Saturday, April 27, 2013

Heathwood Institute, Heathwood Press, Heathwood Network & the Global Voice Project


HEATHWOOD INSTITUTE, HEATHWOOD PRESS, HEATHWOOD NETWORK & THE GLOBAL VOICE PROJECT

Hello everyone,

We have just launched our new website and are sending out several batches of newsletters to update our readers, friends, and colleagues about what has been going on over the last three months and what to expect from the organisation moving forward.

Launch of New Beta Site

- Our ambition as a group has always been to break down the barriers separating critical theoretical discourse and ‘the everyday practise of social and individual life’. In attempting to achieve this we have engaged with readers and have been working with several leading theories of alternative media and web application, to develop new ways in which a range of media projects can assist the organisation to bridge the theory-practise divide.

- One of the new features on our website includes the organisation’s Global Voice project, which acts as centralised hub or platform for the publication of non-profit research and reports.

The non-profit sector of society is notorious for its ability to encourage ethical and critical practise across many different social spheres. Drawing close links to some of the leading non-profit organisations, locally and globally, Heathwood can directly assist and support the ongoing research and practise of NPO’s in a number of fundamental ways: 1) to pull-in non-profit media, report, commentary and critique from around the world and disseminate that information in one centralised place; 2) to normatively engage with independent non-profits so as to support their efforts on a grassroots level with a highly engaged critical theory; 3) to listen to NPO’s across the globe and the struggles and conflicts they report in order to further our own understanding about social agency and structure;  and 4) to integrate non-profit research and data, which is heavily rooted in praxis, with Heathwood’s post-Frankfurt school critical theory.

- Another exciting feature that we’ve been working on for some time consists around the democratisation of media and how to make Heathwood’s site more representative of a truly social, participatory media centre.

To achieve this we have launched a new on-site comments system that allows for real-time discussion between members of the public as well as between readers/public and members of Heathwood. The aim of this new feature is to encourage over time the development of a fertile digital ground for discussion and the sharing of ideas.

Heathwood Network

We have also recently launched a new public forum called the Heathwood Network, which will further support and encourage direct discussion and engagement on a range of subjects. The forum can be accessed via the menu on our new site.

- We’ve also been developing a series of critical theory eGuides, ranging in subject from alternative education and epistemology to alternative economics and ideology critique. No launch date has been set for this programme.

-Lastly, we have been working on publishing a range of infographics, interactive media, videos and datablogs to further support our present research activity and public engagement campaigns.

New Members

We’ve welcomed a new member in past few months, Robert King, whose work in systems will be a great addition to the organisation.

We’ve also had the opportunity to work with some great people from around Europe and North America, including Glenn Rikowski, Chris Cutrone, Richard Wolff, Peter Thompson, Daniel Little, Geert Dhondt, Jeanne Willette, and others.

Moving Forward

There’s a lot planned for the upcoming year, including several new book publications and further expansion to our digital media projects.

If anyone has any questions or would like to discuss more about Heathwood and where it is headed, please feel free to contact Robert C. Smith at robert.smith@heathwoodpress.com   

Alternatively, follow the organisation on twitter for daily publication updates.

Thanks for your support.

Signed,

-The members of Heathwood

P.S. Feel free to forward this email to friends, colleagues or whomever you may think appropriate.

Robert C. Smith
Director and Researcher at Heathwood Institute and Press
Website: http://www.heathwoodpress.com
Email: robert.smith@heathwoodpress.com
Phone: +44 (0) 07919252541
Holt, Norfolk, United Kingdom

******END******

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
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

Friday, April 26, 2013

Networked Labour


NETWORKED LABOUR

Networked Labour: Rethinking labour in an age of networks and movements

See: http://www.networkedlabour.net

The upcoming international seminar, titled Networked Labour is initially supported by Networked Politics, Transform! Europe, Transnational Institute and IGOPNET (Institut de Govern the Polítiques
Públiques) and it will be held in Amsterdam between 7-9 May 2013.

Networked Politics have been an open project promoted by Transform! Italia, Transnational Institute – New Politics and IGOP, and developed in co-operation with Euromovements.  To provide a space for
exchange between activists, researchers and activist-researchers there were several seminars and debates held between 2006 and 2009.  Most of the encounters organised in parallel to the important movement-network gatherings like European and World Social Forums and preparatory meetings that were linked to the Forum processes. Several printed and on-line books, an on-line library, and an on-line  ’New Politics Dictionary’ were among the concrete outcomes of the Network Politics debate; along side the founding of initiatives like the annually held Free Culture Forums.

Our current work will be focusing on the changing worlds of labour and production, and emerging new movements, political actors and their politics. We will mainly be discussing these topics in relation to the accelerating developments in the ICTs. Our hope is to create new synergies by bringing together many contributors and observers of the recent changes, movements, protests, and mobilisations. We hope this will enable us to increase our collective understanding of the new possibilities emerging in front of us for a radical social change.

If you are interested in joining or following this open discussion and exchange simply register to the networked labour weblog. We are looking forward to explore the change together!

Örsan Şenalp, Marco Berlinguer, Mayo Fuster Morell, Hilary Wainwright


**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
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

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

London Radical Bookfair 2013


LONDON RADICAL BOOKFAIR 2013

On Saturday May 11th 2013, the Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) will be hosting a new radical bookfair, to take place in London’s Conway Hall. The idea behind the fair is to create an event which showcases the depth and breadth of radical publishing and bookselling in the UK.

The ARB is composed of booksellers with a range of subject interests, including socialism, anarchism, peace/pacifism, sex & gender, environment, anti-racism and progressive children’s writing: we intend for the London Radical Bookfair to represent the full spectrum of radical publishing.

The event will culminate with the announcement of the winner of the ARB’s book prize for the best political non-fiction, The Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. This year for the first time the Bread and Roses award will be complimented by a new prize, The Little Rebels Award, to be given for the best piece of fiction for readers aged 0-12 years.

As well as the bookfair in the main hall, we will be hosting talks in the Brockway Room throughout the day, with short-listed authors from the two book prizes presenting and discussing their work.
Entrance to the fair will be free for all. Food and drink will be available.

There will be lots of information about the fair and book awards to follow. An announcement for how to get involved in the fair, either as a stall holder or as a volunteer, will be made soon.

Guest Speakers include: Mark Fisher, Sarah Garland, Donny Gluckstein, Danny Dorling, Eveline Lubbers, and Emanuele Campiglio – and many others

In the meantime if you would like to speak to someone about this event, please contact nik[at]housmans.com

London Radical Bookfair 2013
Saturday 11th May 2013
10am – 5pm
Free entry
Conway Hall
Red Lion Square
London WC1R 4RL

Alliance of Radical Booksellers: http://www.radicalbooksellers.co.uk/

**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Monday, April 8, 2013

Radical Thinkers Series SET 7 - Plus Events at the ICA


RADICAL THINKERS SERIES SET 7 – PLUS EVENTS AT THE ICA

NEW FROM VERSO:

RADICAL THINKERS SERIES: SET 7

Alain Badiou / Jean Baudrillard / Simon Critchley / Ludwig Feuerbach / Maurice Godelier / André Gorz / Max Horkheimer / Fredric Jameson / Karl Korsch / Wilhelm Reich / Valentin Voloshinov / Slavoj Zizek

Published March 2013
-----------------------------------
AN INTRODUCTION TO RADICAL THINKERS
A series of events at the ICA. See below.
-----------------------------------
“A compendium of left-wing philosophical and political thought, inoculating it against the ‘great idea’ of philosophy-as-self-help. As a way of transforming... formless disgust into educated critique, these books are a fine, cheap and decidedly elegant starting point.” Owen Hatherley, http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/radical-thought/

“An extremely pleasant surprise: a new imprint from Verso called RADICAL THINKERS, and a pile of white-covered paperbacks by the likes of Theodor Adorno, Fredric Jameson, Guy Debord and Walter Benjamin. Not only do they have nifty cover designs, they are, for Verso, ridiculously cheap.” Nick Lezard, GUARDIAN http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/15/jean-baudrillard-transparency-of-evil
-----------------------------------
Since 1970 Verso has published the work of radical thinkers from Jacques Lacan and Jean-Paul Sartre to Fredric Jameson, Walter Benjamin, Louis Althusser, Judith Butler, and many more. The RADICAL THINKERS series of beautifully designed and affordable editions of classic works of theory now exceeds 80 published titles.

The new SET 7 features essential texts in philosophy and cultural theory, from selected writings of Ludwig Feuerbach to Simon Critchley’s seminal text INFINITELY DEMANDING.

For information on each book or to buy a copy visit the link after each title below. All of the titles are available together as a single shrink-wrapped set at a reduced price. For more information visit: http://www.versobooks.com/series_collections/5-radical-thinkers
-----------------------------------
RADICAL THINKERS SET 7:

ETHICS: AN ESSAY ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF EVIL by Alain Badiou

ISBN: 9781781680186 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 224 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1136-ethics 

THE SPIRIT OF TERRORISM by Jean Baudrillard

ISBN: 9781781680209 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 112 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1197-the-spirit-of-terrorism

INFINITELY DEMANDING by Simon Critchley

ISBN: 9781781680179 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 176 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1135-infinitely-demanding 

THE FIERY BROOK: SELECTED WRITINGS by Ludwig Feuerbach

ISBN: 9781781680216 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 320 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1199-the-fiery-brook 

RATIONALITY AND IRRATIONALITY IN ECONOMICS by Maurice Godelier

ISBN: 9781781680254 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 368 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1140-rationality-and-irrationality-in-economics

CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM, ECOLOGY by André Gorz

ISBN: 9781781680261 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 160 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1134-capitalism-socialism-ecology

CRITIQUE OF INSTRUMENTAL REASON by Max Horkheimer

ISBN: 9781781680230 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 180 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1138-critique-of-instrumental-reason 

A SINGULAR MODERNITY by Fredric Jameson

ISBN: 9781781680223 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 250 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1200-a-singular-modernity 

MARXISM AND PHILOSOPHY by Karl Korsch

ISBN: 9781781680278 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 176 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1141-marxism-and-philosophy

SEX-POL: ESSAYS, 1929-1934 by Wilhelm Reich

ISBN: 9781781680247 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 416 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1139-sex-pol

FREUDIANISM by Valentin Voloshinov

ISBN: 9781781680285 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 176 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1142-freudianism 

WELCOME TO THE DESERT OF THE REAL by Slavoj Zizek

ISBN: 9781781680193 / Paperback / $17.95 / £9.99 / $19CAN / 160 Pages http://www.versobooks.com/books/1137-welcome-to-the-desert-of-the-real 

-----------------------------------
AN INTRODUCTION TO RADICAL THINKERS at the ICA, 9 April – 4 June

To launch this new set, Verso is proud to present AN INTRODUCTION TO RADICAL THINKERS: a fortnightly series of events held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London. They are designed to take theory outside of the academy to create a public forum for the discussion of sophisticated ideas.

Led by engaging speakers to steer the potential of such debate far away from the safe confines of ‘philosophy- as-self-help’ to more provocative and radical horizons, the events aim to interrogate our existing understandings of all areas of life, including: sexuality, economics, faith, politics and the individual.

For the full details of these events, including booking information, visit the link next to the title of each event below.

9 April: Nina Power presents THE FIERY BROOK by Ludwig Feuerbach
http://www.ica.org.uk/36885/Talks/Radical-Thinkers-Nina-Power-on-Fiery-Brook-by-Ludwig-Feuerbach.html

23 April: Federico Campagna presents INFINITELY DEMANDING by Simon Critchley
http://www.ica.org.uk/36890/Talks/Radical-Thinkers-Federico-Campagna-on-Infinitely-Demanding-by-Simon-Critchley.html

7 May: Esther Leslie presents CRITIQUE OF INSTRUMENTAL REASON by Max Horkheimer
http://www.ica.org.uk/36901/Talks/Radical-Thinkers-Esther-Leslie-on-Critique-of-Instrumental-Reason-by-Max-Horkheimer.html 

21 May: Peter Hallward presents ETHICS by Alain Badiou
http://www.ica.org.uk/36892/Talks/Radical-Thinkers-Peter-Hallward-on-Ethics-by-Alain-Badiou.html

4 June: Stella Sandford presents SEXPOL by Wilhelm Reich
http://www.ica.org.uk/36896/Talks/Radical-Thinkers-Stella-Sandford-on-Sexpol-by-Wilheim-Reich.html

For details on all events, visit:
http://www.ica.org.uk/36884/Seasons/An-Introduction-to-Radical-Thinkers.html

-----------------------------------
For more information on the RADICAL THINKERS series or to buy the books visit:
http://www.versobooks.com/series_collections/5-radical-thinkers 



**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
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

Friday, April 5, 2013

Fourth Global Conference for Academic Researchers on Economics, Business and Management


FOURTH GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON ECONOMICS, BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Call For Papers
29-30 June 2013
4th Global Conference for Academic Research on
Economics, Business and Management
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Paper Submission DEADLINE is fast approaching:  15th June 2013

The GCAR-EBM is the premier forum for the presentation of new advances and research results in the fields of Economics, Business and Management. The conference will bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and scholars in the domain of interest from around the world.

The conference gcar-emb  is supported by many universities and organizations and it has already formed a large, multi-national and friendly community of colleagues who would love to share ideas. gcar-emb  invites you to submit proposals for papers, panels, best practices, roundtables, tutorials, posters/demonstrations and workshops.

All the accepted papers will be published in one of the following JOURNALS:
-Journal of Management
-Journal of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics 
-International Journal of Finance and Accounting
-American Journal of Economics

Also, the conference proceeding will be submitted to SCOPUS for evaluation and indexing.

Publishing your papers will give your name, your research and your university unparalleled presence on the internet for the global scientific community to view your paper!

Papers are invited on any aspect of Economics, Business, and management to be presented at gcar-emb . The event provides authors with an outstanding opportunity for Economics, Business and Management and presenting their work at a top quality published international conference.

Papers in the following disciplines will be accepted and the scope of the conference in general will cover but not limited to:
Accounting
Advertising Management
Business & Economics
Business Ethics
Business Intelligence
Business Information Systems
Business Law
Business Performance Management
Business Statistics
Change Management
Communications Management
Comparative Economic Systems
Consumer Behavior
Corporate Finance and Governance
Corporate Governance
Cost Management
Decision Sciences
Development Planning and Policy
Economic Development
Economic Methodology
Economic Policy
E-Bussiness
E- Marketing
Economic Systems
Entrepreneurship
Finance & Investment
Financial Economics
Global Business
Global Marketing
Growth: Aggregate Productivity
Household Behavior and Family Economics
Human Resources
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Information Systems
Information Technology Management
International Business
International Economics
International Finance
Labor Economics
Labor Relations & Human Resource Management
Law and Economics
Management Information Systems
Management Science
Market Structure and Pricing
Marketing Research and Strategy
Marketing Theory and Applications
Operations Research
Organizational Behavior & Theory
Organizational Communication
Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
Product Management
Production and Organizations
Production/Operations Management
Public Administration and Small Business Entrepreneurship
Public Choice
Public Economics and Finance
Public Relations
Public Responsibility and Ethics
Regulatory Economics
Resource Management
Strategic Management
Strategic Management Policy
Stress Management
Supply Change Management
Systems Management
Systems Thinking
Taxes (and related areas of taxation)
Technological Change: Research and Development
Technology & Innovation
Time Management
Total Quality Management
Welfare Economics

You are invited to submit:
- Full paper of up to 6 pages (Letter) for oral presentation, see template on website
Submissions must be unpublished work containing new and interesting results that demonstrate current research in all areas of economics, business and management.

The conference is jointly organised by Global Touch Resources/Asia
Paper Submission: You can submit your papers using the online submission form

Kindly promote gcar-ebm to all your contacts in your university, country and worldwide. Kuala Lumpur is great place to explore. gcar-ebm  is promising to be a top quality international conference and we don't want anyone to miss a golden opportunity to mix and network with world specialists and forge new friendships and cooperation with colleagues from worldwide.

Best regards and hope to see you at gcar-ebm  in June 2013
On behalf of GCAR chairs

**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Monday, April 1, 2013

Social Change and Education in Greece by Spyros Themelis - Book Launch Event


SOCIAL CHANGE AND EDUCATION IN GREECE

BOOK LAUNCH EVENT

Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics
Dr Spyros Themelis, Senior Lecturer in Education, Middlesex University

MONDAY, 22 April, 2013
5:00pm to 7:30pm
Middlesex University, Hendon Campus, College Building, C219/C220, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT

Event highlights:
Opening/closing chaired by Waqar Ahmad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, MiddlesexUniversity
Guest Speakers
Confirmed Speakers:
Tony Green, Palgrave Macmillan Marxism and Education Series Editor, University of London, Institute of Education
Professor Joyce Canaan, Professor of Sociology, Birmingham City University 
Dr Eva Gamarnikow, Department of Policy Studies, University of London, Institute of Education
Dr Stathis Kouvelakis, Reader in Political Theory, King's College London

Who should attend: Research active staff, readers and professors from all Schools and Institutes at Middlesex University and other universities, educationalists, research students, media and policy makers.
This event is free to attend, but participants must confirm their attendance by email by 15th April. RSVP by 15th April to Daniela Pantica on D.Pantica@mdx.ac.uk 

About the Book
Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics (2013, Palgrave
Macmillan, New York). A New Book by Spyros Themelis, Middlesex University

The post-war orthodoxy postulated that education is both a mechanism for upward social mobility and an engine for economic growth. This book takes a challenging and refreshingly novel approach to the way education and social mobility are researched and theorised. The key message it delivers goes against the dominant post-war orthodoxy, which has postulated that education is both a mechanism for upward social mobility and an engine for economic growth in liberal capitalist countries. The conclusion the author reaches flies in the face of mainstream political consensus that perceives social mobility as panacea for the provision of occupational opportunities and an instrument for the levelling of the playing field. Much of what lays beneath social mobility, Spyros Themelis argues (apart from a great deal of sophisticated number-crunching) is a celebration and acceptance of an unequal system of allocation of opportunities.

This is one among very few studies that explore social mobility and attendant processes with the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The author views social mobility not merely as the outcome of the movements of individuals from one income or occupational group into another, detached from their societal, community and family context, as in conventional mobility studies. Instead, he examines social mobility as a complex process, where socio-economic (e.g. migration), cultural (e.g. marital practices and community values) and political (e.g. political patronage) forces, experiences, arrangements and strategies interact and interconnect in impeding or enhancing individuals' and families' social mobility movements.

The book makes some contribution to the ongoing debate about the economic crisis that has hit Greece since 2009. It suggests that the failure of education to promote equality of opportunities is symptomatic of the failure of the wider system to prioritise fair and equitable arrangements. If Greece's current situation is to teach us a lesson, this is to urgently rethink about the whole system, not only in Greece but in the rest of the Western world too. The myth of education-based meritocracy and unfettered social mobility has anaesthetised Western societies to the multitude of social inequalities with which they are permeated. These might be hard times, but all the more appropriate to urge us to think about positive social change.

Dr Spyros Themelis is a Senior Lecturer in Education, Department of Education, Middlesex University, UK.

The book can be ordered from this link: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=537469 

It is published in the Palgrave Macmillan Marxism and Education Series: http://www.palgrave.com/products/SearchResults.aspx?s=ME&fid=3658 and http://us.macmillan.com/series/MarxismandEducation


**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis


SOCIOLOGY AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sociology
A journal of the British Sociological Association
Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis

Special Issue Call for Papers
Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2013

Editorial Team:
Ana C. Dinerstein (University of Bath), Gregory Schwartz (University of Bath) and Graham Taylor (University of the West of England)

Brief: As the Editors of the 2014 Annual Special Issue of Sociology (http://soc.sagepub.com), a journal of the British Sociological Association (http://www.britsoc.co.uk), would like to invite you to submit a paper, and extended book review essay, or a theoretical intervention that does one of two broadly defined things: 
·         Explore how sociology can contribute to a better understanding of (the lived experience of) the global economic crisis; and/or
·         Reflect on how social processes and movements confronting the crisis can inspire a new sociological imagination.

Our aim is to bring together contributions that:
·         Bridge disciplines
·         Unsettle conventions
·         Cosmopolitanise epistemologies
·         Renew sociology

We welcome contributions on relevant topics in any field of social science engaging with sociological research, from early career and established academics, and from those outside academia.

Rationale: The Editorial Board of Sociology considered a high number of proposals in response to the tender for the Special Issue of the journal in 2014. Our proposal, titled ‘Sociology and the Global Economic Crisis’ was selected as the successful submission. The Special Issue will address the urgent need todeconstruct and interrogate the formulation and reality of the global economic crisis. Additionally, it will systematically and critically investigate the specifically social processes underpinning its development and intensification.

Our aim in this proposal has been to tackle the challenge confronting the social sciences by the current economic crisis, in that there has largely been a failure to translate a quotidian reality of crisis into adequate forms of knowledge. While there has been discussion of ‘the crisis’, or 'austerity', of growing poverty, precarity, unemployment, and proletarianisation, there have been severe limitations in the disciplines of social science to engage with their object of knowledge in a way that seriously rethinks the epistemological and methodological assumptions of such knowledge. In short, the emergence of the current crisis has tended to highlight serious limits to the sociological imagination. Rethinking the ‘crisis’ could facilitate the renewal of sociology as an intellectual force in the public sphere, and imbue sociology with a critical or radical force that has been missing in recent decades.

With the explicit aims of the special issue to bridge disciplines, unsettle conventions and cosmopolitanise epistemologies, we see the contribution of critical Marxist theorists as paramount. Why? Above all, by asking authors to reflect on how social relations of production are confronted and rethought by various (new) movements and (new) forms of politics, and how modes of protest are not only confronting the political-cultural and class changes, but how social mobilisation itself nurtures epistemological innovation. 

Queries: The full paper should be submitted by the 31 August 2013. The articles will be peer reviewed following the journal's usual procedures. The special issue is to be published in October 2014. To discuss initial ideas, seek editorial advice, or discuss a specific paper, please contact the Special Issue Editors by email on sociology.specialissue.2014@gmail.com



**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
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

Birmingham Radical Education Development


BIRMINGHAM RADICAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

BRE(A)D

ABOUT
We are a newly created group seeking to build and participate in more democratic educational processes;
Our aim is to work together towards higher education experiences that are not consumerist, indebting, authoritarian or judging of individual worth;
We therefore seek to work collectively against the principles that now shape the so-called public university;
Central to the educational experiences we want to create is the idea that students and teachers have much to learn from one another;
Thus all who participate in the Free University-Birmingham are scholars: student-scholars and teacher-scholars;
On our courses learning and teaching entail processes of continuous negotiation to ensure the fullest participation of all, recognising, respecting and celebrating human diversity;
All learning and teaching will be critical—questioning the world as it is to explore how it could be otherwise;
We believe that in order for all learning and teaching to be critical and democratic, dialogue is essential.
All critical, democratic dialogue amongst student-scholars and teacher -scholars should, when possible, not just remain in the classroom;
Thus our ultimate classroom is the wider world; we seek to develop educational processes aiming to build a more socially just and sustainable world.

Birmingham Radical Education Development: http://bread4brum.wordpress.com/

**END**

'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
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

Friday, March 8, 2013

Higher Education in Crisis


HIGHER EDUCATION IN CRISIS: CRITIQUING ALTERNATIVES TO THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY

Call for Papers
This is a stream of the London Conference in Critical Thought 2013

Stream organiser: Joyce Canaan

Numerous critical authors have recently observed that higher education is: in ‘crisis’ (Thorpe 2008); under ‘assault’ (Bailey and Freedman 2011); at its ‘end’ (Vernon 2010) or ‘in ruins’ (Readings 1996). These observations capture critical academics’ efforts to evaluate how processes of privatisation, marketisation and financialisation have impacted northern and southern university systems during the past 40 years and have led to a nearly ‘complete subordination of intellectual life to instrumental values and, most brutally, to the measure of money’ (Thorpe 2008).

Recent resistance to government policies on university has taken two forms: student-led demonstrations, occupations and actions and the emergence of ‘free’ or ‘alternative’ universities. This stream seeks to explore the latter, less explored alternatives, guided by Brown’s (2005:5) observation that the concept of critique comes from the Greek word ‘krisis’, used to explain the processes of ‘judging and rectifying an alleged disorder in or of the democracy’. The contemporary meaning of critique as ‘temporal rupture and repair’ (2005:7) contains elements of this earlier meaning; it entails and presumes a certain urgency to reconsider and rebuild, or to create an alternative to, that which has been torn asunder. Critique might also benefit from insights from historical materialism. Brown (2005:13), building on Benjamin, notes that the historical materialist reroutes ‘by rethinking the work of history in the present, stilling time to open time’. Stilling the seeming inevitability of the trajectory from past to present opens up the present and past to: ‘act[s] of reclamation’, re-viewing and thereby potentially reworking for a more emancipatory future.

Papers for this stream are thus asked to explore how emergent alternative universities today can be seen to operate as acts of reclamation—and might do so more effectively in future. Questions for consideration include:

·        What perceived limits of the public university impel a group to build an alternative?
·        Which theoretical and activist traditions inform their project?
·        What vision(s) of critical theory and/or historical materialism guide them?
·        What understandings of critical education shape their efforts to overcome/avoid perceived limits to the public university?
·        What theories of radical pedagogy inform their practices?
·        To what degree do insights from social movement theories and practices inform their theories / practices? And, in addition, contribute to the social movement literature?
·        What kinds of spaces do they seek to meet, teach and act in? Why?
·        How do they negotiate problems? What theories and practices inform these negotiations?
·        What are their strategies for reaching others as teaching and/or researching partners and how effective are they?
·        How central is praxis to their project?

Please send abstracts for 20-minute papers to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com with the subject as: ‘Higher Education Submission’.

**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

A paper on the crisis in higher education, by Glenn Rikowski:
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

London Conference in Critical Thought 2013


LONDON CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL THOUGHT 2013

Royal Holloway, University of London
6-7 June 2013
Call for Papers
Summary – : full version here: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com

The second annual London Conference in Critical Thought (LCCT) will offer a space for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas for scholars who work with critical traditions and concerns. It aims to provide opportunities for those who frequently find themselves at the margins of their department or discipline to engage with other scholars who share theoretical approaches and interests. Participation is free (though registration is required).

The conference is divided into thematic streams, each coordinated by different researchers and with separate calls for papers, included in this document. We welcome paper proposals that respond to the particular streams below, as well as papers for inclusion in a general stream.

Central to the vision of the conference is an inter-institutional, non-hierarchal, and accessible event that makes a particular effort to embrace emergent thought and the participation of emerging academics, fostering new avenues for critically orientated scholarship and collaboration.

Thematic Streams:
Concerning Bodies
Futures of Deconstruction
Pragmatism and Political Criticism
Feedback Loops of Feminist Thought and Activism
Beyond Identity and Critique
Spinozan Politics
The Soul at Work and in Debt
New Sensibilities in the Everyday
Sociocultural Criticism After Lehman Brothers
Critical Theory and Psychoanalysis
Critique, Action, Ethics
On Representation/Non-representation
The New Amateur
New Materialisms
Three Questions for the Emancipation of Latin America
Jean-Luc Nancy in Fragments
Higher Education in Crisis

Please send papers/presentations proposals with the relevant stream indicated in the subject line to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com

Submissions should be no more than 250 words and be received by the 25th March 2013.

Full call for papers with details of the streams can be found here: LCCT 2013 Call for Papers: http://londonconferenceincriticalthought.wordpress.com/call-for-papers-2013/

All the best,
The LCCT organising collective.


**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  
'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
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