more reasonable principles.’ (Albert Camus, ‘Neither victim nor executioner’, 1946)

Following on from the inaugural meeting of the UK Free University Network held in early 2012, we are calling out to representatives of all free universities and to all those who wish to participate in a conference with a more focused objective.

In recent years, we have witnessed the accelerated neoliberal capitalist colonisation of the university. In the UK (and far beyond) many students are now priced out of higher education and the academic finds him/herself subservient to the logic and interests of capital. In response to this intolerable reality, many groups of scholars, students, and others have come together independently to create alternative, ‘free’ universities.

The ‘Sustaining Alternative Universities’ conference, as a space for coordinating research and sharing knowledge and experience, seeks to support these projects in taking further decisive steps towards the creation of a national movement of individuals and organisations dedicated to the construction and development of alternative democratic, critical, and ultimately sustainable higher education communities.


Sustainability: history, dialogue, and practice

The successes of this movement hinge on its sustainability. ‘How can we build, develop, and maintain truly sustainable educational communities outside the existing institutional frameworks?’ is the question upon which our collective investigations and discussions should be founded. Therefore, our collective task is to conceptualise, research, imagine, and, ultimately, cultivate a sustainable movement based on a network of locally-based, sustainable, free universities. We believe that this conference can help us to successfully undertake this task through a three-step process.

Step one: history. An intrinsic element of building sustainability today must surely be to learn from the history of previous projects of popular, democratic and radical education here in the UK, and beyond. Therefore, we invite representatives of each free university to conduct and present research into the history of these traditions in their specific locality, drawing on their own particular influences. Researchers should keep in mind the practical purpose driving this research and consider issues such as: Who participated in these efforts? How were they structured, organised, and sustained? What was the significance of their historical and spatial context? What lessons can be derived from these efforts for our own endeavours today?

We hope that this shared research effort will allow us to both map out a history of popular / democratic / radical higher education in the UK, and to identify ways these can inform our own current projects. Ultimately, this collaborative research endeavour could also help us trace the roots of our network.

Step two: dialogue. The next step is to engage in dialogue with one another, and with our histories. We need to both imagine our ideals and talk freely and openly about the challenges and obstacles that impede our ambitions and objectives today. We need to name the material, social and subjective conditions that constrain the actualisation of our imagination and hopes. At the conference, we aim to draw on our collective experiences in democratic education to create a supportive, democratic space in which participants feel able to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in these areas.

Step three: practice. Finally, we need to take the lessons and ideas derived from our historical research and dialogue and put them into practice. The conference will culminate in a session in which we all make plans for practical action to take things forward on a local and national level.


Affinities and collaborations

We invite collaboration and co-operation with all. Beyond the Free University Network itself, we particularly welcome collaboration from members of the following groups:

Academic members of the ‘For a Public University’ working group and Campaign for the Public University. We at FUN have not forsaken the mainstream university, and many of our members are not only academics or students, but also active in defending the public university. We recognise the rich traditions of critical pedagogy within the university and the enduring possibilities of its democratic promise. We welcome contributions from all academics.

Members of the Co-operative Movement. Clearly, the co-operative model of organisation offers much for free universities today to draw on, and at least one in the UK is explicitly organised upon co-operative principles. We welcome members of the Co-operative Movement who might contribute to our historical and contemporary understanding of co-operative education, and/or who would like to build bridges between these two movements.

University workers who are not academics. All too often, non-academic staff working in universities are marginalised within or excluded from these discussions. Their contributions, knowledges, experiences and possibilities are overlooked. We seek to redress this situation and invite all those making invaluable contributions to higher education in ways that are not specifically ‘academic’ to participate in this conference.

Students and all those desiring to learn. Critical pedagogy aspires to break down hierarchical boundaries between students and teachers, and to expand the right of learning to everyone whether they occupy the role of ‘student’ or not. In the democratic universities we envisage, students shape their own learning experiences. We welcome contributions from students, past, present, and future.

All others who share our principles, and who are active in creating alternative institutions in other areas of social life, particularly in education. There is much we can learn from each other.



An open, democratic, egalitarian, anti-elitist intellectuality

This is a critical pedagogical and political project. This conference is not intended to be a typical academic conference based exclusively on theoretically dense papers and presentations. There is validity, truth, importance, and profound insight in many other methods and ways of expressing knowledge, and we open our conference and minds to these. We believe that narrative – telling stories – is a particularly important means for reaching the personal and social heart of the obstacles and challenges that confront us in our ambitions to create democratic and sustainable learning communities.



Where and when

In the spirit of the Occupy movement, we have decided to host this conference on higher education in Oxford for obvious historical reasons.

We propose that the conference will be held on the weekend of 1–2 December 2012.

We recognise the high cost of transport and accommodation and ask those in a position to do so to offer contributions to help unwaged participants to attend. A system will be created to make this transparent and possible.


Impact and output

Only joking! 

We want this conference to be the turning point at which we really begin to cultivate a sustainable and flourishing free university movement. We hope you can join us for this conference.

If you are interested in participating in the conference and/or in its planning of and preparation, please contact either Sarah Amsler (samsler@lincoln.ac.uk) or Joel Lazarus (joel_lazarus@hotmail.com).

We aim to have a coordinating committee established by 13 August.


Venue

The location of the conference venue will depend on final numbers. However, what is certain is that this conference’s organisation will be guided by fully inclusive principles. This means a family friendly venue with park/playground nearby and a safe indoor space for children of all ages to play. Childcare duties will not preclude participation at this conference. Equally, we will ensure that the venue is fully accessible and that all dietary requirements are catered for. Please contact us if you have any concerns, ideas, or requests.

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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

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

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

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

Critical Theories in the 21st Century: A Conference of Transformative Pedagogies

CRITICAL THEORIES IN THE 21st CENTURY: A CONFERENCE OF TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGIES


Second Annual West Chester Critical Theories Conference

Call for Papers


Due to the success of last years’ inaugural event, we are very excited about the upcoming Critical Theories in the Twenty-First Century conference at West Chester University. Due to the deepening crisis of global capital and the anti-capitalist movement in embryo (since last November), this year we added a special theme: Critical Education Against Capitalism. As many reactions to the ravages of capital are reformist in nature, failing to identify and target the true causes (i.e. private property as a complex historical process) of exploitation, injustices, war, educational expansion as well as educational budget cuts, ideological indoctrination, and so on, especially in critical pedagogy, this discussion targeting the root capitalist cause of life at the present moment is particularly relevant and needed.

Consequently, whereas last year “the call for proposals” was “general enough to be inclusive of many critical approaches to transformative or revolutionary pedagogies and theory,” this year we ask the critical pedagogy community to present their works in a way that demonstrates how it contributes to achieving a post-capitalist society. As such, we can suggest a few relevant themes for proposals: Marxist educational theory, Anarchist pedagogies, austerity/educational budget cuts, ignoring poverty, racialization and hegemony, (anti)settler-colonialism/imperialism, indigenous critical theory/autonomous governance, anti-capitalist eco-pedagogy, atheism and education, queer theory against capital, etc.

While this conference will include important presentations and debates between key figures in critical pedagogy, it will not be limited to this focus. In other words, as critical theory becomes more inclusive, global, and all encompassing, this conference welcomes more than just academics as important contributors. That is, we recognize students and youth groups as possessing authentic voices based on their unique relationship to capitalism and will therefore be open to them as presenters and discussion leaders (as was done in 2011). While this inclusivity is obviously designed to challenge traditional distributions of social power in capitalist societies, it will not be done romantically where participants’ internalized hegemonies are not challenged. Put another way, while students will be included as having something valuable to contribute, they will both be subjected to the same scrutiny as established academics, as well as invited to share their own critiques. All participants will therefore be included in the discussions of why and how to achieve a post-capitalist society.


When:
November 16th and 17th


Duration:
Friday evening and all day Saturday


Where:
West Chester University, West Chester, PA


Purpose:
To contribute to the wide and deep network of critical educators throughout the world; working with students and workers building a vast coalition of critical thinkers who know that a meaningful life after capitalism is possible.


Costs:
While we are securing small in-house grants at WCU to help cover the cost of meals and keynote speakers, we will ask for conference fees using the following sliding scale:
$20: students
$100: professors and teachers


Our goal is to set up a scholarship fund for out of town graduate students unable to travel due to financial restraints. This fund might not begin to produce opportunities for a year or two, but we want to start it right away. While this goal was established last year, we have yet to establish any funding here.


Submissions:
Non-traditional proposals
Traditional paper presentations where 500+ word proposal summaries of papers are submitted
Submissions are due October 19th, 2012.
Please submit proposals to: anarcho72@gmail.com  


Further details at: http://ct21st.org/  


**END**


‘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  


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


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