Monday, July 8, 2013

Dialectical Research Methods in the Classical Marxist Tradition - by Faith Agostinone-Wilson

DIALECTICAL RESEARCH METHODS IN THE CLASSICAL MARXIST TRADITION – BY FAITH AGOSTINONE-WILSON

Peter Lang Publishing
Publication Date: June 17, 2013
ISBN-10: 1433117126
ISBN-13: 978-1433117121

Applicable for both qualitative and quantitative researchers who work within a critical theory paradigm, Dialectical Research Methods in the Classical Research Tradition utilizes Marxist principles in aiding the design of inquiry whether at the undergraduate or graduate levels. Included in the text are issues related to social justice, what distinguishes Marxist research from other liberal-left paradigms, how mainstream research is used to support imperialism, re-evaluating ethics, and various forms of data collection. As a point of intellectual inspiration, the text will introduce both familiar and lesser-known names of those engaged in dialectical materialist inquiry past and present. Readers are first introduced to the features of Marxist research, followed by an overview of how research is currently used in academia and industry. Next, the text presents descriptions of dialectical research from both qualitative and quantitative traditions so that readers can access a sampling of existing inquiry. Finally, various forms of data collection and design considerations are laid out in an accessible manner, so that readers can begin to formulate their own research proposals.

"In the last several decades, Marxist educational theorists and researchers have pinpointed particular deficiencies and shortcomings in mainstream educational and social research and its postmodern pretenders. However, until now, there has never been a systematic and sustained critique of capitalist realism, pragmatism, and postmodernism as limiting and constraining forces for educational researchers. Faith Agostinone-Wilson has produced such a book, and furthermore offers an alternative vision for education research that challenges the legitimacy, efficacy, ethical validity, and sustainability of capitalist society and capitalist forms of education and education research." --Glenn Rikowski, School of Education, University of Northampton, United Kingdom

"This is an immensely powerful, very much needed, bombshell of a book...skilfully constructed, clearly argued, and so, so, necessary in its critique of research and research methodologies as they currently are. This is a lucid, penetrating and Marxist analysis and proposal for what research should be. I loved reading this book, its call for committed research, for dialectical materialist enquiry as research not to describe the world but to change it. The book is stunningly good, important and necessary. I was, and am, knocked out by it, in admiration. It more than fills what is currently a lamentable gap in research methodology. Superb!" --Dave Hill, Research Professor in Education, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford and Cambridge, England; Chief Editor, The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies
About the Author

Faith Agostinone-Wilson (Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, Oklahoma State University) is an associate professor of education at Aurora University. She teaches qualitative research methods and curriculum theory at the doctoral level. Past works include Marxism and Education Beyond Identity: Sexuality and Schooling.

**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, June 12, 2013

Heathwood Press Publishes 'Capitorg'

The Capitorg
HEATHWOOD PRESS PUBLISHES ‘CAPITORG’

The Heathwood Institute has republished my paper ‘Capitorg: Education and the Constitution of the Human in Contemporary Society’ through their Heathwood Press website. I originally presented the paper to the Praxis & Pedagogy Group in The Graduate School of Creative Arts & Media, Dublin, on 23rd May 2011. See: http://www.heathwoodpress.com/capitorg-education-and-the-constitution-of-the-human-in-contemporary-society/


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

Glenn Rikowski
London, 12th June 2013

Heathwood Press
**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

Glenn Rikowski

Friday, May 31, 2013

'Memento Mori' - Neil Whitehead's Fine Art Piece in London Exhibition


‘MEMENTO MORI’ – NEIL WHITEHEAD’S FINE ART PIECE IN EXHIBITION

NEIL WHITEHEAD's fine art piece, Memento Mori will be exhibited at:

PrintSpace, London
74 Kingsland Road
London E2 8DL
See: http://www.timeout.com/london/art/the-printspace

Exhibition: 3rd June to 14th June, 2013
9am to 7pm

Directions to PrintSpace:
From Old Street station. Take bus 243 toward Wood Green from Stop K
From Liverpool Street: station. Take but149 towards Edmonton from Stop E
On Foot: from Old Street station (10 mins), Liverpool Street Station (15mins), or Hoxton Station (4 mins).

Neil Whitehead: Designer of 'The Flow of Ideas' website - www.flowideas.co.uk and
'I Love Transcontiental' -
https://www.facebook.com/IHeartTranscontinental and
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transcontinental/the-individuality-prtest

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

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Policy Futures in Education: Volume 11 Number 2 (2013)


POLICY FUTURES IN EDUCATION – VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 (2013)

POLICY FUTURES IN EDUCATION
Volume 11 Number 2  2013  ISSN 1478-2103

CONTENTS:
Cornelia Gräsel, Inka Bormann, Kerstin Schütte, Kati Trempler & Robert Fischbach. Outlook on Research in Education for Sustainable Development
Mike Cole. Racism, the Left and Twenty-first-century Socialism: some observations on the Gur-Ze’ev/McLaren interchange
Ruben Gentry. Roles for Educators in Helping the USA Form a Real Global Society
Deb J. Hill & Lynley Tulloch. Can Market Capitalism be Greened? Environmental Education Revisited
Ariful Haq Kabir. Neoliberalism, Policy Reforms and Higher Education in Bangladesh
Paul Miller, Kemesha Kelly & Nicola Spawls. Getting Past the Gatekeeper: safeguarding and access issues in researching HIV+ children in Jamaica
Herner Saeverot. On the Need to Ask Educational Questions about Education: an interview with Gert Biesta
Jan Vanhoof & Paul Mahieu. Local Knowledge Brokerage for Data-Driven Policy and Practice in Education
Chuan-Rong Yeh. Existential Thoughts in Fanon’s Post-colonialism Discourse
REVIEW ESSAY
Ricardo D. Rosa. European Higher Education and Corporate Designs of Utopia

Access to the full texts of current articles is restricted to those who have a Personal subscription, or those whose institution has a Library subscription. PLEASE NOTE: to accommodate the increasing flow of high quality papers this journal will expand to 8 numbers per volume/year as from Volume 12, 2014.
PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTION (single user access) Subscription to the January-December 2013 issues (including full access to ALL back numbers), is available to individuals at a cost of US$54.00. If you wish to subscribe you may do so immediately at www.wwwords.co.uk/subscribePFIE.asp
LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTION (institution-wide access) If you are working within an institution that maintains a Library, please urge them to purchase a Library subscription so access is provided throughout your institution; full details for libraries can be found at www.symposium-journals.co.uk/prices.html
For all editorial matters, including articles offered for publication, please contact the Editor, Professor Michael A. Peters: mpeters@waikato.ac.nz
In the event of problems concerning a subscription, or difficulty in gaining access to the articles, please contact the publishers: support@symposium-journals.co.uk

*****
Glenn Rikowski and Ruth Rikowski have a number of articles in Policy Futures in Education. These include:
Rikowski, Ruth (2003) Value – the Life Blood of Capitalism: knowledge is the current key, Policy Futures in Education, Vol.1 No.1, pp.160-178 http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/viewpdf.asp?j=pfie&vol=1&issue=1&year=2003&article=9_Rikowski_PFIE_1_1&id=195.93.21.68
Rikowski, Glenn (2004) Marx and the Education of the Future, Policy Futures in Education, Vol.2 Nos. 3 & 4, pp.565-577, online at: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/viewpdf.asp?j=pfie&vol=2&issue=3&year=2004&article=10_Rikowski_PFEO_2_3-4_web&id=195.93.21.71
Rikowski, Ruth (2006) A Marxist Analysis of the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Policy Futures in Education, Vol.4 No.4: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/viewpdf.asp?j=pfie&vol=4&issue=4&year=2006&article=7_Rikowski_PFIE_4_4_web&id=205.188.117.66
Rikowski, Ruth (2008) Review Essay: ‘On Marx: An introduction to the revolutionary intellect of Karl Marx’, by Paula Allman, Policy Futures in Education, Vol.6 No.5, pp.653-661: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/validate.asp?j=pfie&vol=6&issue=5&year=2008&article=11_Rikowski_PFIE_6_5_web
*****

**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

Tuesday, May 21, 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

Monday, April 1, 2013

Social Change in Greece by Spyros Themelis - Book Launch


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

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