Learning from each other's struggles

Alternatives to university...

2012-02-10T01:07:00.001-08:00

A fascinating Times Higher Education Supplement article here about contemporary alternatives to university...

What is activist practice?

2012-02-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

These are notes for a class discussion which may be of interest to a wider range of people, trying to explain what we mean on this course by the idea of activist practice.

(1) Imagine, for the sake ofargument, that your initial mobilisation comes from awareness of a problem (inyour life / community / context / wider world) and a response that it is sooutrageous / unjust / dangerous / destructive / whatever that something needsto be done.

(2) In the nature of things you then almost have to choose (often withoutrealising that you are doing so) a particular organisation, approach, strategy,theme, focus and so on around this issue. Often this is because there is anexisting organisation whose approach you can then learn; other times you drawon whatever past experience you might have, or a model that inspires you etc.(or even read a how-to book about campaigning!)

(3) This leaves you having to learn a lot of stuff: understanding the issue,getting a sense of the bigger picture (social analysis or whatever) thatunderlies it, learning how to organise in a particular way (press releases,holding meetings, demos etc.), maybe learning other skills (alternativetechnology, counselling skills, whatever it might be). At this point you are abasically competent campaigner - in a particular way, around a particularapproach to a particular issue.

(4) As time goes on most people change and develop around this. Sometimesthis happens consciously (as they win or lose on an issue and move onto another one, or aswhat they are doing doesn't work, or doesn't work well enough), sometimesperhaps less consciously (as they listen to what others tell them, fromfellow-activists to people on the street, or as they work out their own ways ofdoing things and notice that this works better than that etc.)

(5) This is at one level “having an activist practice”. It can be more or lessarticulate - at one end of the spectrum you might not be able to explain to others what ischaracteristic about your approach, while at the other you might be in the business of trainingothers around doing it a particular way.

(6) Quite often too an organisation, or a particular organising tradition (egFreirean, NVDA, Marxist, advocacy-NGOetc.) has a quite definite and conscious style of practice which may be immediatelyrecognisable to other experienced activists. This is manifested in books,training programmes, particular concepts that activists use, techniques theylike, principles they try to implement in what they do - even down to visualstyles.

(7) At all these different levels - the most basic "knowing how to dosomething about something", the more or less conscious and articulatepersonal practice, the organising tradition - there is activist practice goingon, and often (not always) some kind of learning and development. One of thethings we work on in this course as a whole isbecoming more conscious and articulate about our personal practice, includingits sources in particular traditions (not always movement ones - they may wellcome from everyday life or indeed from powerful institutions like business,academia, the state etc.) This puts us in a position to name for ourselves thestrengths and limitations of what we already know, to learn more from observingand listening to other activists and from reading, and to become reflectivelearners around our practice.

This isn't a very formal statement of things but it might be useful or interesting as one of the things that this course is about.

Global movements and social change

2012-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

This is a revised version of a talk I did for Occupy University at Occupy Dublin (9 Nov 2011), very much in a personal capacity.

In this talk I want to look at three things: the idea thatwe are living in the middle of a wave of social movements; what the impact ofsuch waves has been historically; and what the practical implications of thatare for social movements.

Global movement waves

Waves of socialmovements are a normal feature of life in capitalism. Theyinclude the “Atlantic Revolutions” of the late 18^th century(America, France, 1798 in Ireland and the Haitian revolution which endedslavery); the revolutions of 1848 across Europe; the wave of 1916-23 which leftnew states of very different kinds in Ireland and Russia but saw revolutionarysituations in many if not most European countries; the anti-fascist resistancefrom (say) the Spanish Civil War to 1945; Asian and African anti-colonialmovements which led to independence from empire for most of the world’spopulation; the global wave of 1968, from Mexico to Japan; the revolutions of1989-90 which brought down state socialism in most places (but were defeated inChina); and the Latin American “pink tide” which has seen a string ofrevolutionary situations and movement-linked states in South America inparticular.

In the present day, the anti-capitalist and anti-warmovements of the early 2000s have faded into European anti-austerity movements(from the 2008 Icelandic “pots and pans revolution” and Greek unrest), the ArabSpring, and the indignados / Occupymovement. (NB that I am not trying to list every movement here, just thosewhere there was visibly a wave of large-scale participation in radicalmovements across many countries.)

The causes of such waves are widely debated. One reading linksthem to the long Kondratieff waves of capitalist development and tries to see astructural link to the ebbs and flows of political economy. Another highlightsweakened states (for example, at the end of wars). George Katsiaficas hastalked about an “eros effect” of contagion from one revolution to the next.Others have celebrated “networking” processes.

My own take is to see them as linked to the rise and fall ofregimes of accumulation – that they represent both a crisis in such regimes anda moment in which popular forces have an opportunity to push events in adifferent direction: enforcing democracy against monarchy or dictatorship,independence against empire, welfare against capitalism, and so on. For thepurposes of today’s talk, in any case, it is less important to analyse why they happen than to note that they happen, and to think abouttheir effects and what that says to us.

The impact ofmovement waves

Global waves of social movements have been among the majorsocial forces in the history of recent centuries. Decolonisation – whether theUS in the 18^th century, Latin America in the 19^th,Ireland in the 1920s or Asia after WWII – is one major outcome. Democracy – inthe French Revolution, the European resistance to fascism or the events of 1989-90– is another. Social justice has been a common theme, from the Haitianrevolution via the European uprisings at the end of WWI to the Latin Americanpink tide. A democratisation of everyday life – in particular after 1968 – isanother.

The current wave is happening in a very particular globalcontext. The wave of 1989-90 saw the Soviet Union lose its satellites and thendisintegrate, and Putin has not been able to restore its reach. The pink tidedemonstrated the US’ inability, for the first time in a century or more, toimpose its will (in military, foreign policy or economic terms) on its LatinAmerican “backyard”, while events in Egypt in particular have underlined itslimited purchase on the strategically crucial Arab world (a process begun bythe failure of the “war on terror” in Afghanistan and Iraq).

More generally there is a rumbling challenge toneoliberalism: started by the “IMF riots” of the 1980s and early 1990s,articulated by the Zapatistas, the World Social Forum, summit protests and the2001 Argentinazo, institutionalisedby radical governments in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, most recently on thestreets and shaking governments in Iceland, Greece and the UK and now in theform of Spanish indignados, “Occupy”in the belly of the US beast and even a revival of protest in Italy.

This challenge is particularly significant as the tentativecriticisms of neoliberalism made at the start of the current crisis by figureslike Gordon Brown have had no real implication beyond the narrowly technical(“quantitative easing” etc.) It is clear to anyone who reads the newspapersthat there is no significant dissent within elites – political and financial,or their hired mouths in academia and journalism – about the proposal that theonly way forward is more austerity, more neoliberalism, more privatisations. Ifyou want to imagine the future, imagine a debt burden pressing into human facesforever. Unless, of course, we stop it – and the fact that elites are soresistant to alternatives is one of the major factors forcing ordinary peopleinto radical resistance.

Implications forsocial movements

Firstly, of course, we need to understand the currentmovement wave as international; we need to see its time scale (in relation toanti-capitalism and in relation to the anti-austerity protests from 2008 on aswell as in relation to the Arab Spring and Occupy); we need to understand thatit has many different organisational forms; and that this situation will notlast for ever.

The weakness of neoliberal structures is precisely in theclosed consensus of elites – and their belief that they do not need to convinceor gain the consent of their populations, simply tell them that austerity isnecessary and the reporters and economists will do the rest. Of course every regimethat has ever fallen, controlled or censored the media and had its own paidhacks in the newsrooms and universities: it did not keep them in power.

There is a substantial crisis of legitimacy forneoliberalism which anti-capitalism laid the groundwork for and the newmovements are articulating dramatically. It is above all an inability to lead: to articulate the political andsocial aspirations of large groups of people in the way that (for example)Thatcherite and Reaganite populism could.

Its global grip – from the Middle East to Latin America, inthe belly of the US beast and across key European states, where unemploymentfigures have reached unheard-of levels – has never been weaker. We miss this ifwe take their definition of reality (political parties in a situation wherethere were more spoiled votes in Spain than votes for the PP, an official mediawhich repeats an elite consensus, the co-option of historic movementorganisations etc.) too seriously. Real social change comes about precisely whenordinary people look at the reality of their own lives and contrast it to theseofficial versions of the truth, and organise differently. It can happen veryquickly: Colin Barker’s Revolutionaryrehearsals is one book which shows what this means in practice.

For social movement participants and organisers, thispotential means, firstly, that we should do what is possible now, while thesituation is still open (it will not remain so indefinitely: we will see a newfascism, a new fundamentalism, or some other new elite-led way out of theimpasse if we wait too long). Secondly, we should try to understand ourselveson a global stage. In Ireland this means – while seeing the increasingpolitical bankruptcy of the new government, the leftward drift of voters, resistanceto all aspects of the financial crisis and new movements springing up – makingthe case that we are part of a wider European wave of opposition toneo-liberalism. “Europe” is not all-powerful because it is not simply theleaders of the EU. It is also our fellow Europeans, rising up in revolt against“Europe” as debt collector, bailiff, liquidator and technocrat.

We need, of course, to keep highlighting that the challengeis neo-liberalism, not just this or that policy. So it is important at every opportunityto make the links between the giveaway of oil and gas in Mayo, Leitrim orDalkey; bailing out the Anglo bondholders (and others); European-imposedausterity regimes; the household tax and other iniquitous ways of making thepoor pay for the crisis; loyalty to the euro at any price rather than theArgentinian and Icelandic default option; the privatisation of public services;low corporation tax and union-free multinationals; and all the rest of thesorry shebang. We need to think what is possible in Latin American terms, notthe ones set by the Irish Times, RTE,the ESRI or Joan Burton – and to develop an alternative understanding of socialmovements in Ireland (see this paper).

Lastly, we need to think how we can construct alternativeinstitutions, at any level. “Occupy NAMA” and other strategies of takingoccupation outwards are important ones. Resisting the household tax, andreviving community organising, is another. Supporting strikes and workplaceoccupations is fundamental, and trying to involve radicals within the unions.Challenging the economics of bailout and bondholders, tied to specific issueslike repayment of Anglo debt, is important. Resisting Shell at Rossport, frackingin the west Midlands and drilling of Dalkey builds important alliances.Bringing together activists across different organisations and movements todevelop solidarity is strategically key. And so on.

If there is one guiding line, it should be bottom-updemocracy: the construction of new institutions responding to human needs andoutside the current orthodoxy. That means holding the more authoritarian leftgroups to account and making them serve the movement rather than try to own it.It equally means being wary of fake movements like “Claiming our future”,ICTU-led token protests and other strategies which are led by individuals andorganisations who are structurally tied to neoliberal politics and the currentgovernment.

Whether that means “ignore”, “challenge from the outside” or“participate and raise hell internally” is something everyone has to work outfor themselves: my own guess is that we cannot ignore the fact that to date theunions are the only body capable ofbringing out real numbers of people against government policy, and we shouldargue within these protests and try to take them further. Conversely, it issimply wasting time to talk to Labour Party hacks pretending to be radicalactivists. But these are not the most fundamental questions.

Lastly, and most importantly, our question has to be “Howcan we take the movement further?” How can we find ways of engaging people whoare being hit badly and show them where the problems are coming from? How canwe talk to people who believe that their local councillor or union rep has onlytheir best interests at heart and don’t know about the political bottom line oftheir party whip or union policy? How do we link up the different strugglesthat are happening rather than let them be played off against each other andtreated as separate issues on the “we’ll give you a concession if you come backwithin the tent” logic? And how do we find new ways of talking to and workingwith each other which are adequate to the kinds of movements that we have seen acrossthe world these last twelve years?

I think we may be about to find out.

Changing yourself and changing the world...

2012-02-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Sustaining resistance, empowering renewal
24 April - 1 May 2012
7-day workshop in rural Devon, UK

This workshop offers personal and collective tools to make our activism more effective. It offers space to reflect and analyse, helping us to stay in it for the long haul, create personal sustainability and add continuity to our movement building. We will explore how to ensure the collective dimensions of our activism exemplify the values we struggle for. It aims to help us stay inspired, nourished, empowered - strategically creative.

The workshop applies ecological/systems thinking, radical analysis, and holistic-participatory learning to help us explore our activism and the building of social movements. It offers practical methods for engaging in the inner work that underpins effective social engagement.

The course is offered by the ecodharma collective (www.ecodharma.com) and Seeds for Change (www.seedsforchange.org.uk). Bursaries are available, but places are limited.

Application deadline: February 29th 2012.

For more information or an application form email: susres@ecodharma.com

"Pedagogy of the Oppressed" banned in Tucson schools

2012-01-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

As Pete Seeger said, "If it wasn't for the honour, I'd just as soon not have been blacklisted". Paolo Freire has been dead for long enough not to worry about being banned by schools in Tucson, Arizona. (He's also well enough known not to need the honour). Another one of the books on the list is a history of the Chicano civil rights movement. The danger, apparently, is that they could be relevant to Mexican-Americans...

Anglo: not our debt meeting Monday 24 Jan

2012-01-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Great video here launching the "Not our debt" campaign - ceasing repayments to the bondholders of the private Anglo / INBS bank. See also this call from part of the Occupy Network to blockade Anglo and Nationwide from Monday to Wednesday next week.

There'll be a public meeting in the Teachers' Club on Monday 24th (7 - 9.30) with Cathleen O'Neill (Kilbarrack CDP) and Tom McDonnell (TASC) followed by group discussions on how these debts are affecting communities and what we can do to stop them. Free, all welcome.

EYFA sustainable activism course

2012-01-17T01:01:00.000-08:00

From European Youth for Action. Note the deadline for applying!

Call for Participants

Course: Building Sustainable Activism
April 13 - 19, 2012
Berlin, Germany Application

Deadline: January 23, 2012

From April 13-19 2012 a course will take place in Berlin, Germany on the
challenges facing activists and activist groups working to create social
change. In activist work the focus is often on social problems outside of
collectives, but to make change it is equally important to be personally
sustainable and part of sustainable groups and collectives.

During the course participants will take part in sessions and workshops on
communication, conflict-resolution, and burnout, relating to internal and
external collective dynamics, and the struggles and challenges they are
faced with in their local contexts.

Participants will take part in exercises encouraging their reflection and
analysis of the personal and interpersonal processes and dynamics involved
when engaging in struggles for a better world. They will also develop a
tool set to help in addressing challenges.

Beyond looking at frustrations and sharing skills towards better
collective working practices, we hope the course will have positive
side-effects in the communities participants will return to.

Course Aims:

* To offer tools to help us work effectively with the personal element of
social engagement.

* To discover ways of maintaining greater personal balance, creativity,
flexibility and resilience and how to stay open and grounded so we are
better empowered for action.

* To learn methods for managing our energy, recognising the importance of
self-care and how to incorporate this in our lives.

* To explore methods which support more skilful communication within our
groups and networks, so we can reduce the energy used in our organisations
resolving (or maintaining) resentments, conflicts, betrayals – and enable
our own groups to better act as an example of the values we are working
for.

* To provide methods and tools for sustainable practices, especially to
young activists.

We will strive for participants to leave the project:

* Feeling well, stronger and motivated to continue their activist work.

* Able to confidently practice and communicate about sustainable/healthy
ways to engage in activism.

* Feeling they can effect change: applying learning and sharing their
experiences with others.

* Able to develop sustainable activist practice both personally and within
their groups.

Practical Information about the Course:

The project working language will be English however we encourage people
with different levels of English to apply.

We will reimburse at least 70% of participant travel (by train and/or bus
– no planes!), food and accommodation costs.

However, we can offer more financial help to those who need it, including
some 100% funded places. Please do not let finances stop you from
applying!

EYFA will provide visa support for those who need it.

EYFA is looking for activists from all over Europe with a focus on young
people from Central and Eastern Europe to take part in this opportunity.

Participants must stay for the entire duration of the project. The course
is not suitable for people arriving late or leaving early.

If you are interested please send your answers to the following questions
to email eyfa @ eyfa . org :

---------------

* How old are you?

* Where are you from? Where would you be traveling from to get to the
project?

* Do you need further financial help?

* What languages do you speak? Please describe your
speaking/listening/reading/writing levels of English?

* Where did you hear about the project (website, mailing-list, etc.)?

---------------

* What is your motivation in applying to participate in this course?

* Tell us a bit about your background and experience with activist work:
What motivates your activism? How is/are the group/s you work in organised
(non-hierarchical? consensus decision making?)?

* What issues or threats do you face in your community/work? What
challenges are you facing that make you feel like you would benefit from
this training?

* Would you be interested on doing any follow-up work in your own community?

* What experience do you have with conflict engagement/communication tools?

DON'T FORGET --- Application Deadline: January 23 2012

This project is made possible with support from European Youth Foundation

Occupy Dublin at 100, statement on Anglo debt

2012-01-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

As the state prepares to pay €1.25 billion as one of its regular bills for absorbing the (private) debt of Anglo-Irish (the next bill, in March, is €3.1 billion), a great statement from Occupy Dame Street about their struggle so far and why austerity for the many to pay the few is not the way to go.

Conor McCabe activist course on the Irish economy

2012-01-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

The author of Sins of the Father will be running a course for trade union and other activists on the politics of the Irish economy this March; more details here. Looks really interesting.

Communist Manifesto through cartoons

2012-01-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

For anyone familiar with the original text, this version, illustrated by old US cartoons which will be familiar to many people from wet childhood Sundays, is great fun.

Making a living and changing the world: "career advice"

2012-01-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking for a while about how people manage to make a living and change the world at the same time. There's a certain kind of Irish "realism" (probably not only Irish) which assumes that changing the world for the better is "idealistic". Changing it for the worse, by working in a job which is about pushing us further down the road of making the rich richer and the poor poorer while destroying the planet on the way, apparently, is realistic.

And if by self-interest you mean "put making money above everything else" rather than "do something with your life which is actually worth doing", and "always go with the flow" rather than "find yourself having to face real opponents", there might be something to this: capitalism does tell us that money is all that counts, after all. My sense is that many would-be radicals are afraid not so much that this might be true (it is not that hard to decide for yourself what really matters in your life) as that they might have to choose between what they really care about and making a living.

One obvious answer to this is that for every genuinely well-off person there are ten or twenty people talking about it, obsessing about it, and thinking they're very clever each time they manage to pull off a trick (preferably at someone else's expense) - and the figures just get worse if for "well-off" you substitute "famous", "powerful" and so on. The whole point of neo-liberalism, after all, is to concentrate wealth and power in as few hands as possible. Putting the pursuit of money above everything else, in this sense, is a bit more rational than playing the Lotto - but not that much.

Another and more important answer is that many people become, and remain, activists, community educators, local organisers, or even revolutionaries and are no worse off than they would otherwise have been. For many, probably most, this is because they never had the chance - or never wanted - to take up the kind of work which is about putting yourself first at other people's expense. After all, no society could survive if most people were not doing the work which is actually needed (paid or unpaid): actual human needs have to be met before there's scope for classes which live off other people's work.

In this post I want to put down some practical information for people who are thinking about these questions for themselves, and perhaps wondering whether to do the MA CEESA, or some other course which might involve an "activist career". Of course many people who take the MA are already practitioners who are either taking time out for themselves to refocus and take a wider view before going back to their existing work, or "between jobs" and wondering what to do next - hopefully this can also be useful to them.

This is drawing in part on what research exists (mostly internationally), but also on meeting a very wide range of people in different social movements, from liberal NGOs to far left parties and from community activism to alternative communities, over the past 25 years - particularly in Ireland but also in other west European countries. It's not a scientific survey but may be helpful as an overview of the situation for people who are considering their life choices.

Perhaps the most important thing to say is that there is no single "right" way to be an activist / be involved in social movements / change the world. Effective activists come in many different shapes and sizes and many different life situations:

How do activists make a living?

1) The day job

Throughout history most social movement activists have followed whatever trade was available to them, and have become politically active either through that (in trade unionism etc.) or in their spare time. Most activists, in other words, have day jobs which they do not need to be ashamed of, and do what they can, when they can - going to evening meetings, coming to weekend demos, helping out where they can - around the edges of their paid work (and sometimes borrowing the office photocopier, it has to be said) and their caring responsibilities for children, sick partners or aging parents.

Historically some jobs have been particularly good ones for activists, and this can be worth thinking about when reflecting on the practical meanings of particular jobs today. In the 18th and 19th century some trades, like cobblers and later printers, seemed to be particularly radical because they involved a lot of skill and self-respect; if you were employed by someone else it was a moveable skill so that you weren't dependent on the one employer; and you had a lot of time on your own to think (and sometimes to read). Writers have some of these circumstances but there is often more sucking up to rich and powerful patrons (or these days publishers and the media), which tends to dampen critical thought. Other jobs, like weavers or miners, bred a lot of radicals because of the conditions and the solidarity of people working in the one place.

These days quite a lot of activists seem to be in IT (which can have some of the independence of the printer if you are in the right situation, though much IT work is grunt work). Like printers in the 19th century, IT is something which movements today typically need so there is a lot of crossover. A fair number of activists have jobs in academia, though (like writers in the past) the pressures there are greater, so that there are fewer established academics involved in social movements than there are postgrads and junior academics.

Of course any job can work as a day job for activism if it gives you the time and independence for political work. These are also important questions for quality of life and workplace conditions in general, so they are worth thinking about from that point of view as well: how not to be subject to over-intrusive line management, how to have some control over your time and work, how to be free to have your own opinions and so on.

One reader rightly comments that there are day jobs that actively facilitate activism in some way, day jobs which have to be kept completely separate, and day jobs that may in some ways be part of the problem. In everyday conversation we often politely avoid raising questions about the ways in which each other makes a living - but at what point does personal survival justify working for an actively destructive organisation? And how far is it really possible not to identify with the people who feed you, particularly if your work involves some kind of professional responsibility? This is clearly one of those conversations To Be Continued...

2) Occasional activism

Most people who get involved in social movements are not long-term activists in this sense. They are "occasional activists": people who get involved in specific campaigns which affect them or which they feel strongly about, for a period of time, people who go to particular demos or actions, or people who manage their involvement at a low level (the monthly meeting, clicktivism, donations etc.) If we needed to separate this from being an activist with a separate day job it might be that the occasional activist is someone who sees being involved with politics as a normal part of adult life but not the core of their personal identity.

Social movements wouldn't exist without people like this and the part-time activists discussed above, and the really big movements (and revolutions) depend on tens and hundreds of thousands of people in this situation feeling that they can become active without having to have a lifelong activist CV or prove their commitment etc. As one reader points out, the idea that such people are "hobby activists" is offensive and plain wrong. Effective organising, in fact, often consists of finding a way to enable everyone to find their own level of involvement rather than a one-size-fits-all model which is going to wind up only working for a hard core of full-time activists.

Involvement in occasional activism tends to go up and down, as particular issues become important (e.g. the fracking issue across Ireland is likely to bring a lot of people out of the woodwork, and the economic crisis may yet do so), and in line with people's "biographical availability" (bringing up young children, starting a career, caring for sick or elderly relatives, building a house etc. all take it out of you as do your own ill-health, periods of poverty and isolation, etc.

3) Unemployed activists

In the later 1970s and the 1980s, many activists - like much of the population - were unemployed. Rarely were they unemployed out of choice (or because of being politically active), but what set them apart was that they put being unemployed to work, and brought their anger and skills to campaigning. Of course they had to battle against attempts to force them into futile "training" schemes (ever notice how in recessions governments start insisting on the importance of being trained for jobs that don't exist?) and to check up that they were sitting around waiting for job offers (or writing off for more non-existent jobs) rather than doing something useful for other people with their time, but on the whole they managed it. Community organisation, of course, was born out of this situation and it is only in recent years that most community organisers are "employed" (on precarious terms and within narrow limits) by the state.

So far the situation in this recession is pretty anecdotal, but it seems that much of this is happening again. It might look as though people are subject to more high-tech surveillance though of course in practice the civil service is also getting cut and much of these tasks are either outsourced or carried out by people without the resources to do them thoroughly (leading to much injustice as well as incompetence of course). It is in any case a fair assumption that there will continue to be a shortage of work in Ireland for some time - and a lot of skilled and motivated people suffering from it.

Some, perhaps many, will decide to take real action around the lack of jobs instead of playing what might be called "Joan Burton monopoly" - pretending that there are jobs out there if only they make enough effort. If history is on our side, that might even mean pushing towards a non-Burton kind of society: one in which the state is not mostly engaged in blaming the poor and workers while transferring vast resources to multinational oil companies and the creditors of private banks.

4) Work in funded organisations

In the heyday of Irish "social partnership", many social movements became converted into fragmented service-delivery organisations for different parts of the state apparatus. More generally, all sorts of movement organisations - from community development to the women's movement and from environmentalism to majority world solidarity - came to feel that professionalisation, and dependence on state funding, were the only game in town. I've talked here about the reasons for this, and the damaging effects on movements both in terms of popular participation (as only those able to play the games of media strategy, funding proposals, policy lobbying etc. stayed involved) and in terms of their political purposes (as campaigning was subordinated to service-delivery and dissent was punished by withdrawal of funding).

In terms of the future, the real point is that the collapse of partnership also means a severe decline in this kind of work. The Irish state no longer feels it needs to pay its own in-house "loyal opposition" now that it has become clear that most organisations in question no longer have the capacity to mobilise significant numbers of people, and austerity politics means that the scope for concessions is smaller and smaller. The net effect is that being employed by other people (a funded organisation) on the basis of technical qualifications (in policy analysis, research, media or legal services) is far less likely than it was ten years ago.

It will, however, continue to exist (as it did in the UK through the Thatcher years) but under increased political constraints; the situation which gave rise to the famous In and against the state pamphlet. How can, or how did, people remain active as activists, and not simply as poorly-paid, precarious, subcontracted workers for a state bent on imposing an "inequality agenda"?

One answer is that people learned to separate their personal politics from the organisation, in effect to treat it as a day job. This was helped by the situation of short-term contract work, and can be seen in some Irish NGOs today. What works against this is often the fear of gaining a "reputation" among possible employers as a "troublemaker" - a situation remarkably similar to that of skilled workers in the nineteenth century. Then as now, the antidote is having an alternative: being able to take your trade elsewhere, perhaps moving in and out of academia or journalism, or in a field like development work being able to alternate between working in Ireland and abroad.

Conversely, it has to be said, the poison is in coming to believe the self-delusion that goes with the whole clientelist setup: liking the Minister of the day because of some supposed personal connection, thinking that arrangements made with your own organisation are sacrosanct, believing that a particular project is really "clever" because it fits in with some agenda within the Department or some new set of criteria, and so on: propositions which really just reveal a desperate desire to be approved by authority figures rather than any genuine political realism. The latter, of course, would say "don't trust them further than you can throw them" and "what real pressure can you bring to bear?" as well as the wider-view realism of asking whether service delivery and band-aid actions are worth it if the cost is abandoning your actual reason for existence as an organisation (or turning securing funding into that reason for existence).

5) Self-employment

Almost certainly what the next few years will bring is a rise in activists (trying to) find ways to employ themselves rather than be employed by a rapidly-evaporating pool of funding. Selling your qualifications to an interview board is going to be less important than having the skills to actually create an organisation which can fund itself. The last recession saw a boom in radical media and publishing for this reason, just as it saw the creation of cooperatives providing research and technical services to social movements, and of course the rise of member-funded organisations (as well as many other initiatives and attempts in similar directions).

Here radically-minded activists have something of an advantage, in that they are less concerned to offer something which they think a prospective employer might like and more focussed on actually doing something worthwhile and then seeking a way to finance that. (For people who argue that this is somehow an argument for the privileged, it is worth remembering that this is how unskilled workers built mass unions. The ha'penny due for something which was desperately needed but had to be argued for - and which people took risks joining - stood opposite the top-down charities formed by the wealthy to "do something" for the poor and keep them quiet.)

The present time is seeing a rise in small collective projects of this nature (including in Ireland); The revolution will not be funded has some really interesting examples of organisations tackling difficult issues like domestic violence in tough circumstances like US black and Latino communities.

6) Work as an organiser

It is easily forgotten, but organisations which are genuinely mass-membership need organisers, and often pay them. Many large-scale radical and movement organisations work in this way; of course it demands very different skills to providing technical services to a funded organisation largely consisting of professionals. "Organiser" can mean something very different in a trade union, a political party, a radical publication, an online advocacy organisation, popular education and so on - but all need to involve large numbers of people, and wind up employing activists.

Usually the way into this work is by doing it on a voluntary basis first (and of course this is true for much activist work of any kind); training is valuable, but has to go hand in hand with experience.

7) Activist skills

All activism, of course, involves doing something specific, whether that is organising events or teaching, administering organisations or cooking, engaging in dangerous stunts or reporting on actions, editing magazines or fundraising. Sometimes people who have those skills, formally or informally, from some other context drift into activism, or find ways of doing what it is they do - from writing to gardening to faciliting committees to supporting people emotionally to renovating buildings - in political ways and contexts. At other times people find that the skills they have developed in their activism can become how they make a living, whether in a movement or mainstream context, or on the borders between them. Historically, whole professions or semi-professions (from women's refuges via community education to union organisers) have come out of social movements, for good or bad.

Keeping what you actually do, what you enjoy doing and what you are good at clearly in view - separately from whether it is something that somebody else pays you to do, a technical skill you "donate" or something you have taught yourself to do as an activist - can help not only with sorting out how you want to make a living, it can also help lower the pressure that comes from feeling guilty about the choices you make as an activist about where you put your energies most.

The next ten years

At the risk of being disproved, it seems very likely that the next ten years in Ireland will see further pressures on the "funded" sector (whether dependent on the state or on private foundations etc.), making employment considerably scarcer, pushing wages down and increasing precarity while further constraining freedom of action. By contrast, there is likely to be a return to self-funding organisational models, and hence both to self-employment (collective and individual) as well as work as organisers for mass-membership organisations. At its simplest, it will be less useful to have a "saleable qualification" in a purely technical area suited to funding-driven organisations and more useful to actually be able to organise. More generally, the crisis is likely to see a growth in unemployment as well, more positively, in occasional activism and the "day job" model.

It is always hard to think in terms of the big picture, whether that is in terms of understanding what the new historical period will bring, how the situation differs in different countries, or what the political implications of individual choices are - but we are nevertheless affected by these whether we like the questions or not.

Becoming clearer about your own motivation and what you really enjoy is important, as this is what will make it possible for you to keep going over the long haul. Similarly being honest with yourself about what you need from your movement involvement is fundamental, or you will find your needs and your politics in conflict with each other. Lastly, finding the support you need to negotiate a complex and uncertain area (and offering the same to others!) is an important part of being able to do it; solidarity matters even more within movements as in the outside world.

It is also really important - if you are thinking of taking your life in this direction - to talk to as many people as you can who have done the same as you. Reading biographies of famous activists, who are by definition in very unusual situations, is probably less helpful than reading oral histories like Staughton and Alice Lynd's The new rank and file or Nancy Naples' Grassroots warriors to get a sense of the real "lives less ordinary" lived by people whose lives will never be turned into movies.

The MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism

CEESA doesn't set itself up to be an answer to all of these problems, though we are happy to help as much as we can. What we do is to work with people who are already motivated to place social change towards the centre of their lives, and to support them in doing that. In particular, we give you the tools to think about the bigger picture in terms of understanding how inequality works in the wider society and what equality might mean; effective organising tools in the form of community education methodologies; an understanding of political choices; as well as skills in a range of areas from personal and movement sustainability via critical media skills and participatory action research tools to understanding the politics of social movements.

The course is designed for people who are not so much planning on finding work providing narrowly-defined technical services in a specific sector but rather thinking about how they can put a genuine passion for social change to work in an uncertain future which carries no guarantees - other than that genuine political substance, a commitment to real needs rather than criteria defined by policy-makers, the ability to convince others and to mobilise effectively, thinking strategically and building alliances are all key parts of a life dedicated to social justice.

Some of our participants are relatively new to the idea of shaping their lives around community education, equality or activism and wondering what that means in practice, while others have been doing it for a while, perhaps affected by the crisis of the sector and asking themselves "what now?" or needing to step back from the daily grind of social change work and think about the bigger picture.

Not everyone is in a position to take a year-long masters (though we do contain classes within two days to facilitate people with caring or work responsibilities), and this website is in part geared towards making some of the resources we use in the course available more widely. I hope you find it useful and that it is a genuine contribution to social change.

Although the course is only in its second year, we do get very positive and supportive feedback from people working in the area and other educators for change, as well as from past course participants (see this video) and prospective employers. As one past participant put it, the course supports people to become someone who is "reflexive, expressive, critical, creative, thinks outside the box", which is really important in a time of change. We don't yet know in any detail what participants go on to do, other than to say that from the first cohort some continued with their existing activism; some changed direction in smaller or larger ways and found work (some paid, some unpaid) in their new direction; some set up their own organisation; and some want to continue in education.

Lastly, to come back to the start: it is really important to stress that people who want to, do find a way of dedicating their lives to social change, whatever their circumstances, personal "issues" or movement orientations. The longer I have been involved as an activist, teaching organisers, researching social movements and so on, the greater the variety of people I meet and the wider range of situations they are active in and from. It might not always seem so, but there are as many old activists as young ones (sometimes in different kinds of organisations or taking different roles), and as many different ways to "be an activist" as there are activists. Which is just as well...

Laurence Cox is co-director of the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism. This post is written in a personal capacity. Many thanks to LD, SL, RM, MM, SOD, TOK and GR for comments on an earlier version of this post.

Conservatism and community development

2012-01-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Carigeen" has a great post here on the ways in which community development can wind up becoming conservative, uncritical and part of the problem in terms of exclusion and inequality. Well worth a read.

John Holloway: Rage against the rule of money

2012-01-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

People who missed John Holloway's talk at the CEESA / Anthropology and Development seminar "Beyond the crisis" can now find three lectures on this topic which he gave in Leeds in November online here, here and soon here.

Spectacle of Defiance and Occupy Dame Street

2012-01-11T12:26:00.000-08:00

Nice article from rabble on this here.

Boston College caves on oral history interviews

2012-01-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

A detailed account here of how Boston College (failed to) handle demands to hand over oral history interviews from its "Belfast Project". This was a series of interviews with former paramilitaries from both sides of the Northern Irish conflict about their experiences, that inevitably involved them discussing illegal acts openly. Naturally the university promised them nine kinds of confidentiality - and caved as soon as the PSNI asked the US department of justice to subpoena the interviews. Some very interesting comments on this blogpost, including one from the project's former director about Boston College's behaviour.

These issues crop up all the time in relation to social research (and journalism, and law, and psychological counselling, and come to that religious confession): depending on the jurisdiction, professionals may or may not have a right to protect their sources / client confidentiality. Where they don't (as in Ireland for journalists) the norm is that their superiors (editors for newspapers) will support them to the hilt - on the straightforward basis that if they don't, the institution's guarantee of confidentiality is worthless and journalism / research / legal representation / counselling / religious confession will become de facto impossible.

University administrations have a professional obligation to do whatever they can to protect research confidentiality, not to mention a moral obligation to support guarantees which are typically required by the institution under ethical procedures.

The origins of the Occupy movement

2011-12-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

A great article here by some of the authors of We are everywhere: the irresistible rise of global anti-capitalism (now in turn available free online).

Person of the year: "The protester"

2011-12-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

Not that I'd agree with everything in Time magazine's "Person of the Year" article and the various links. But when "The Protester" is person of the year for the US mainstream media, it is an acknowledgement that something significant has shifted.

Of course the Time piece is pretty limited in many ways, despite the Guardian's supportive comments (which kind of miss the point that the mainstream media are as much part of the problem, and a barrier for social movements, as anything else). But such is the lot of the journalist:

ya walk inta the room
with yer pencil in yer hand
ya see somebody naked
and ya say who is that man
ya try so hard
but ya don't understand
just what you're gonna say when ya get home

because something is happening here
but ya don't know what it is
do ya, Mistah Jones?

Interface 3/2: feminism, women's movements and women in movement

2011-12-14T15:14:00.000-08:00

Interface 3/2 is now out with 27 pieces from round the world, particularly focussing on women's movements and women in movement (and a great section on feminist strategy). Other articles from South Africa, India and Latin America. Plus a call for papers on global labour struggles.

CEESA MA 2012 entry

2011-12-08T12:09:00.001-08:00

MA in Community Education, Equality and SocialActivism

Anotherworld is possible: learning from each other's struggles

NUI Maynooth Sociology and Adult & Community Education

From the Land League towomen’s liberation and from the Dublin Lockout to community activism, thestruggle for equality and social change has been driven by social movementsfrom below. Today, ecological campaigners have put climate change on theagenda, global justice activists have highlighted the crisis of neo-liberalcapitalism and popular movements have changed the world from South Africa to Eastern Europe and from Latin America to the Arab world.

As austerity politics bites,cuts target the poorest communities and neo-liberal “business as usual” triesto set aside democracy and popular organisations, social movements arerethinking their strategies and communities are taking a hard look at their ownunderstandings. What can we learn from each other’s struggles for equality andsocial justice - and what do we alreadyknow about how to change the world?

This course brings togetherstudents who want to learn how to make equality and social justice intorealities, with more experienced activists in community education and socialmovements looking for space to reflect on their own work, and a team of staffwho are experienced teachers and researchers, community educators and socialmovement practitioners - to form a community of practitioners learning fromeach other’s experiences and struggles to create new kinds of “really useful knowledge”and develop alternatives.

How can we bringabout social justice and environmental survival in Ireland and beyond? This course enablesstudents to think about how to build real alternatives to challenge existingstructures of oppression and injustice. It is about developing ordinary people’scapacity to change the world through community education, grassroots communityactivism and social movement campaigning. In the face of powerful voicestelling us that “there is no alternative” but to trust in their expertise andsolutions, this course starts from the view that “another world is alreadyunder construction”.

The main forcebehind positive social change in Ireland and globally has always been"people power": those who were not "on the inside", withoutproperty, status or power coming together to push for change where it wasneeded. Community activism, the women's movement, global justice campaigners,self-organising by travellers and new Irish communities, trade unions, GLBTQcampaigning, environmentalism, international solidarity, anti-racism, anti-waractivism, survivors of institutional abuse, human rights work, the deafmovement and many other such movements have reshaped our society and put humanneed on the agenda beside profit and power. This process has not ended.

Movement participantshave developed important bodies of knowledge about how to do this, which arefundamental starting-points for trying to make a better world possible. Radicaladult and community educators help develop knowledge and learning that arecritical and questioning, that are aware of taken-for-granted assumptions, thatare systemic, political and social, that ask difficult questions, that areagainst technical and one-dimensional thinking alone. In the age of Occupy andShell to Sea, anti-austerity protests and alternative media, social partnershipin crisis and global justice, what can we learn from each other’s struggles?

Two different course posters available here and here (both in PDF).

What students say about the course:

“The real beauty of thiscourse is the sense that finally you are not alone in your thinking. Not onlycan you get to open your mind up to all that has been written, but you get toopen up to your class group and really learn from each other. In a world whereinjustice is the norm, there is a sense that there is a whole world of peopleout there fighting alongside you and that at last, changejust might be possible.”

“There are misunderstandings about the word activism… If you arechallenging the system and the way it is, then you are an activist, you are notpassively existing in the world, you are taking action…”

“The knowledge and experience of activists are valued.”

“A chance to get really detailed feedback on the way you’re thinkingabout how to change things.”

“It’s a course for practitioners.”

The Departmentsof Sociology and Adult & Community Education collaborate on this MA todevelop thinking about critical pedagogy in community education; power andpraxis in social movements; and understandings of equality, transformation andsustainability. Our commitment to the public use of academic knowledge is along-standing one and we have a wide range of practical experience as well asresearch-based knowledge. This includes involvement with social movements,community activism and issue-based campaigning; media work and public debate;active involvement in political parties, trade unions and lobbying groups;community education and literacy; development and human rights work. Ourstudent body is very diverse, with a wealth of different experiences and astrong tradition of involvement in community development and social activism.

The courseexplores three core strands: Criticaland praxis-oriented forms of thinking (e.g. in community education, socialtheory, media literacy, utopian imagination…); Equality and Social Justice (e.g. in class, gender, race, politicaleconomy, the search for good work…); and Power,politics and praxis (e.g. in social movements, community activism,grassroots organising, the politics of social change…) The course content isall taught from the standpoint of "praxis": the understanding thattheory without practice is meaningless, while practice without theory is likelyto fail. The basis of our work is dialogue between reflective practitioners,systematically including both these aspects.

What students say about the practical benefits:

“Helps to makes links withfellow activists working in different movements.”

“A chance to challenge and enhance your practice.”

“Puts names on things that you have done and helps to frame your ideas.”

“An opportunity to work collectively.”

“Make friends, networks, comrades.”

“An opportunity to challenge academic norms.”

“A chance to be more objective about your practice.”

Course participants

Both Departmentshave a long history of attracting students who are concerned about social andglobal justice and keen to draw on their analytical skills to develop aprofessional life in these areas, including mature students who have alreadyhad such an engagement and want to develop their practice further. Thisprogramme is aimed at the needs of this very diverse group.

This includesthose involved in social movements, community development, adult learning, grassrootsactivism, workers in NGOs and state agencies, and advocates with minoritygroups.

The course isgeared to bringing together the best of practitioner skills in the field withthe best of academic research. Our workshops are not traditional classroomexperiences but draw on our community, popular and radical educational practiceto bring out and work with participants' existing knowledge. We bring our ownlived experience into the classroom, and encourage other participants to do thesame, creating a conversation between practitioners in which students are notpassive learners and teachers are not unquestioned experts. We also bring in awide range of outside mentors.

The course isaimed at people who already have either basic knowledge of social analysis orexperience of social movement organising (or both!) It helps you round out yourown skills and understanding across the theory / practice barrier and acrossdifferent movements, times and contexts. This bigger picture, developingyourself as a reflexive practitioner with a strategic perspective, will enableyou to contribute powerfully to social movements, community education projectsand activist organisations - or to create new ones.

The programmeattracts a wide range of students, with very diverse backgrounds, movements andlevels of experience. Participants so far have included working-class communityorganisers and radical ecologists, radical educators and service usercampaigners, feminists and rural community activists, GLBTQ rights campaignersand trade unionists, adult educators and radical artists, young graduates and experiencedpolitical organisers.

Students’ experience of thecourse:

“It’s fun and challenging, constantly changing.”

“Moves beyond/transcends your own organisation or movement. That canhelp to change your practice as well.”

“Can be fun and interactive and our input feels valued.”

“Challenges your views and perspectives.”

“The lecturers are open to being challenged and to change academicpractices.”

“There was a concerted effort towards group development both by theclass members and by the lecturers. We were very lucky in our class groupdynamic and a willingness for each person to reveal who they really are.”

“The lecturers are deadly too!”

Programme

The courseinvolves two days a week on campus (typically Monday and Tuesday) over twotwelve-week semesters, along with independent reading and study which youshould expect to take another two days equivalent during the rest of the week.Your thesis, which is usually linked to a movement project you are involved inor developing, typically takes three - four months after the end of classes. Theprogramme includes core modules in “Praxis and community participation”;“Power, politics and praxis”; “Critical thought and critical pedagogy” and“Understanding equality and inequality”. Along with these students choose oneelective module a term, such as “The market, the state and social movements”;“The politics of feminism and masculinities”; “Participatory action research insocial movement practice”; “Political economy” “Environmental justice”; and“Sustainable communities”.

We run special sessionson topics like “Sustainable organising”; “Critical media literacy”; “Utopiasand social movements” and “Digital media production”. Field trips to date havevisited community projects and direct action campaigns, local oral historyprojects and social centres. Events have included our “Masked Activists’ Ball” launch,our “Beyond the crisis” seminar, and a conference “New agendas in socialmovement studies”. Finally, participants take research modules and complete athesis project. This is geared towards developing your practice in a particulararea, helping to contribute to a particular movement, and is often produced ina format which will be accessible and useful to other people in that movement.

Participantswill leave the course with a deeper understanding of how the politics ofequality and inequality works in a range of substantive areas. They will havedeveloped the skill of practicing "politics from below": activecitizenship, civil society, community education and development, socialmovements and other forms of popular agency. They will have gained skill as areflexive researcher, developed their writing and presentation skills andcompleted a practice-based research project. This is embedded within a widerlearning community where participants are supported to stay connected aftergraduation and the course itself builds links with a range of different socialmovement projects.

Warnings from current students:

“There’s a lot of self-evaluation and self-reflection.”

“Clear your timetable…. Really clear your timetable, take theopportunity to step back from your work.”

“I didn’t realise how much reflection is on the course.”

Contact and admissions

The coursewebsite is http://ceesa-ma.blogspot.com.Application is via the HEA’s online PAC system, at http://www.pac.ie.The course code is MHA64; the deadline for applications is Monday April 30th 2012.The minimum requirement is a primary degree (BA etc.) in social science,humanities or adult education at 2:2 level, or the equivalent. For any queries,please contact the Dept. of Adult and Community Education, NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland atadcomed@nuim.ie or (+353-1) 7083937. Our website includes information on fees,grants and scholarships for 2012 - 13 as far as we know them.

Admission is byinterview with staff members, and offers of interview are made on the basis ofthe online application. Your personal statement is particularly important inthis, because this is a practitioner course which is geared towards supportingyou in developing your own practice.
However, you should not feel that you haveto have a particular level of experience in order to be accepted on the course.We accept students at all levels, from school-leavers who had just completed anundergraduate degree to mature students who have been active in movements fordecades, and this classroom diversity is part of the richness of the course.Participants learn greatly from each other’s life experiences and organisingknowledge, intellectual perspectives and political traditions. The personalstatement helps us to gauge how each participant might gain from the course.

A student says:

“The main thing I enjoyedfrom the course was not what we learnt but how we learned it. For me the mix ofpeople in the class was electric and we all learned so much from eachother. In a way I didn’t feel like I wasgoing into ‘college’. This was greatly encouraged from the lecturers who by theway are experts in their fields and are always at hand for guidance, advice andcriticism. In a way I even feel awkwardcalling them lecturers as the whole learning process for me was so far removedfrom what most are used to in a college setting.

As regards the material, likeall reflection and philosophising, one day you could be disillusioned witheverything, doubting and questioning everything you ever stood for while thenext day you want to take on the world, but what kept it together was theenergy and camaraderie and that we were all in it together. I hope courses like this and more importantlythe whole critical way of learning together is mirrored in other colleges andinstitutions. And for those like ourselves who are serious and committed aboutwhat we do, there is no time like the present to do this course. I already feelthe knowledge I gained and more importantly the network of people I have metwill be vital to any campaign or project I will be involved with in thefuture.”

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

2011-12-07T01:01:00.001-08:00

A good Irish Times article by Lorna Siggins on the knots the Garda Ombudsman Commission have tied themselves in around the recordings of Gardai discussing raping and deporting protestors. There has still been no word from GSOC on their difficulties in grasping what research confidentiality means, or why it seems hard to understand that digital cameras record files separately so that research material can be deleted without touching other files.

For those new to this story, there's an excellent background piece by Andrew Flood here.

Recently, the Sunday Independent had to publish an apology to Jerrieann Sullivan to its coverage of the matter where the Press Council decided that a Sindo article breached articles 1 (Truth and accuracy) and 2 (Distinguishing fact and comment) of the press code (see commentary by journalist William Hederman).

Today (Wed 7th December), RTE broadcast an apology for its misleading coverage just before the 6.01 and 9 o'clock news, following the Broadcasting Authority's ruling that it was misleading to claim that the deletion constituted tampering with evidence (see this Shell to Sea press release which gives considerably more information, and a more detailed analysis by William Hederman).

Apologies in both cases no doubt delivered through gritted teeth as prior to the formal Press Council / Broadcasting Authority rulings neither body was willing to acknowledge that they had seriously misrepresented the situation and in the process impugned Ms Sullivan's integrity (as well of course as giving the impression that nothing significant had happened).

All of which brings to mind another transcript (Fish called Wanda):

Otto: Apes don't read philosophy.

Wanda: Yes, they do Otto, they just don't understand it.
Now let mecorrect you on a couple of things here. Aristotle was not Belgian. Thecentral message of Buddhism is not 'every man for himself,' and the LondonUnderground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. Ilooked them up.
Now, you have just assaulted the one man who can keep youout of jail and make you rich. What are you going to do about it huh? Whatwould an intellectual do? What would Plato do?

Otto (gritted teeth): Apol...

Wanda: Pardon me?

Otto: Apol...

Wanda: What

Otto: Apologize!

Now, for interactive fun, you can even sing along...

"Another world is possible: reflections on power, seeds and change" (Clare, Sat 3rd Dec)

2011-11-28T13:09:00.001-08:00

Galway One World Centre (GOWC) and the Irish Seed Savers Association (ISSA) present - Another World Is Possible: reflections on power, seeds and change, a day of engaging debate, fine music and local food at the Irish Seed Savers centre in Scariff, Co Clare on Saturday Dec 3rd.

This free event runs from 10am to 5pm, donations gratefully received. Further info, contact Trish at 091-530590 or write to admin@galwayowc.org. Advance booking recommended.

Featuring John Holloway, Jo Newton, Pat O'Donnell, Saul Mosbacher, Alphonse Basogomba and Deirdre Ni Argain. There will also be lunch and music featuring Tommy Hayes, Vincent Griffin, Mark Donnellan, Sharon Murphy and friends.

Renowned author John Holloway will be a special guest at a gathering in the Irish Seedsavers Association (ISSA) on Sat Dec 3rd. John was born in Ireland and has spent the past twenty years living in Mexico where he teaches Sociology at the Autonomous University of Puebla.

John's ideas are expressed in numerous articles and books, notably Crack Capitalism (Pluto 2010) and Change the world without taking power (Pluto 2002). John has written extensively about social movements and the possibilities of radical change with particular emphasis on autonomous organising strategies. One of the key questions raised in his work is the issue of change as a struggle against power, rather than a struggle for power.. In this he coincides with the new wave of global activism, the Occupy movements which have recently sprouted from Iceland to Illinois, from Eyre Square to Barcelona. John Holloway believes that the struggle for change is rooted in our everyday lives, departing from the traditional belief that the takeover of the state is essential to changing the world. History teaches us that when the new governing class takes power, the new bureaucrat-politicos quickly learn the language, logic and calculations of power. For Holloway, autonomy is built every day, in every fresh exchange in which we reject the dominant story of consumerism as the passport for a happy life.

Jo Newton, Seedkeeper at the ISSA, embodies the possibility of self reliance as a lived alternative to dependence on the corporate food chain.. Jo's experience is the starting point for taking back control of key aspects of our lives. Jo will introduce the gathering to the seedsaver organisation, walking us through the grounds, offering an overview of seeds, seed banks and related issues as a gateway to other autonomies.

Pat O'Donnell, alias 'the chief', has been fishing the Erris coastline from the age of 14... when the Corrib Gas project was announced he feared for his livelihood and for the safety of the seas which have nourished his community for generations. O'Donnell was once rewarded by the state for his bravery in a cave rescue operation, winning high praise for his active citizenship. Once he began asking awkward questions about Shell's gas pipeline however, he has been rewarded with harassment, a beating and imprisonment, relegated to the status of 'a thug and a bully.'

In June 2009 his boat the Iona Isle sank in mysterious circumstances. The maritime casualty investigation board refused to investigate the incident.

Alphonse Basogomba, coordinator of Clare Intercultural network lives in direct provision, Ireland's contemporary version of the industrial school where asylum seekers are warehoused in grim conditions and expected to be grateful for the consideration. Alphonse will give an account of life under direct provision with a particular emphasis on food issues.

Saul Mosbacher is a seed collector who manages the Celt Tree nursery and has extensive experience in natural building, using cob, straw bale and other sustainable local materials. Saul will present his vision of alternative building possibilities.

Deirdre Ni Argain is an artist based in Co Clare, working since the 1980s in a variety of settings. Over the past decade Deirdre has been working in palliative care at Milford Care Centre...she will be using art materials to reflect upon and respond to whatever the day raises for people.

'In the beginning is not the word but the scream', writes John Holloway, echoing Indian writer Arundhati Roy, who has spoken of the need for a 'feral howl' in the face of injustice and indignity.

One world where many worlds fit. Scariff, the starting point...

Social movements conference, Maynooth, Saturday November 26th

2011-11-15T13:38:00.001-08:00

Social movements have been a central part of Irish life from Emancipation and the Land League via Carnsore Point and the X case protests to trade union and community struggles. In the age of Rossport and Occupy, anti-austerity protests and alternative media, partnership in crisis and global justice conflicts, how can we understand the realities of social movements?

This conference, the first of its kind in 13 years, brings together 21 presenters studying a wide range of movements in Ireland and beyond, showcasing the state of the art of social movement studies - agency and power, the politics of advocacy, women in movement, movements and media, mapping Irish movements, troubles within movements, researching movements and what movements know. Social movement activists and citizens interested in participatory politics, students and researchers alike will all find something to learn from the lively and varied programme for this event.

The conference is free and open to all, with no advance registration needed. It runs from 9.30am to 6.15pm in NUI Maynooth; tea and coffee are provided. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/irishmovements

Why we protest

2011-10-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Good article by Patrick Kingsley in today's Guardian about some of the strange feelings that the fact of protest seems to bring out in people who don't...

Occupy Dame Street practice and politics

2011-10-24T03:05:00.001-07:00

A good article from Anna Szolucha of Occupy Dame Street about the complexities of decision-making and strategy in ODS, now in week 3.

Latin American Development Issues Course

2011-10-20T04:56:00.000-07:00

This is a long-established course (now accredited at FETAC 5 level) on development and the lack of development in Latin America, with strong attention to issues of politics and culture as well as economic, social and historical angles - as you would expect from its organisers at the Latin America Solidarity Centre. More details about the course on their website and enrolment via Ballsbridge College of Further Education.

Occupy University

2011-10-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

Occupy Dame Street is developing a series of talks under the heading "Occupy university". Topics currently up include solutions to the Euro, the history of Indymedia, interview skills, TV and the culture industry and university in crisis. A few of the talks have also been recorded - here is Conor McCabe and here is Helena Sheehan.

Social movements conference at Maynooth

2011-10-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

“New agendas in social movementstudies”

NUI Maynooth, Saturday November 26th, 9.30 - 6.15

About theconference

This conference bringstogether 21 researchers from Ireland, Britain, Italy, Belgiumand the US working on movements ranging from alternative food movements to theWorld Social Forum, from Shell to Sea to SlutWalks and from Irish Ship to Gaza to children’srights advocacy. It showcases some of the best work in the field by new,established and independent scholars alike. The conference seeks to encouragereal research which does not simply restate common assumptions but tries tomake real contributions to wider debates about social movements, the thinkingof movement practitioners, and public understanding of the nature of societyand democracy.

The keynotespeaker, Dr Cristina Flesher Fominaya (University of Aberdeen), hasbeenresearching and participating in European social movements since the early1990s. She has carried out research on anti-globalisation networks, SpanishGreen parties and the British anti-roads movement, and is also known for herwork on the politics of memory around terrorist attacks such as 3/11 in Madrid and 9/11 inNew York. A founding editor of the social movement journal Interface http://interfacejournal.net, she isco-chair of the Council for European Studies’ European Social MovementsResearch Network.

Practicalities

The conferenceis free and open to the public with no advance booking required. Tea and coffeewill be provided but participants should bring their own lunch or buy it inMaynooth. We cannot organiseaccommodation directly but there are various possible hostels, hotels andB&Bs both in Maynooth and in Dublin. Registration is atthe conference from 9.30 on in the Auxilia Building,North Campus (see the map at http://www.nuim.ie/location/maps/NUIM-Map-booklet-v3.pdf - Auxilia is building #47 in the lower rightcorner). For queries please contact Dr Theresa O’Keefe at theresa.okeefe@nuim.ie

Overall timings

9.30 - 10 Welcome and registration

10 - 11 Plenarysession. Cristina Flesher Fominaya, “New directions in social movementstudies?”

11 - 11.30 Coffee / tea

11.30 - 1 First sessions

1 - 2.15 Lunch

2.15 – 3.45 Second sessions

3.45 - 4.00 Coffee / tea

4.00 – 5.30 Third sessions

5.30 - 6.15 Closing discussion

Draft timetable

Session 1, 11.30 am - 1 pm

(A) Remaking social movements

Silvia Lami (Philosophy,Pisa and U. Chicago) - Re-thinking social movements. Limits of 60s and70s movements, new perspectives of struggle

Leslie ParraguezSanchez (Loyola University, Chicago) - Between spatial identities and the Right-to-the-City: asocio-spatial perspective on the reconfiguration of social movements

Theresa O’Keefe(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - Flauntingour way to freedom? SlutWalks, gendered protest and feminist futures

(B) Exploring new movements

Andre Kenneally(UCC) - Children’s right advocacy as a new social movement

Yafa Shanneik(Study of Religions, UCC) - Irish women converting to Islam: a new post-secularmovement?

(C) Research / methodology

Jean Bridgeman(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - Spaces for new knowledge: working class communityeducation for social change

Anna Szolucha(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - The tyranny of sociology: a case for aninterdisciplinary social movement research

Session 2, 2.15 - 3.45 pm

(D) Agency and power

Geoffrey Pleyers(FNRS-Université Catholique de Louvain & CADIS-EHESS Paris)- The global justice movement and beyond:two paths for social agency

Laurence Davis(Independent scholar) - The Irish Ship to Gaza and therevolutions of our time

Amanda Slevin(Sociology, UCD) - Pipelines, politics and power: Shell to Sea and the Irishstate

(E) The politics of new media

Margaret Gillan(Community Media Network) - Building working-class media (provisional title)

Asia Rutkowska(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - Activists on the web: analysing the content of socialcentre webpages

Paul Candon(Sociology, TCD) - The emerging digital public sphere in Ireland:how old habits die hard

Session 3, 4 - 5.30 pm

(F) Mapping Irish social movements

Laurence Cox(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - Gramsci in Mayo: a Marxist perspective on socialmovements in Ireland

Peter Lacey(Anthropology, NUI Maynooth) - EU-critical movements and Irish social activism

(G) Advocacy and institutionalisation

Orla O’Donovan(Applied Social Studies, UCC) - Irish patients’ movements on the move to Europe

Pauline Cullen(Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - Mobilization on women’s interests at the EU: femocratsand feminist political practice

(H) Troubles within movements

Andrea Rigon(Sociology, TCD and Institute of Development Studies, Nairobi) - The tyranny of structurelessness: unequal power relations in thegovernance of the World Social Forum process

David Landy(Sociology, TCD) - Researching splits

Aisling Murtagh(Food business and development, UCC) - The power dynamics of alternative foodinitiatives in Ireland

Centre for Politics, Power andSociety, Dept. of Sociology, NUI Maynooth

Researchcluster “Critical Political Thought, Activism and Alternative Futures”

Mobilising for social and environmental justice meeting

2011-10-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

As resistance to austerity grows in the US and Europe and Durban prepares to host critical climate change talks in December, Durban based activist Patrick Bond will talk about the rise of the climate justice movement in Africa and its connections with other social movements in Africa and elsewhere, such as struggles for trade and debt justice and access to social services. Irish climate and community campaigners will respond to his insights. The meeting will ask what can we learn from movements in the South, and how can we link the local and global struggles we are engaged in?

Patrick Bond is a political economist with long-standing research interests and NGO work in urban communities and with global justice movements in several countries. He teaches political economy and eco-social policy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, where he directs the Centre for Civil Society and is involved in research on economic justice, geopolitics, climate, energy and water.Patricia McCarthy is co-Director of Community Technical Aid, which provides support to local communities and projects in north inner-city Dublin. She has a long-standing interest and experience in anti-poverty actions, social inclusion and participation.Molly Walsh is Policy and Campaigns Manager with Friends of the Earth Ireland. She leads their campaign for an Irish climate law and will be attending the make-or-break UN talks in Durban at the end of November.

For more information or to register please contact Fleachta@comhlamh.org.

Occupy Dame Street

2011-10-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

... now have a website up as well as a livestream channel, which can be viewed directly at times and at others has a set of past videos. There is also occupystream, with livestream from occupations around the world (US particularly but not only).

"Occupy University" talks are listed here.

The alchemy of hope

2011-10-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

Nice post by activist academic Lesley Wood about Occupy Wall Street as part of a global wave.

Michael Albert in Dublin

2011-10-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Three talks by Michael Albert of ZNet next week in Dublin:

- Tuesday 8 pm: alternatives to capitalism and the IMF bailout
- Wednesday 1 pm: social media and revolution
- Thursday 6 pm: building an alternative society

More info here.

DIY, Skillshare and Activism Festival

2011-10-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

"This year's Skillshare festival is to take place from the 11-13th November 2011.

With demonstrations of practical solutions, inspiring talks, interactive workshops, alternative technology, exciting projects, live music and networking opportunities, this Skillsharing festival will bring together 400 people from local Dublin neighborhoods and communities across Ireland to Wesley House, Leeson Street in Central Dublin."

Just a preliminary announcement for now, but there should be more to come soon. Keep an eye on the main Gluaiseacht page.

Horizontalism and "Occupy Wall Street"

2011-10-04T15:49:00.001-07:00

Interesting piece at Democracy Now with Marina Sitrin commenting on the protests - now extending themselves across the US.

The meeting

2011-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

There's a nice skit by Diarmuid Breathnach over at Cedar Lounge Revolution riffing on a recent meeting. Nice to see a bit of humour based on actually noticing things rather than quoting Life of Brian...

Rabble.ie hits Dublin

2011-09-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

rabble.ie, a new non-profit newspaper from the city's underground, is now out. Can be picked up across the city or viewed online. There is some pretty decent content in the first issue from a range of social movements and grassroots culture - from the Garda Ombudsman's abysmal response to the Rossport rape recordings via street art to people's experiences as interns. Here's their blurb:

"Those behind this effort know each other from alternative media and street mobilisations, from raves, gigs and the football terraces, or by just living in the village that is Dublin. We range from people raising their families in the city, to community and political activists, to artists, messers and mischief-makers.

With this paper we will do something more than join the ad rags and mouthpieces for power that comprise most of the city’s freebies. We want to draw stories from the harsh realities of the city and sketch paths towards building Dublin as we’d prefer it. Consider this an effort to breathe new life into journalism in the city, as well as a space for emerging writers. Down the line, expect original story-telling and explorations of the boundaries between photography, new fiction, journalism and art.

rabble stands within, and with, Dublin as it struggles from below against the ghost of the Celtic Tiger and the state it left us in. We support those who fight with a new world in their hearts and encourage those who create cultures that seed hope in bleak times. Try to imagine a newspaper acting like a melting pot of connections, not just between emergent cultural scenes and everyday life, but also between social movements and power structures.

We’re going to offer an alternative look at Ireland after the boom and help contribute to the popular imagination of what is possible. There is a new generation surviving on the dole, engaged in a mundane struggle to maintain, as power force feeds us austerity. Too many naively celebrate the creative side of the recession and utter non-committal grumbles about how we got here.

We’ve no qualms about what side of the fence we sit on. Expect a sharp, non-dogmatic eye on our gracious leaders and power brokers. We aim to uncover the incompetencies, the facts and realities they want to lock away in the closet.

rabble is in process of getting its shit together at the moment. Times are tough, finances are tight. The rabble collective is doing this completely off our own backs. We need to hustle to survive. Look us up online to hear about how you can muck in to keep us afloat. If you are an ideas person, a ranter, a barstool polemicist, a daily scribbler or an inspired illustrator but most importantly, a doer rather than a talker – then get in touch.

Over the next while we’ll be running events and fundraisers to keep us going, so come along and support us. We promise a healthy blend of culture, politics, society and humor, bursting with ambition to re-shape our city with a no-hostage attitude to calling a spade a spade.
This is a space for beginnings. Join us."

Anti-globalization movement endures

2011-09-27T12:25:00.001-07:00

A good post here on the Dissent website about the continuing presence of the alliances and networks formed in the anti-capitalist movement, and of the movement itself outside of the US (one of the few countries where "9/11" nationalism broke up some of the key alliances). Not so much news to activists as to those who rely on mainstream journalism for their news, perhaps; but important nonetheless.

Mapping local social movements

2011-09-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting piece here from AREA Chicago outlining an approach to mapping local social movements and their practical strengths and weaknesses. Not the only such model, of course, but sufficiently doable to be worth a look.

CEESArrrrrrrrrrrrr

2011-09-13T12:44:00.001-07:00

By happy coincidence the first day of this year's CEESA course is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Friends with long memories will remember that we launched the course last year with a Masked Activists Ball.

Those with longer memories will remember the Jolly Roger flying over many a European squat - an image recalled by Ramor Ryan's Clandestines: the pirate journals of an Irish exile.

The truly historically-minded should have a look at Marcus Rediker's site for some great material, especially of course Villains of all nations: Atlantic pirates in the golden age - by some margin the best Marxist analysis of the Jolly Roger.

As for the rest of us:

Egypt: how a civil resistance was built to win

2011-09-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

“On February 11, 2011 Egyptians toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. Blogger and viral video producer Aalam Wassef was one of the many people who worked for years to make it happen. This is the first in a series on the daily life of Egypt's revolution. It's a manual on how a civil resistance was built to win.” Online here.

There's a good interview with another Egyptian revolutionary here.

Quis custodiet...

2011-08-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

An excellent article on the Garda Ombudsman's interim report on the Rossport rape recordings can be found here. A brief but telling commentary on GSOC's abysmal record in actually tackling problems with the Gardai is at this site.

Weekend at City Arts campaign, Dublin

2011-08-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

Weekend at City Arts....

Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th of August will see a two-day event looking at issues around property, space and education and how to fight back against the narrow economic imperatives dominating all of these today. The discussions and workshops are part of the Campaign for the Old City Arts Building and will take place outside the building, 23-25 Moss St, Dublin 2. (Map available here).

Friday will kick off at 7pm with an introduction to the weekend and a discussion on public space as well as dinner. Saturday's events begin at 3pm with a discussion "University in crisis" (speakers Provisional University and Naomi Milner), a break at 5 and a discussion at 6 "Challenging NAMA", followed by the Happy City Samba band at 8.

For more info contact campaigncityarts@gmail.com

Rebellious media conference

2011-08-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

London, 8-9 October 2011
Co-organised by Peace News, Ceasefire, New Internationalist, Red Pepper, Undercurrents and visionOntv.

More details here.

Sustaining resistance: empowering renewal

2011-08-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

29th October to 6th November 2011

Tools for effective and sustainable activism
Week long workshop in the Catalan Pyrenees

This workshop, hosted in a wild part of the Catalan Pyrenees, offers personal and collective tools to make our activism more effective. They can help us stay in it for the long haul, creating personal sustainability and adding continuity to our movement building. They can also ensure the collective dimensions of our activism exemplify the values we struggle for. They can help us stay inspired, nourished, empowered and strategically creative.

The workshop applies ecological and systems thinking, radical analysis and holistic participatory learning to the practice of activism and the building of social movements. It offers practical methods for engaging in the inner work that underpins effective social engagement. It will also bring together activists from across europe to share practice and strengthen networks. Funding is available to some participants, but places are limited. For information or application form e mail: info@ecodharma.com

More details on www.ecodharma.com

What is education?

2011-08-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

A lovely little animated video about mainstream education here. Once this kind of comment was the preserve of people like Ivan Illich - now it's said very widely (of course without making any real difference to the practice of schooling).

Education for transformation

2011-07-21T03:17:00.001-07:00

Eurig Scandrett, who took part in the CEESA / Anthropology & Development Beyond the crisis workshop at Seomra Spraoi, has an interesting article about the workshop along with the World Education Forum in Palestine and radical education events in England and Scotland, here.

Day conference: new agendas in social movement studies

2011-06-27T05:50:00.001-07:00

This will be held in Maynooth on Saturday, November 26th. Full details are available here.

2011 entry preliminary readings

2011-06-27T01:45:00.000-07:00

The MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism brings together students and staff with a very wide range of backgrounds and life experiences, differing levels of practitioner experience in social movements or adult education, different academic backgrounds etc. - and uses that difference as a strength to learn from each other and come to see ourselves in a bigger picture and connect up our knowledge and politics with other people's.

This also makes it a bit challenging, and we've put together a list of preliminary readings which may be helpful to those about to do the course, those thinking about doing the course in future years and those thinking about the issues raised on the course. Please note that we are not suggesting that you should read all of this before starting the course! You might however feel that there are particular areas where you would be starting from scratch and you would like to have something to work with - that's what this is for.

If you feel you're a complete beginner, don't despair - many people feel that and then discover that they know more than they think :-) If you wanted to read just one book, though, you might try Cynthia Kaufman's Ideas for action (Boston: South End Press, 2003). Kaufman is a long-standing activist (since Latin American solidarity in the 1980s, now involved in tenant rights organising and advising Students for Justice) and this book is a real handbooks for activists which brings together understanding the social mechanisms which explain why injustice happens, the political choices we have in organising and educating for a more equal society and the intellectual tools we need to make a better world. The book is out of print but can currently be had for less than £2 from the ABEbooks network of second-hand bookshops at this address - or you can download the whole thing in PDF from the author's site. You can also read good chunks of it on Google Books.

Many of the texts listed here are available free online; unfortunately some are only available from within university libraries. Book-length titles are only rarely available online (though it is worth checking on scribd.com, Google Books and library.nu. They can often be ordered cheaply from ABEbooks as per above. Remember also that public libraries can order books for you which are available in other libraries.

Disclaimer: Please note that this is not a complete list of modules (there are also elective modules available from other MAs), and that listing a module here is not an absolute guarantee that it will be available in 2012-13.
Praxis and community participation (core module)

This module is primarily about you preparing material and offering your experiences for group discussion - it is about how we as movement practitioners and community educators work with our experience, cultural resources, theories etc. If you want to prepare something, we suggest you read one of two kinds of things, depending on what feels most useful.

One would be a "how-to" book on the nuts and bolts of organising - perhaps something from a movement different to your own. One of the following might be a good possibility:

Anne Hope et al., Training for transformation: a handbook for community workers - this is based on experiences in rural African communities

George Lakey, Powerful peacemaking: strategy for a living revolution (associated material here) - this is structured around non-violent direct action

Joan Minieri and Paul Getsos, Tools for radical democracy - this is drawn mainly from US community organising

Starhawk, Dreaming the dark OR Truth or dare (see her resources for trainers here) - this is feminist, spiritually-informed direct action around environmental and peace issues

TRAPESE, Do it yourself: a handbook for changing our world. All online free here - this is from British movements doing community education around climate justice issues

The other is to read a text looking at more strategic and philosophical issues around what kind of society we are trying to get to, how the ends and means are related, etc. Again, you might find it useful to read something from a different perspective to your own:

Saul Alinsky, Rules for radicals - US community organising

Myles Horton and Paolo Freire, We make the road by walking (on Google Books here) - two founders of community education

Interface activist discussion about strategies for change here (start p.243)- perspectives from a range of different movements around the globe

Notes from Nowhere, We are everywhere. Online here - Global anti-capitalist movements

Judy Rebick, Transforming power: from the personal to the political. Summaries and links online free here - Rebick is the organiser of the Canadian rabble.ca website

Raymond Williams, Resources of hope: culture, democracy, socialism. Online here - classic radicalism

Research methods (core module)

This module will offer students the opportunity to develop, engage in and present their own research in community, equality and praxis. It will give space for students to develop and research from their life experiences, community engagement, activist practice and educational encounters (including praxis developed within this course). We will support and encourage innovative research that embodies the praxis of community education, equality and praxis. This work is supported by the accompanying research methods module and is complemented by the work of supervisors.

Oakley, A. (2000). Experiments in knowing: Gender and method in the social sciences. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Critical pedagogy in adult and community education (core)

Our basic suggestion on this would be bell hooks, Teaching to transgress. If you want to read further about this we would suggest Paolo Freire, Pedagogy of the oppressed.

Two good websites are Critical pedagogy on the web and The encyclopedia of informal education.

Eisenstein, Hester (2009) Feminism Seduced: How Global Elites Use Women’s Labor and Ideas to Exploit the World

Dark Star Collective (2002) Quiet Rumours. AK Press.

Verloo M. (2006) Multiple Inequalities, intersectionality and the European Union, European Journal of Women’s Studies . 13:211-28. (to give you an idea of how the state gets it wrong!)

Feminism and masculinities (elective module)

For those with no background at all in the area we recommend Rosemarie Tong, Feminist thought: a more comprehensive introduction. Otherwise we suggest Alison Jaggar, Feminist politics and human nature. Some of the themes covered in the module include sexuality, women and work, feminist and women’s activism, masculinities, and feminist ways of knowing. The following are a small section of some of the readings that have been used in the module this year and will certainly relate to what is covered in 2011-12.

Combahee River Collective (1977). “A Black Feminist Statement” in Wendy Kolmar, Frances Bartkowski Feminist Theory: A Reader. pp. 272-277

Rosenberg, Jessica and Gitana Garofalo (1998) “Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from within”Signs 23(3): 809-841

Ryan, Anne Feminist Ways of Knowing. NIACE, Leicester, (2001)

Stanley, Liz and Sue Wise (1993) Breaking out Again. London: Routledge.

Whitehead, S. Barrett, F. J. (2001) The Masculinities Reader

-Westwood, S. Feckless Fathers: Masculinities and the British State

There are a number of novels you might find interesting as summer reading including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things and Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time which also touch on many of the debates we’ll cover in the module .

Full syllabus from 2010-11 available upon request.

Critical media and cultural pedagogy in communities (elective)

Some readings on participative media, arts and culture which will hopefully give you a flavour of the thinking that we’ll be exploring in this optional module. We’d like much of the work in this module to be a collaborative co-creation between staff and students, so it’s been hard to choose readings. Instead, I’ve just selected some readings that inspired us in the design of the course:

AONTAS special issue on arts available here
Fenton, N 2009 ‘Has the Internet changed how NGOs work with established media? Not enough’, Special Report: NGOs and the News on The Nieman Journalism Lab, Harvard University. Available here
Meade, R. (2008) "Mayday, Mayday! Newspaper framing anti-globalizers!: A critical analysis of the Irish Independent's anticipatory coverage of the `Day of the Welcomes' demonstrations", Journalism Vol. 9, Number 3
Pickard, V. W. (2006) ‘Assessing the Radical Democracy of Indymedia: Discursive, Technical, and Institutional Constructions’ in Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 19-/38 Available here
Phillips, A. (2004) ‘Care, Values and an Uncaring Media‘ in Social Policy & Society 3:4, 439–446. Available here
[Note: this article may not be available to you at the moment, but will be available once you’re registered with the library. I’ve put it on the list as it was the article that inspired us at the outset when we began designing this course.

The state, the market and social movements (elective module)

Fergal Finnegan email: Fergal.Finnegan@nuim.ie

The course will give a historical and sociological account of the market, the state and social movements drawing on a wide range of disciplines (sociology, economics, labour history, geography and critical theory). It is an invitation to trace some of the roots of the present moment through to the past.

The course content can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part will look at economic, political and cultural change in Ireland over the past three decades. These shifts will then be linked to broader global changes in a neoliberal era. After this we look at historical accounts of capitalism and resistance that allow us to think through how the market, the state and social movements have developed in relation to each other.

Underlying this is a specific notion of one of the sorts of knowledge that is useful to progressive social movements. To name our reality and how power functions through the market, the state and through social movements is, I think, vital. I believe we need long range and broad models that explain critically how power works and to create shared narratives of oppression and solidarity. However, this is, of course open to question and part of the course will be thinking this through.

Last year the course drew on David Harvey, Michel Foucault, EP Thompson, Sheila Rowbotham, Karl Polanyi, Nancy Fraser, David Graeber, Michael Mann, Charles Tilly, Axel Honneth, Silvia Federici, Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker. Overall, the course is aimed at sketching out the ‘big picture’ (however incomplete and imperfect). The point is to do this together in an open and critical way so a fundamental part of the course will consist of the group identifying the resources and ideas that speak to them. As such the course content is less important than the concerns and issues you wish to think through and the best preparation for the module would be be identify the broad questions about power that you would like to answer. As this module is in the second semester we will certainly have the opportunity to discuss this in advance of the course.

It is not required to read something related to the module beforehand but if you are curious this radio show often discusses ideas that are relevant to the course

http://www.againstthegrain.org/

If you want to begin looking at how Ireland has changed both of these books are good places to start

Coulter,C. and Coleman, S. (Eds) (2003) The end of Irish history? Critical reflections on the Celtic Tiger. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Kirby, P. (2002a) The Celtic tiger in distress: Growth with inequality in Ireland. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

If neoliberalism is of interest this book is very helpful

Harvey, D. (2005) A brief history of neo-liberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

As is this collection of pieces on recent social movements

If a historical perspective is required a key figure is E P Thompson

Thompson, E. P. (1991). Customs in common. London: Merlin.

Or a slightly more recent example of ‘history from below’ is

Linebaugh, P. & Rediker, M. (2000) The many headed Hydra. London: Verso.

However, if there is a tremendous amount of material out there and if you are looking for something else please just get in touch. Thanks.

Participatory action research in social movement practice (elective module)

It's hard to prepare far in advance for this unless you're already familiar with the practice of social research (and with social movements, obviously): basically, you can have much more productive conversations about something after you've done it once and can see what different issues it throws up.

Having said that, you may get some initial inspiration from

the Action Research Ireland blog here
Yolanda Wandsworth’s paper “What is PAR?”
The CUNY institute’s PAR collective, which has lots of PAR projects working with disadvantaged youth
“Nothing about me, without me!” article online here

I've written, or co-written two pieces which activists and social movement researchers have told me they've found useful:

Colin Barker and Laurence Cox, "What have the Romans ever done for us? Activist and academic forms of movement theorising". In Colin Barker and Mike Tyldesley (eds.), Eighth international conference on Alternative Futures and Popular Protest conference. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University (2002), online here
Laurence Cox, "Gramsci, movements and method: the politics of activist research". In Colin Barker and Mike Tyldesley (eds.), Fourth international conference on Alternative Futures and Popular Protest conference. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University (1998), online here

There is some more technical material at

the action research resources at Southern Cross in Australia
Participatory action research resources at learningforsustainability

Finally, the first issue of the journal Interface: a journal for and about social movements was dedicated to how social movements produce knowledge. In particular, the article by Mayo Fuster Morell on different kinds of movement research, Fergal Finnegan's review on knowledge production in the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Budd Hall's article on learning in environmental social movements and the editorial may be worth reading.

Sustainable organising (mini-section)

A good starting point is the Activist Trauma site

An overview of the area with a lengthy bibliography is

Laurence Cox, "Hearts with one purpose alone? Thinking personal sustainability in social movements". Emotion, space and society 2 (2009): 52 – 61, online here

The following is a remarkable collection, focussing particularly on experiences at a very "sharp end":

Jane Barry and Jelena Dordevic, What's the use of revolution if we can't dance? Boulder: Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, online here

This outstanding manual draws particularly on majority world experiences:

Marina Bernal et al., Self-care and self-defence for feminist activists. New Delhi: Artemisia / Elige / Crea, online here

Leicester event on new media and protest

2011-06-22T04:52:00.000-07:00

How are demonstrations represented in the mass media? How do activists use new media to organise and communicate protest? What benefits do Social Media provide?

The British Sociological Association's Media Study Group and the University of Leicester are proud to announce a symposium called 'New Communications and Demonstrations’. This event will showcase a plethora of valuable research in this field and invite discussions and comments on this topic.

A full programme for the day and online registration are now available at http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/Media.htm

‘New Communications and Demonstrations’

Wednesday 13th July 2011, 10.30am – 4.30pm
Attenborough Building, University of Leicester
Directions: http://www2.le.ac.uk/maps

Symposium fees (Places are limited, so sign up early!)
£25 BSA members and Postgraduates
£35 for non-members

For more details about the study group please visit:
http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/Media.htm

Please direct any administrative enquiries to the BSA office at events@britsoc.org.uk and any academic enquires to Dr. Julian Matthews jpm29@leicester.ac.uk

May Day International e-book

2011-06-21T16:28:00.000-07:00

May Day 2011 saw an international collaboration by Ireland's CrisisJam, the Greek Left Review, the UK's New Left Project and the American ZNet, bringing together short pieces by a wide range of activists and academics about crisis, austerity and resistance. You can now download the whole thing as an e-book here.

CEESA student video about the course

2011-06-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Bridie Costello, Keith Wallace and Alice McDonnell made this video about the course for the 16th international Manchester conference on "Alternative Futures and Popular Protest". You can view the 4-minute video here:

CEESA student video about the course from MA CEESA on Vimeo.

21st century motherhood movement book

2011-06-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Demeter Press have just published an edited collection by Andrea O'Reilly, The 21st century motherhood movement: mothers speak out on why we need to change the world and how to do it. It includes chapters on more than eighty organisations around the world campaigning around issues ranging from birth and maternity care via war and peace to social justice on the basis of shared identities as mothers. There are two Irish chapters: Christina Bermingham on AIMSI, the birth activist Association for Improvements in Maternity Services Ireland, and Martina Hynan on Keeping Mum, a community arts project in Ennis. Available from www.demeterpress.org

Interface new issue and calls for papers

2011-06-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

Interface: a journal for and about social movements has just brought out a special issue on the theme of repression and social movements, available (free) here.

There is an open call for papers for activist contributions on feminist strategies for change (deadline September) as part of a wider issue on "Feminism, women's movements and women in movement" (due out in November).

There is a new call for papers on "The season of revolutions: the Arab Spring" (deadline November).

Lastly, a call just out on "For the global emancipation of labour: new movements and struggles around work, workers and precarity" (deadline May 2012).

Assistance of all kinds is always welcome: contact laurence.cox AT nuim.ie or see this site for details.

Voices from another Europe

2011-05-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

Manifesto approved by Popular Assembly last night [May 22nd] at the Rossio Square, Lisbon, where the Rossio camp stands on its fourth day.

First Manifesto of the Rossio Square camp

The protesters, assembled in the Rossio Square, conscious that what is set in march is an act of resistance, hereby agree to state the following:

We, citizens, women and men, workers, migrants, students, unemployed and retired people, united by our indignation in front of a situation that we refuse to accept as inevitable, have taken our streets. We thus join those that around the world today fight for their rights against the constant oppression of the ruling economical-financial system.

From Reykjavik to Cairo, from Wisconsin to Madrid, a popular wave sweeps the world. This wave is silenced and twisted with disinformation by the media, the same media that doesn’t question the permanent injustices in every country, only proclaiming the inevitability of austerity, the end of rights, the funeral of democracy.

Real democracy will never exist as long as the world is managed by a financial dictatorship. The ransom signed behind our backs with the IMF and the EU has abducted democracy and our lives. The countries in which the IMF intervenes see a brutal drop in the average live expectancy. The IMF kills! We can only reject it. We refuse to have our wages, our pensions and social supports cut, while simultaneously the culprits for this crisis are spared and recapitalized. Why do we have to choose between unemployment and precarious labour? Why do they want to take away our public services, stealing us, through privatizations, of what we paid for all our lives? Our answer is no. We defend the withdrawal of the troika (IMF, EU, ECB) plan. Following the example of many countries around the world, such as Iceland, we will not accept to bury our future for a debt that isn’t ours.

We refuse to accept the theft of our future. We intend to assume control of our lives and intervene effectively in each and every process of political, social and economical life. We are doing it, today, in the popular assemblies gathered all around. We appeal to all the people to join, in the streets, in the squares, in each corner, under the shade of every statue so that, united, we may change once and for all the rules of this crooked game.

This is just the beginning. The streets are ours.

Lisbon, 22nd of May 2011

Free Hetherington summer school, Glasgow

2011-05-17T00:44:00.000-07:00

The Free Hetherington is a permanently occupied space at Glasgow University (since February 1st). They are planning a week-long summer school for late June and early July: more details here.

European Academy for Social Movements

2011-05-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

The European ATTAC network is running a "European Academy for Social Movements" in mid-August in Freiburg. The programme covers financial markets, democracy, alternatives to austerity, ecology, movements and unions, the North African revolutions and more. They have costs down to a minimum including accommodation, food, public transport and childcare. More details here.

Academy of activism

2011-05-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

SpunOut.ie are running an "academy of activism" with Sarah Clancy, Mick McCaughan and other speakers in mid-June. There will be 15, free, places for young people between 18 and 25. More details here.

a living utopia

2011-05-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

At Saturday's Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements workshop, one of the facilitators commented that the session represented elements of "a living utopia": a very diverse group of people involved in very different movements, but giving each other time and space to speak about things that concerned them, listening seriously and taking each other on board.

Another speaker saw this as "living with contradictions": fully taking on board each other's difference and appreciating that rather than trying to bury it or arrive at a quick and easy fudge. Maybe this is how we, collectively, come to embody a larger and more powerful alternative than any one of us can do individually.

I had a similar feeling at the wrap-up events for this year's MA classes, which was a very enjoyable event but also a sad one for everyone, given the links we've made with each other during the year. Despite the huge differences in where we've come from and what we're struggling around, we have come to engage very strongly with each other. Love, respect and solidarity are possible across and between movements, and a shared sense of possibility. If we can do this among ourselves in a small space under the right circumstances, it can't be impossible on the larger scale that is needed to really change things. Arundhati Roy puts this well:

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Yesterday was a quiet day.

Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements

2011-04-28T01:26:00.000-07:00

Day workshop for activists and researchers
All welcome, admission free.
No booking necessary.

Saturday, May 7th 2011, 9.30 - 6.00
Seomra Spraoi social centre, 10 Belvidere Court, Dublin 1 (off Gardiner St - directions here)

A joint initiative of the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism and the MA in Anthropology and Development, both NUIM

TinyURL for this post: http://tinyurl.com/6d2gxkh

How can we think beyond the immediate pressures of responding to the recession, the IMF/EU bailout, the elections and so on? How has the ground shifted under the feet of social movements in the last few years? Where do struggles for equality and global justice stand now? This event brings together activists and researchers from Mexico, Scotland, the US and Ireland in an open event aimed at thinking strategically and understanding both what is now becoming harder to imagine and what is now becoming possible.

Timetable:

9.30 Arrival / registration / etc.
10.00 Welcome / round of introductions
10.15 John Holloway (Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico): "Rage against the rule of money"
11.15 Break
11.30 Eurig Scandrett (Queen Margaret University, Scotland): "How can we learn from popular struggles?"
12.15 Kathy Powell (NUI Galway): "Why do people not revolt?"

1.00 Lunch break

2.00 Parallel sessions

- Laurence Davis (independent scholar): "What are we fighting for? On not settling for too little"
- Rosie Meade (University College Cork): "Has culture been bought?"
- David Nugent (Emory University): "Is development a substitute for social change?"
- Aileen O'Carroll (National Qualitative Data Archive): "Does work leave us time for a revolution?"

3.30 Break
4.00 Plenary
6.00 Ends

About the presenters and facilitators:

Laurence Davis is the author of numerous publications on the relationship between utopian aspirations and popular empowerment, including the co-edited volumes Anarchism and Utopianism (MUP, 2009) and The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (Lexington Books, 2005), and a wide range of articles on contemporary anti-capitalist and ecological movements, countercultural and revolutionary politics, and the politics of art, work and love. He is a founding member of the U.K. Anarchist Studies Network, a series editor of Continuum Book's new Contemporary Anarchist Studies book series, and a member of the Steering Committee and media team co-chair of Irish Ship to Gaza.

John Holloway, born in Dublin, is Professor of Sociology, Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Mexico. He is the author of Change the World Without Taking Power (new ed. Pluto, London 2010) and Crack Capitalism (Pluto, London 2010).

Rosie Meade works in the School of Applied Social Studies, UCC. Her research interests include the politics of community development, cultural democracy and cultural resistance. She has been involved in a number of campaigning and community based organisations in Cork City, including Cork Women's Support Group, Immigrant Solidarity, William Thompson Weekend and Cork Community Artlink.

David Nugent is currently Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, where he directs the Masters in Development Practice. He has done field research in the eastern Canadian Arctic on Inuit subsistence patterns, in east Africa on government-sponsored sorcery eradication, in the Peruvian Andes on state formation and underground political movements, and in the western U.S. on indigenous land and water rights. He is the award-winning author and editor of several books, including Modernity at the Edge of Empire (Stanford University Press, 1997), Locating Capitalism in Time and Space (Stanford University Press, 2001), and (with Joan Vincent) A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics (Blackwell Press; 2004).

Aileen O'Carroll is manager of the Irish Qualitive Data Archive. Her research interests include the sociology of time, life history, work organisation, class and economic sociology. She is currently working on a book about post-industrial working time.

Kathy Powell is an anthropologist based at NUI Galway studying socio-economic change, political culture and political practices in rural Mexico. Her research focusses on hegemonic processes, political rationality and relations of power, and particularly on interrelations between the practices and discourses of clientelist politics and corruption, and between forms of violence, social and political inequalities and identity. Other interests include political ideology, identity and "informality" in Cuba.

Eurig Scandrett is an educator and activist in environmental, peace, gender and trade union issues employed at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh where he teaches sociology and social justice and carries out research into environmental justice movements. He coordinated the Bhopal Survivors' Movement Study and edited Bhopal Survivors Speak: emergent voices from a people's movement (2009, Word Power Books). He was previously Head of Community Action at Friends of the Earth Scotland.

The Norwegian oil experience

2011-04-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

Irish Left Review have just published Helge Ryggvik's The Norwegian oil experience: a toolbox for managing natural resources?

http://tinyurl.com/norwegianoil

Dr Ryggvik is Norway's leading critical expert on the history and politics of the oil and gas industries. The report, written for social movements, trade unions and NGOs in countries facing the energy multinationals, discusses what can be learnt from the Norwegian experience about how to secure national ownership and control of these resources, the development of the necessary technological base, and how to use the wealth generated for the benefit of society as a whole. It is a remarkable read.

Rape threats towards Maynooth student: updates

2011-04-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

A series of protests is developing around the police conversation proposing to rape two Rossport campaigners.

In Dublin, a lunchtime protest outside the Dail organised by women's groups and concerned individuals was held on Friday 8th with about 150 people; a Guardian report is here and an Indymedia report here. In Belmullet, the base of the offending policemen (since transferred), a Saturday (9th) afternoon protest was held with around 100 people. There's a report here. A demonstration was held outside the Irish embassy in London on Monday (11th) morning. No reports as yet.

On Wednesday 13th there will be a protest at 5 pm in the Market Square in Castlebar, where the policemen in question have been transferred.

Meanwhile, claims by the Garda Ombudsman commission to independence from the body it is supposedly overseeing are looking increasingly threadbare as campaigners have revealed that of 111 complaints made about the policing of protests in Mayo, only 7 were forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions and none were pursued. As many people have commented this week, the only people likely to face trial over this latest incident are the two women affected.

One of the two women, who has gone public, has called for an independent inquiry and reiterated her lack of faith in the Ombudsman. This call has been supported by Action from Ireland, Shell to Sea, by union officials at NUI Maynooth where she is studying, and by the UCD School of Social Justice. It is hoped that further support for this demand will come over the next week.

NUI Maynooth union expresses outrage and supports call for international inquiry

2011-04-08T03:49:00.000-07:00

April 8th, 2011:

As members of the academic community in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, we wish to express our outrage at the comments made by police in Mayo towards Maynooth student Jerrieann Sullivan and another protester who wishes to remain anonymous. Many Maynooth students have taken part in protests at Rossport and elsewhere over the years, and all have a right to do so without fear of intimidation, assault or sexual violence. We add our voice to the call for an independent international inquiry into the policing of protests around the Corrib Gas project.

Dr Colmán Etchingham, Chairperson
Dr Colin Coulter, Vice Chairperson
Maynooth Branch of the Irish Federation of University Teachers

Protests against rape threats by Rossport gardai

2011-04-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

In response to the threats to rape and deport protestors by police officers in Erris, discussed here, there will be two protests at opposite ends of the country. In Dublin, there will be a silent protest outside the Dail at 1 pm on Friday 8th April, organised as a solidarity demonstration with Rossport and in support of the rights of women and migrants to protest without fear; more details here.

In Mayo, there will be a protest outside Belmullet garda station, the offenders' base, at 2 pm on Saturday. The organisers write:

"We invite people to join this demonstration called in support of all women and men who have been harassed, threatened and intimidated by Gardaí, especially in light of the recently documented comments about the deportation and rape of two female Shell to Sea campaigners. This is not the first example of Garda intimidation and threats against campaigners in Erris. The recording is a glimpse of the reality of intimidation and violence that has dominated community life since Shell's arrival in Co. Mayo.

The past 11 years have seen repeated instances of physical and verbal assaults against campaigners. A number of these incidences were documented in the Frontline Report of 2010, which was a damning indictment of the collaboration between Gardaí and Shell's private security IRMS. However, despite this report and the 120 citizen complaints to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission, there has been no change in the policing of the project."

More details here.

Later: A report with pictures of the Dublin protest, which attracted about 150 people at very short notice, can be found here. The Irish Times carried this picture here.

Maynooth student at Rossport: threats of sexual violence by police

2011-04-04T23:58:00.000-07:00

Two women, one of them a Maynooth student, were briefly arrested in Mayo last week and their video camera confiscated. The camera, in a separate car, was not switched off and when returned to the women contained not only a recording of what was clearly a needlessly aggressive arrest but also a discussion between two gardai, one a sergeant, in which they joked about deporting and raping one of the women. An Irish Times report can be found online here and an Indymedia report, with access to the full recordings, here.

The use of violence, including threats of violence and sexual violence, in the policing of protest in Erris and elsewhere is nothing new, but that makes it none the less horrifying and outrageous. It speaks volumes about the culture of policing that a garda sergeant, involved in the prosecution of sexual assault cases, could make jokes of this nature in the company of other officers - and that the response to the publication of the camera has not been for the officers in question to be suspended but for the name of at least one of the victims to "leak" from the station to tabloid newspapers. See this well-informed discussion of the garda response to the incident.

In 2009 the Minister for Justice vetoed calls for the Garda Ombudsman to review policing of the Corrib Gas dispute. In 2010 the Frontline human rights defence organisation published the report Breakdown of Trust which again called for such a review. The continued refusal to do so, and other official responses to repeated concerns over the aggressive policing of this dispute, are easily understood by gardai as sanctioning a continuation of such behaviour. Some good commentary by Vicky Conway of Humanrights.ie can be found here. A political analysis of the use of force by the Irish police against protestors, just published in Mercier's Riotous assemblies (eds William Sheehan and Maura Cronin), can be found here.

By contrast with the behaviour of gardai and Ministers for Justice, the courage of protestors who face this kind of intimidation for no personal benefit, in defence of deeply-held beliefs about democracy, environmental justice, community rights, opposition to corruption and the common ownership of natural resources is a powerful example of where common decency and hope for the future can be found.

How to build a movement: on organising and activism

2011-04-03T16:02:00.001-07:00

A good post by Mark Rudd, ex-SDS organiser and Weather Underground, online here. He talks about what was wrong with the Weather model - which turns out to be surprisingly similar to what's wrong with some of today's more defeatist assumptions - and the value of grassroots organising efforts.

Repudiate the Debt think-in, Thursday April 14th

2011-03-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is another interesting project, as the EU starts to make contingency plans for defaults which critical economists have noted as being on the cards for some time.

Skill Share weekend in Dublin April 1st - 3rd

2011-03-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

"A weekend of workshops, talks and films... The purpose of the weekend is to get people from various backgrounds interested in activism and to meet up, get to know each other and learn from activists and others". The programme looks excellent; more details here.

Advance notice: Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements

2011-03-23T09:35:00.001-07:00

Day workshop for activists and researchers
All welcome, admission free.
No booking necessary.

Saturday, May 7th 2011, 9.30 - 6.00
Seomra Spraoi social centre, 10 Belvidere Court, Dublin 1 (off Gardiner St - directions here)

A joint initiative of the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism and the MA in Anthropology and Development, both NUIM

How can we think beyond the immediate pressures of responding to the recession, the IMF/EU bailout, the elections and so on? How has the ground shifted under the feet of social movements in the last few years? Where do struggles for equality and global justice stand now? This event brings together activists and researchers from Mexico, Scotland, the US and Ireland in an open event aimed at thinking strategically and understanding both what is now becoming harder to imagine and what is now becoming possible.

Timetable:

9.30 Arrival / registration / etc.
10.00 Welcome / round of introductions
10.15 John Holloway (Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico): "Rage against the rule of money"
11.15 Break
11.30 Eurig Scandrett (Queen Margaret University, Scotland): "How can we learn from popular struggles?"
12.15 Kathy Powell (NUI Galway): "Why do people not revolt?"

1.00 Lunch break

2.00 Parallel sessions

- Laurence Davis (independent scholar): "What are we fighting for? On not settling for too little"
- Rosie Meade (University College Cork): "Has culture been bought?"
- David Nugent (Emory University): "Is development a substitute for social change?"
- Aileen O'Carroll (National Qualitative Data Archive): "Does work leave us time for a revolution?"

3.30 Break
4.00 Plenary
6.00 Ends

About the presenters and facilitators:

Laurence Davis is the author of numerous publications on the relationship between utopian aspirations and popular empowerment, including the co-edited volumes Anarchism and Utopianism (MUP, 2009) and The New Utopian Politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed (Lexington Books, 2005), and a wide range of articles on contemporary anti-capitalist and ecological movements, countercultural and revolutionary politics, and the politics of art, work and love. He is a founding member of the U.K. Anarchist Studies Network, a series editor of Continuum Book's new Contemporary Anarchist Studies book series, and a member of the Steering Committee and media team co-chair of Irish Ship to Gaza.

John Holloway, born in Dublin, is Professor of Sociology, Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Mexico. He is the author of Change the World Without Taking Power (new ed. Pluto, London 2010) and Crack Capitalism (Pluto, London 2010).

Rosie Meade works in the School of Applied Social Studies, UCC. Her research interests include the politics of community development, cultural democracy and cultural resistance. She has been involved in a number of campaigning and community based organisations in Cork City, including Cork Women's Support Group, Immigrant Solidarity, William Thompson Weekend and Cork Community Artlink.

David Nugent is currently Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, where he directs the Masters in Development Practice. He has done field research in the eastern Canadian Arctic on Inuit subsistence patterns, in east Africa on government-sponsored sorcery eradication, in the Peruvian Andes on state formation and underground political movements, and in the western U.S. on indigenous land and water rights. He is the award-winning author and editor of several books, including Modernity at the Edge of Empire (Stanford University Press, 1997), Locating Capitalism in Time and Space (Stanford University Press, 2001), and (with Joan Vincent) A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics (Blackwell Press; 2004).

Aileen O'Carroll is manager of the Irish Qualitive Data Archive. Her research interests include the sociology of time, life history, work organisation, class and economic sociology. She is currently working on a book about post-industrial working time.

Kathy Powell is an anthropologist based at NUI Galway studying socio-economic change, political culture and political practices in rural Mexico. Her research focusses on hegemonic processes, political rationality and relations of power, and particularly on interrelations between the practices and discourses of clientelist politics and corruption, and between forms of violence, social and political inequalities and identity. Other interests include political ideology, identity and "informality" in Cuba.

Eurig Scandrett is an educator and activist in environmental, peace, gender and trade union issues employed at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh where he teaches sociology and social justice and carries out research into environmental justice movements. He coordinated the Bhopal Survivors' Movement Study and edited Bhopal Survivors Speak: emergent voices from a people's movement (2009, Word Power Books). He was previously Head of Community Action at Friends of the Earth Scotland.

"Ireland's new religious movements" launch

2011-03-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

"Ireland's new religious movements" will be launched in Dublin on March 30th at 6.30 pm by Marion Bowman (head of dept. of Religious Studies at the Open University) who will be speaking on "Contemporary Celticity". More details here.

Earth Activist Training 2011

2011-03-22T01:36:00.000-07:00

20 August - 4 September 2011 in rural Devon with Starhawk and Andy Goldring: permaculture design, activism and ritual. More details here.

Starting the CEESA MA this autumn

2011-03-20T01:15:00.000-07:00

MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism

Another world is possible:
learning from each other's struggles

NUI Maynooth Sociology and Adult & Community Education

For decades community groups, the women's movement and other social justice movements have been the driving force behind equality in Ireland, while global justice activists have highlighted the crisis of climate change and neo-liberalism. As crisis hits, cuts and recession bite, social partnership collapses and popular movements grow, what do we already know about how to change the world? This course brings together experienced activists in community education and social movements with newcomers interested in social justice to create new knowledge and develop alternatives. Will you join us on this learning journey?

How can we bring about social justice and environmental survival in Ireland and beyond? This course enables students to think about how to build real alternatives to challenge existing structures of oppression and injustice. It is about developing ordinary people’s capacity to change the world through community education, grassroots community activism and social movement campaigning. In the face of powerful voices telling us that “there is no alternative” but to trust in their expertise and solutions, this course starts from the view that “another world is already under construction”.

The main force behind positive social change in Ireland and globally has always been "people power": those who were not "on the inside", without property, status or power coming together to push for change where it was needed. Community activism, the women's movement, global justice campaigners, self-organising by travellers and new Irish communities, trade unions, GLBTQ campaigning, environmentalism, international solidarity, anti-racism, anti-war activism, survivors of institutional abuse, human rights work, the deaf movement and many other such movements have reshaped our society and put human need on the agenda beside profit and power. Movement participants have developed important bodies of knowledge about how to do this, which are fundamental starting-points for trying to make a better world possible.

What students say about the course:

“The real beauty of this course is the sense that finally you are not alone in your thinking. Not only can you get to open your mind up to all that has been written, but you get to open up to your class group and really learn from each other. In a world where injustice is the norm, there is a sense that there is a whole world of people out there fighting alongside you and that at last, change just might be possible.”

“There are misunderstandings about the word activism… If you are challenging the system and the way it is, then you are an activist, you are not passively existing in the world, you are taking action…”

“The knowledge and experience of activists are valued.”

“A chance to get really detailed feedback on the way you’re thinking about how to change things.”

“It’s a course for practitioners.”

The Departments of Sociology and Adult & Community Education collaborate on this MA to develop thinking about critical pedagogy in community education; power and praxis in social movements; and understandings of equality, transformation and sustainability. Our commitment to the public use of academic knowledge is a long-standing one and we have a wide range of practical experience as well as research-based knowledge. This includes involvement with social movements, community activism and issue-based campaigning; media work and public debate; active involvement in political parties, trade unions and lobbying groups; community education and literacy; development and human rights work. Our student body is very diverse, with a wealth of different experiences and a strong tradition of involvement in community development and social activism.

The course content is all taught from the standpoint of "praxis": the understanding that theory without practice is meaningless, while practice without theory is likely to fail. The basis of our work is dialogue between reflective practitioners, systematically including both these aspects.

What students say about the practical benefits:

“Helps to makes links with fellow activists working in different movements.”

“A chance to challenge and enhance your practice.”

“Puts names on things that you have done and helps to frame your ideas.”

“An opportunity to work collectively.”

“Make friends, networks, comrades.”

“An opportunity to challenge academic norms.”

“A chance to be more objective about your practice.”

Course participants

Both Departments have a long history of attracting students who are concerned about social and global justice and keen to draw on their analytical skills to develop a professional life in these areas, including mature students who have already had such an engagement and want to develop their practice further. This programme is aimed at the needs of this very diverse group. This includes those involved in social movements, community development, adult learning, grassroots activism, workers in NGOs and state agencies, and advocates with minority groups.

The course is geared to bringing together the best of practitioner skills in the field with the best of academic research. Our workshops are not traditional classroom experiences but draw on our community, popular and radical educational practice to bring out and work with participants' existing knowledge. We bring our own lived experience into the classroom, and encourage other participants to do the same, creating a conversation between practitioners in which students are not passive learners and teachers are not unquestioned experts. We also bring in a wide range of outside mentors.

The programme attracts a wide range of students, with very diverse backgrounds, movements and levels of experience. In 2010 - 11, participants included working-class community organisers and radical ecologists, feminists and rural community activists, young graduates and experienced political organisers. We are sure that this year’s intake will be just as diverse.

Students’ experience of the course:

“It’s fun and challenging, constantly changing.”

“Moves beyond/transcends your own organisation or movement. That can help to change your practice as well.”

“Can be fun and interactive and our input feels valued.”

“Challenges your views and perspectives.”

“The lecturers are open to being challenged and to change academic practices.”

“There was a concerted effort towards group development both by the class members and by the lecturers. We were very lucky in our class group dynamic and a willingness for each person to reveal who they really are.”

“The lecturers are deadly too!”

Programme

The programme includes core modules in “Praxis and community participation”; “Power, politics and praxis”; “Critical thought and critical pedagogy” and “Understanding equality and inequality”. Along with these students choose one elective module a term, such as “Social movements”; “Participatory action research in social movement practice”; “The market, the state and social movements”; “The politics of feminism and masculinities”; “Power and inequality” and “Sustainable communities”. We also run add-on sessions on topics like “Sustainable organising”; “Critical media literacy”; “Environmental justice”, “Utopias and social movements” and “Digital research methods”. Finally, participants take research modules and complete a thesis, often in an innovative format.

Participants will leave the course with a deeper understanding of how the politics of equality and inequality works in a range of substantive areas. They will have developed the skill of practicing "politics from below": active citizenship, civil society, community education and development, social movements and other forms of popular agency. They will have gained skill as a reflexive researcher, developed their writing and presentation skills and completed a practice-based research project.

Warnings from current students:

“There’s a lot of self-evaluation and self-reflection.”

“Clear your timetable…. Really clear your timetable, take the opportunity to step back from your work.”

“I didn’t realise how much reflection is on the course.”

Contact and admissions

The course website is http://ceesa-ma.blogspot.com. Application is via the HEA’s online PAC system, at http://www.pac.ie. The deadline for applications is May 29, 2011 and the course code is MHA64. The minimum requirement is a primary degree (BA etc.) at 2:2 level, or the equivalent.

Basic information on applications, grants and fees are on this page. For any queries, please contact the Dept. of Adult and Community Education, NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland at adcomed@nuim.ie or (+353-1) 7083937.

Admission is by interview with staff members, and offers of interview are made on the basis of the online application. Your personal statement is particularly important in this, because this is a practitioner course which is geared towards supporting you in developing your own practice. However, you should not feel that you have to have a particular level of experience in order to be accepted on the course. In 2010 we accepted students at all levels, from school-leavers who had just completed an undergraduate degree to mature students who have been active in movements for decades, and this classroom diversity is part of the richness of the course.

A student says:

“The main thing I enjoyed from the course was not what we learnt but how we learned it. For me the mix of people in the class was electric and we all learned so much from each other. In a way I didn’t feel like I was going into ‘college’. This was greatly encouraged from the lecturers who by the way are experts in their fields and are always at hand for guidance, advice and criticism. In a way I even feel awkward calling them lecturers as the whole learning process for me was so far removed from what most are used to in a college setting.

As regards the material, like all reflection and philosophising, one day you could be disillusioned with everything, doubting and questioning everything you ever stood for while the next day you want to take on the world, but what kept it together was the energy and camaraderie and that we were all in it together. I hope courses like this and more importantly the whole critical way of learning together is mirrored in other colleges and institutions. And for those like ourselves who are serious and committed about what we do, there is no time like the present to do this course. I already feel the knowledge I gained and more importantly the network of people I have met will be vital to any campaign or project I will be involved with in the future.”

All-Ireland community campaigns gathering

2011-03-02T01:37:00.000-08:00

Are you involved in a campaign in your community?

Join us for an

All Ireland Community Campaigns Gathering

Saturday 26^th of March 2011

10am-5pm

Seomra Spraoi, 10 Belvidere Court, off Gardiner St., Dublin 1

This is a free event

This is an open invitation to all community led campaign groups. By coming together we can share our experiences and find out how we can support each other to win.

You and your group are invited to come together for a day with other community led campaign groups to:

Learn about each other’s struggles and find common issues
Share what we have learned in our campaigns & hear from successful ones
Discuss how we act in solidarity with each other
Participate in a skills workshop around a common challenge (eg. Dealing with the Media, Dealing with state agencies & the legal system, How to keep your campaign going, Basic tools for working together as a group)

The event is being organised by people active in a number of different campaigns including supporting the community under threat from Shell in Mayo. This event will be a neutral space and the aim is to support each other and share strategies. It is not a space for winning people over to specific campaign agendas or any party political groups.

Venue: Seomra Spraoi, 10 Belvidere Court, Dublin 2. Seomra Spraoi is an inspiring example of a community centre run entirely on donations.

Food will be by donation. Please contact communitycampaignsgathering@gmail.com if you have any special dietary or mobility requirements. Let us know if you will need child care for the day as this can be arranged at the venue.

The venue can hold approximately 50 people.

Please contact communitycampaignsgathering@gmail.com if you have questions, are interested in attending or to book a place.

You can find a copy of the poster here. Please print out and put up, or forward a link to anyone who might be interested.

Hope you can make it,

Jerrieann and Kate

0851141170

0876686644

Strathclyde Centre for the Study of Working Class Lives conference

2011-02-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

The University of Strathclyde now has a Centre for the Study of Working-Class Lives, with a very impressive team of Colm Breathnach, Neil Davidson and Patricia McCafferty. Something like this is badly needed in "these islands" as witness the Irish interest in the Youngstown Center for Working-Class Studies.

They're launching it on Friday March 11th. The programme's as follows:

09.00–09.45 Registration and Coffee

09.45-09.50 Welcome

Professor Jim McDonald (University of Strathclyde)

09.50-10.00 Introduction

Neil Davidson (University of Strathclyde)

10.00-11.15 Session 1: Why a Centre for the Study of Working Class Lives?

Professor Michael Zweig (Stony Brook University)

11.15–11.30 Refreshment Break

11.30–12.45 Session 2: Class, Work and Deindustrialisation

Dr Tim Strangleman (University of Kent)

12.45–13.45 Buffet Lunch

13.45–15.00 Session 3: The Power of Class: Inequalities, Injuries and Actions in the History of Advanced Capitalism

Professor Michael J. Haynes (University of Wolverhampton)

15.00–16.15 Session 4: Panel Discussion

Geographies of Social Class in 21^st Century Britain

Professor Danny Dorling (University of Sheffield)

Where is the Working Class? Class Agency and Resistance in British Cities

Dr Andrew Cumbers (University of Glasgow)

16.15–16.30 Refreshment Break

16.30–17.45 Session 5: Representations of the Working Class in Contemporary Art and Culture

Gail Day (University of Leeds) and Steve Edwards (The Open University)

17.45-18.00 Reflections on the Conference

Professor Michael Zweig (Stony Brook University)

18.00–19.00 Wine Reception/Informal discussion

Registration is £40 to academics, free to students and non-academics. Email claire.mcconnell AT strath.ac.uk to book.

New religion in Ireland

2011-02-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Religion is not simply an individual matter of "changing yourself": it is also one of the ways in which people either maintain or challenge the status quo. Ireland's new religious movements, just published, looks at the many different ways in which people have done this over time. Within Ireland, alternative religions go back far longer than the 1970s, migrant communities develop complex internal structures and feminism exerts all sorts of unexpected influences; abroad, the island stands as a "global homeland" for a wide range of Celtic and pagan religious groups. Reality is suddener and more strange than we sometimes fancy it...

The will of the people and the struggle for democracy

2011-01-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

Political theorist Peter Hallward is giving a talk on the above topic in Dublin.

"In this talk Peter Hallward will try to clarify and defend the once-familiar notion of a democratic political will, understood as a rational practice of inclusive and egalitarian self-determination. As conceived by thinkers ranging from Rousseau to Fanon, exercise of an autonomous 'will of the people' involves a process of collective self-emancipation. It requires a capacity for association, deliberation, and prescription, as well as the power to implement political decisions in the face of whatever resistance they encounter. In the past, it was the militant assertion of such a popular will, for instance in the French, Haitian and Russian revolutions, that posed the most far-reaching challenges to the existing order of things; unsurprisingly, today's reactionary political establishment (along with a good deal of contemporary philosophy and critical theory) is largely organised around its exclusion or disruption. But the struggle continues!"

Further details here.

For the state-oriented...

2011-01-27T04:10:00.000-08:00

Details of a conference on February 5th "New political possibilities in Ireland for all left-wing parties in partnership with civil society" have just been posted. May be of interest to those who hold out hopes for electoralism, the revival of social partnership or "policy" as the way forward (or who identify the left with political parties, unions with their leadership and social change with the state).

Registration 9am—10am

Session 1 10am-1pm
Tea/Coffee 11.15 am (15 mins)
'The future of the Irish Left: Policies, Political Strategies and Future Possibilities'.

Speakers:
Cllr. Dermot Looney- Labour Party
Cllr. Cian O'Callaghan-Labour Party
Aengus O'Snodaigh TD- Sinn Féin
Eoin O'Broin- Sinn Fein (election candidate)
Joe Higgins MEP- United Left Alliance
Cllr. Richard Boyd Barrett- United Left Alliance
Mick Finnegan- Workers Party President
Dr.Ben Nutty- Fis Nua (election candidate).

Lunch 1pm—2pm

Session 2 2pm to 4.15pm
'Building Alliances in our Common Interest: Unions and Communities Working Together'.

Speakers:
Ursula Barry– Head of Women’s Studies– UCD
Anne Costello- Community Platform
Dr Mary Murphy–Sociologist, NUI Maynooth
Jack O'Connor-SIPTU Leader
Jimmy Kelly-UNITE Leader
Ailbhe Smyth– Feminist Open Forum

Session 3 4.15pm-6.30pm
New Left Policies for Economic, Social and Political Regeneration

Speakers:
Michael Taft- UNITE
Kathleen Lynch-Prof of Equality Studies, UCD
Michael Burke- Economist and TASC Economist's Network
Tom O'Connor- CIT Economist and TASC
Niall Crowley– Reclaiming Our Future
Dr. Kieran Allen - Economic Sociologist, UCD

This conference will allow left wing parties across the spectrum to compare policies and discuss the prospects for left wing unity. Representatives of communities, equality, rights and women’s groups will also outline their vision for a new Ireland and the prospects for closer co-operation with like minded political parties. The conference will also include a discussion of economic, political and social policies for a new Ireland from a range of left wing thinkers and writers in academia, unions and elsewhere. Union leaders will also present their vision for a new Ireland

IMF bailout - what we can learn from the majority world

2011-01-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

Bloom! are a network of migrant groups and development organisations working on global justice issues both in Ireland and the majority world. This meeting was planned for before Christmas but cancelled because of the weather.

Obviously the theme is really important - despite the flurry of movement-linked responses to the crisis, too many treat it as though this was a purely Irish issue, as if we could learn nothing from the rest of the world, where social movements have been facing off against IMF packages for several decades and increasingly - in Latin America - managing to gain ground rather than simply rearrange the deck chairs. Andy Storey's paper, or a version of it, has been released here and is well worth a look for starters.

A Justice Response to the EU-IMF Loans: Local and Global Perspectives

Wed 26th January 2011, 7 pm

Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2

Chair: Nessa Ní Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland.

Speakers:

Michael Taft (UNITE): The Irish crisis and the EU-IMF intervention

Jose Antonio Gutierrez (Latin America Solidarity Centre): Lessons from Latin America

Andy Storey (Afri): Lessons from the wider world and proposals for Ireland

Siobhan O'Donoghue (Community Platform): Community alternatives

Organised by the Bloom Movement for Global Justice*. All welcome. Further information available by contacting Nessa Ni Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, T: 01 6174835.

*Bloom is a movement of people working for radical change for a just world. Members of Bloom are Africa Centre, Comhlámh, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Latin America Solidarity Centre

From Irish hobo to Burmese Buddhist: celebrating the centenary of U Dhammaloka's trial for sedition

2011-01-18T01:18:00.000-08:00

'Dhammaloka Day', Saturday 19 February, 2.30-6pm
Boole Lecture Theatre, UCC, Cork:
All welcome, admission free

Dear friends,

Full details of "Dhammaloka Day" are now available on the UCC website at http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day/ with links to the draft programme, on-line registration (please register if you're hoping to come) and a short video introduction by Prof. Brian Bocking on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mUil5bVPsI.

'Dhammaloka Day' celebrates the centenary of "The Irish Buddhist's" 1911 trial for sedition in colonial Burma. It is also the Irish launch of the special issue of the journal Contemporary Buddhism (Vol. 11, no.2, 2010) on the remarkable and unjustly forgotten figure of U Dhammaloka, a Dublin-born migrant worker who was one of the first Europeans to become a Buddhist monk and a famous opponent of Christian missionaries.

Atheist, autodidact, temperance campaigner and Buddhist revivalist, Dhammaloka was supported in Japan by Letitia Jephson of Mallow, denounced in Singapore by journalist Edward Alexander Morphy of Killarney and tried for sedition in Burma by Justice Daniel H. R. Twomey of Carrigtwohill.

Famous throughout South-East Asia in his time, Dhammaloka travelled extensively between 1900-1914 in colonial Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaya, Japan, China, Ceylon, India and Nepal and beyond. He was an active correspondent of the freethought journals of the day, and his "Buddhist Tract Society" reprinted, among others, the works of Thomas Paine in Burmese.

This unique event features an international line-up of scholars including Prof. Thomas Tweed from Austin, Texas (author of The American Encounter with Buddhism), Dr Alicia Turner from Toronto (editor of the Journal of Burma Studies), Dr Elizabeth Harris from Liverpool (author of Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter), Dr Laurence Cox from Maynooth (co-editor of Interface: a journal for and about social movements) and Prof. Brian Bocking from Cork (chair of Ireland's first Department of the Study of Religions).

The provisional programme for the day is:

2 pm: Arrival, Tea and coffee

2.30: Welcome: Introducing Dhammaloka (Brian Bocking, Study of Religions Dept., UCC)
2.45: Dhammaloka, "The Irish Pongyi" in colonial Burma (Alicia Turner, Religious Studies, York University Toronto)
3.15: Dhammaloka - atheist, activist, Irish Buddhist (Laurence Cox, Sociology, NUI Maynooth)
3.45: Response: Ananda Metteyya and U Dhammaloka (Elizabeth Harris, Theology and Religious Studies, Liverpool Hope)

4.00 tea / coffee break -

4.30: Dhammaloka's Irish connections: Letitia Jephson, Edward Morphy, Daniel Twomey (Brian Bocking)
5.00: Dhammaloka in context: globalising Buddhism at the turn of the 20th century (Thomas Tweed, Religious Studies, North Texas University)
5.30: Discussion
6.00: Close

Information and registration (free): www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day
Enquiries: dhammaloka@ucc.ie < mailto:dhammaloka@ucc.ie>
Tel: 021 490 2773

Be outraged!

2011-01-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

Stephane Hessel, a 93-year-old survivor of the French Resistance and Buchenwald, recently published a short (13-page) booklet entitled Indignez-vous (Be outraged!) which has become a viral best-seller in France (600,000 copies) and deserves to do the same here. A rather clunky English-language translation is now available online here.

scholarships in authentic journalism

2010-12-30T04:33:00.000-08:00

See this link for details of 40 scholarships on the ten-day "School of Authentic Journalism" in Mexico (May 11 - 21, funding available for those who can't afford the costs). More details here.

Interface 2/2 now out: activist media issue

2010-12-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Interface: a journal for and about social movements 2/2 is now out, on the theme "Voices of dissent: activists' engagements in the creation of alternative, autonomous, radical and independent media". Articles in this issue include Community Media Network's Margaret Gillan on "Class and voice: challenges for grassroots community activists using media in 21st century Ireland"; "Archiving feminist grassroots media" by Brigitte Geiger and Margit Hauser of the Viennese feminist library / archive Stichwort; pieces on how social networking sites have been used by precarious workers in Italy and mass protests in South Korea; international labour organisers on their use of the Internet; and many more.

For now Interface can be found at this address but in a few days it will move to this one.

Bloom! justice response to IMF / ECB

2010-11-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

Public meeting: A Justice response to the IMF/ECB intervention
Wed 1st December, 6.30 pm
Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2

Chair: Nessa Ní Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland.

Speakers:
Michael Taft (UNITE): The Irish crisis and the EU-IMF intervention
Jose Antonio Gutierrez (Latin America Solidarity Centre): Lessons from Latin America
Andy Storey (UCD, Centre for Development Studies): Lessons from Greece, challenges and needs regarding political organising from now on
Siobhan O’Donoghue (Community Platform): There are alternatives

Organised by the Bloom Movement for Global Justice*. All welcome. Further information available by contacting Nessa Ni Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, T: 01 6174835.

Another society is not only possible - it is necessary

2010-10-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

An open letter to the participants of "Claiming Our Future"

from activists on the CEESA MA

This pioneering gathering of people will be a first in creating a space to explore real change. By beginning this process in overcoming mistrust and engaging in genuine conversations, will demonstrate the power of dialogue, even in the bleakest times can abolish despair and offer hope.

This letter seeks to be one departure point for a conversation amongst those in Ireland who are committed to the ideas, practices and values that underpinned the concepts of social justice, equality and participatory democracy. We welcome the conveners call to “foster a unity across civil society and to power a progressive movement to reshape Ireland’s recovery and claim our social values.” We seek to play a proactive role in the creation and sustaining of such a movement.

How we look forward is shaped by our shared lived experiences and critical perspectives of the historical and structural forces that have lead us to where we are today. We feel that there is a need to state in the clearest possible terms both what values we see at the core of our vision for our future, and the steps we will take to make such transformations plausible and sustainable. We seek to be both proactive and positive, though it would be naïve and counterproductive for us to remain silent about what our experiences and history has taught us so far.

Our understanding of equality, social justice, sustainability and democracy are shaped as much by an understanding of all that negates these possibilities -what doesn’t work - as it is by what we think will work. These values only have meaning in practice, and can only be found in the process of creating them if they are to be more than nice ideas. As such any moments for genuine change are as much movements of organised hope as they are movements against inequality. All things/structures/institutions that inhibit them, regardless of rhetoric, should be seen as historical remnants to be radically reformed or replaced entirely.

We reject the model of social partnership with political and economic elite. Our communities, workplaces, health systems and environment have been ripped asunder and plundered. As programmes and projects collapse through dependency on a political and economic system that does not serve us, it would be a foolish strategy to travel that road again. Partnership served only a few, whilst our voices have been mediated, professionalised, managed and ultimately discarded. We need to draw the lesson from this and never again let our movements become toothless. We need to look at ways of building strategic autonomy into how we do this so that our movements will not become dependent upon the very structures and elites that threaten our futures today

Social justice, equality and democracy cannot be fully realised under capitalism. Indeed, the structures of capitalism are perhaps the single biggest cause of injustice in the world. It has not and never will be a friend of the voiceless. We hear a lot about “economic reality” as if it is the only issue of concern and that its recovery is the solution to all the wrongs. We are now asked to press pause on the need for a genuine democracy so that abstract “markets” can have “confidence”.

We argue that another reality exists. What has been called an "economic” crisis is actually a structural crisis within our societies It is simultaneously a democratic crisis, an ecological crisis and an energy crisis. It is our reality that unelected unaccountable institutions like the IMF, European Central Bank, and World Bank, alongside corporations and servile political systems, have been the instruments of injustice and inequality across the globe. These institutions have no legitimacy in defining the quality of life for the majority of the world, including us here in Ireland. They neither seek to represent us, nor ask us for our consent in making decisions that affect our lives now and future generations. As such our movements should seek to dismantle these institutions and give power back to ordinary people. Whilst changes may take time, we need to be clear that our ultimate aims require the removal of all structures of domination, coercion and exploitation.

Whilst we seek to explore and begin to build towards movements that embody our visions in Ireland, we are mindful of the millions across the globe who are participating in the same project. In finding solutions to the problems we have in Ireland, we understand their global nature, and we should actively seek to learn and link up with those beyond our borders who are doing the same. Rebuilding our lives and helping our global communities will inspire growth in a new generation of real social justice, equality and participatory democracy, and assist in a better understanding our environments and ourselves.

Let us use the opportunity that is being presented to us in this crisis to build connections across sectors. It is an opportunity to build unity through focusing on common goals and putting aside our differences. We need to listen to each other, really listen, in order to understand what is being said, not so that we can defend ourselves, but so that we can really learn from each other’s experiences. We need to relearn to think and act collectively in contradiction to the individualisation that the capitalist regime foisted on us. We need to ensure as we move forward that we do so slowly so that those who are now excluded can be brought in, welcomed and that what they have to say is heard. We need to find a new way to build a new world, one where gender equality is a given and where all oppressed groups equally participate.

Let us act together with courage and not through fear.

Bridie Costelloe (Le Cheile Adult Education, Research and Consultancy)

Sian Crowley (Seomra Spraoi)

Alice McDonnell (Women 2000, CAL - Children and Adults Learning, Le Cheile Adult Education, Research and Consultancy)

Mark Malone (Seomra Spraoi)

Breda Murphy (Waterford Women's Centre)

Simon O Donovan (CEESA student)

Laurence Cox (Grassroots Gatherings, Interface)

and other participants in the "Community Education, Equality and Social Activism" MA

All signatories are in a personal capacity only.

Amazing photos from the French protests

2010-10-26T04:15:00.000-07:00

The Boston Globe has a great portfolio of photos from France online at this site.

Rossport activist skill-share

2010-10-21T01:52:00.000-07:00

Rossport Solidarity Camp is holding an Activist Skill share weekend Sat 30 -Sun 31st!

Places are limited to 20 - email them at at rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com or call 085 1141170 to book a place.

Please arrive Friday night if possible. Accommodation is at the camp house. Everyone will help out with cooking & washing up and food will be by donation.

Workshop topics will include:

- Non-violent direct action workshop, practise and discussion

- Blockading techniques

- Sustainable Campaigning

- Wind turbine maintenance

- Building quick low impact structures

More info: http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org

Upcoming events

2010-10-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Marxist perspectives on Irish society" conference, UL October 22nd - 23rd. More details here.

"Claiming our future" forum, RDS October 30th. More details here.

Induction week final arrangements

2010-09-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

Monday September 20th

Coffee with staff in Rowan House, north campus NUIM from 9.30 am.

Morning sessions in Rowan House from 10 am: introduction to the course,
group-work.

2 pm: "Monto" walking tour, north inner city Dublin. Please bring a rainproof coat just in case and walking shoes.

4 pm: Optional "debrief" in local pub.

5 pm: Finish.

Tuesday September 21st

Morning sessions in Rowan House, 10 am to 1 pm: practice and
academia, second session TBA.

Afternoon: Social Movements elective OR library tour.
Finish by 5 pm.

CEESA modules available 2010

2010-09-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Core modules:

Critical pedagogy in adult and community education
Equality, social justice and sustainable development
Power, politics and praxis
Praxis and community participation
Researching and completing your thesis (This module will include three distinct elements - Methodological paradigms and workshop on qualitative research methods; Group supervision and reflexive research; Thesis and research completion).

These are all co-taught by several CEESA staff.

Elective modules:

Semester one: one of

Social Movements (Sociology: Pauline Cullen, Peter Murray)
Participatory action research in social movement practice (CEESA: Laurence Cox)
Quantitative analysis * (Geography)
Teaching and learning social science * (Faculty of Social Science)

Semester two: one of

Feminism and masculinities (CEESA: Bríd Connolly, Theresa O'Keeffe)
Market, state and social movements (CEESA: Fergal Finnegan)
Qualitative analysis * (Sociology: Paul Ryan)
Power and inequality * (Sociology: Mary Murphy)
Teaching and learning social science (Faculty of Social Science)

Electives marked * may cause timetabling difficulties but we are happy to facilitate students who wish to take these.

We dropped other elective offerings very reluctantly and decided that we would offer a series of "spots" on each of three subjects throughout the course of the year, available to all students. These are:

The politics of environmental justice (Michael Murray)
Critical media and cultural pedagogy (Bernie Grummell and others)
Sustainable organising (Laurence Cox)

Note:

We had originally planned to offer students three elective subjects per semester of which they would take two, but it has become clear that this would mean a very heavy workload for students as well as various other practical difficulties around resources and timetabling. So we have decided to rate electives at 10 credits (equal to core courses, as they are in terms of contact hours) rather than 5 as previously, which means that each student need only take one elective per semester.

Starting dates September 2010

2010-09-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 14th: Induction day for Sociology MA (CEESA students welcome)

Wednesday 15th: Sociology MA fieldtrip to Lough Boora "Sculpture in the Parklands" (CEESA students welcome).

Friday 17th (NB not Thursday 16th as previously announced): NUI Maynooth general induction day for taught masters students from 1 pm (CEESA students welcome)

Monday 20th September: CEESA MA starts 10 am, Rowan House, north campus, NUIM. Tea / coffee from 9.30.

Tuesday 21st September: Day 2 of classes. 10 am to 5 pm.

Monday 27th September: 10 am start in Rowan House AND University registration at 3 pm (Physics Hall, south campus).

More details in emails / letters to students.

Preliminary reading lists

2010-07-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is a list of preliminary readings which may be helpful to those about to do the course, those thinking about doing the course in future years and those thinking about the issues raised on the course. Many of the texts listed here are available free online; unfortunately some are only available from within university libraries. Book-length titles are only rarely online, but can be ordered cheaply from the ABEbooks network of second-hand bookshops at this address. Remember also that public libraries can order books for you which are available in other libraries.

One particularly good way of preparing might be to go to the Activist Fleadh in Kilbarrack, north Dublin (August 14th and 15th) - details here. This will be very mixed in terms of the different movements and backgrounds that participants are coming from, and will touch on a wide range of issues covered in the course.

Boring bit: Please note that this is not a complete list of modules for the MA CEESA, for which students may also take elective modules from other MAs. Listing an elective module here is not a commitment to deliver this particular module in 2010 – 2011, which is in part dependent on appointments that are still being made.

Critical pedagogy in adult and community education (core)

Much of the relevant material is not available electronically, but two good websites are Critical pedagogy on the web and The encyclopedia of informal education.

[FF]

Equality, social justice and sustainable development (core)

Here are some equality-based readings for those interested in reading over the summer. I’ve tried to select a range of easily accessible writings, but I’m influenced by my own background, so many of these readings originate from an education perspective):

Lynch, Kathleen (2010) ‘From a Neo-Liberal to an Egalitarian State: Imagining a Different Future’, 2010 TASC Annual Lecture. Available here
Noddings, N. (2005) 'Caring in education', The encyclopedia of informal education. Available here
Nussbaum, M. and A. Sen (1993) The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Preview available here
Feeley, Maggie (2007) ‘Redefining Literacy from an Egalitarian Perspective’ in The Adult Learner 2007 AONTAS: Dublin. Available here
Freire, Paulo (1993) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books.
Freire, Paulo (1994) Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Continuum Books.
Wilkinson, R. and K. Pickett 2010 The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone [links and web presentations available under resources tabs on bottom left side of this page

[BG]

Power, politics and praxis (core)

A lot of relevant material may not be available online. Some selections which are include:

Online resource for power analysis for social change here
Jo Freeman, The Tyranny of Structurelessness, available here
Karl Marx, The civil war in France or The eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
The current issue of the journal Interface, about crises and revolutionary transformations www.interfacejournal.net

Some of the selections below may be available online; others are sufficiently "classic" to be found in public libraries etc.

C. Wright Mills, The power elite
Steven Lukes, Power: a radical view
E.P. Thompson, introduction to The Making of the English Working Class
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, ch. 1
Michel Foucault, The Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984: Power
Starhawk, Truth or Dare: Encounters with power, authority and mystery, ch. 1
Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch, ch. 1
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought, ch. 12
Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism or Toward an Ecological Society, ch. 1
George Lakey, Powerful Peacemaking: A Strategy for a Living Revolution (1987 edition), ch. 2
John Holloway, Change the World Without Taking Power, ch. 3
Uri Gordon, Anarchy Alive!, ch. 3

[LD, LC]

Critical media and cultural pedagogy in communities (elective)

AONTAS special issue on arts available here
Fenton, N 2009 ‘Has the Internet changed how NGOs work with established media? Not enough’, Special Report: NGOs and the News on The Nieman Journalism Lab, Harvard University. Available here
Meade, R. (2008) "Mayday, Mayday! Newspaper framing anti-globalizers!: A critical analysis of the Irish Independent's anticipatory coverage of the `Day of the Welcomes' demonstrations", Journalism Vol. 9, Number 3
Pickard, V. W. (2006) ‘Assessing the Radical Democracy of Indymedia: Discursive, Technical, and Institutional Constructions’ in Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 19-/38 Available here
Phillips, A. (2004) ‘Care, Values and an Uncaring Media‘ in Social Policy & Society 3:4, 439–446. Available here
[Note: this article may not be available to you at the moment, but will be available once you’re registered with the library. I’ve put it on the list as it was the article that inspired us at the outset when we began designing this course.

[BG]

Sustainable organising (elective)

This is a good intro to the question of why sustainable organising is problematic:

Jen Plyler, "How to keep on keeping on". Upping the anti 3 (2006): 123 – 124, online here

For people who've already thought about this issue I've written a more systematic overview, with a lengthy bibliography:

Laurence Cox, "Hearts with one purpose alone? Thinking personal sustainability in social movements". Emotion, space and society 2 (2009): 52 – 61, online here

The following is a remarkable collection, focussing particularly on experiences at a very "sharp end":

Jane Barry and Jelena Dordevic, What's the use of revolution if we can't dance? Boulder: Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, online here

The following outstanding manual draws particularly on majority world experiences:

Marina Bernal et al., Self-care and self-defence for feminist activists. New Delhi: Artemisia / Elige / Crea, online here

[LC]

Participatory action research in social movement practice (elective)

Having said that, you may get some initial inspiration from

the Action Research Ireland blog here

I've written, or co-written two pieces which activists and social movement researchers have told me they've found useful:

Colin Barker and Laurence Cox, "What have the Romans ever done for us? Activist and academic forms of movement theorising". In Colin Barker and Mike Tyldesley (eds.), Eighth international conference on Alternative Futures and Popular Protest conference. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University (2002), online here
Laurence Cox, "Gramsci, movements and method: the politics of activist research". In Colin Barker and Mike Tyldesley (eds.), Fourth international conference on Alternative Futures and Popular Protest conference. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University (1998), online here

[LC]

Courses we don't yet have reading suggestions for (sorry!)

Praxis and community participation (core)
The market, the state and social movements (elective)
Utopian literature and popular empowerment (elective)
Feminist theory and practice (elective)

Another world is possible: introduction

2010-05-19T02:50:00.000-07:00

For decades community groups, the women's movement and other social justice movements have been the driving force behind equality in Ireland, while global justice activists have highlighted the crisis of climate change and neo-liberalism. As economies falter and social partnership collapses, what do we already know about how to change the world? This course brings together experienced activists in community education and social movements with those interested and motivated about social justice to create new knowledge and develop alternatives.

Do you want to join us on this learning journey?

(Poster download / printout here).

Social movement, activist and militant research workshop

2010-05-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

The teaching on this course draws on two things: university-based research and social movement practice. It's particularly nice when these two things come together, as they do in what has variously been called activist research, movement-relevant research, engaged research and so on.

Some of the people doing participant action research on social movements at PhD level in NUIM Sociology are hosting a joint workshop with the Political Ethnography research group from Nottingham's Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice from June 18th - 20th, which will focus both on sharing particular skills and on some of the results of this kind of research.

There's an invitation to present here as well as details of how to book etc. A full programme will be published there once all the proposals for presentations have come in (deadline 24th May).

Launch party: the Masked Activists' Ball

2010-03-19T02:49:00.002-07:00

Do you fancy yourself as Zorro, Phoolan Devi, Robin Hood, Granuaile, Pancho Villa, Annie Oakley, Captain Jack Sparrow, Angela Davis, Ned Ludd or Subcomandante Marcos?

Is there a guerrilla, guerrilla gardener, Raging Granny, highwayman (or woman), graffiti artist, Woman in Black, Amsterdam squatter, Redstocking, Italian partisan, French 68er, cloaked anarchist or Communard buried deep in your subconscious?

Set them free at the Masked Activists' Ball!

We're launching a serious course for social movement organisers, community educators, NGO workers, grassroots activists, advocates with minority groups, feminists, GLBTQ activists, environmentalists, trade unionists, solidarity activists, development workers, anti-racists, anti-war activists etc etc etc - people who are already doing it and want to do it better, and people who want to start, learning from each other's experience and skills. But we reckon we should have fun along the way...

Masked Activists' Ball:

Seomra Spraoi social centre
10 Belvedere Court, off Gardiner St, Dublin 1 (directions here)
April 15th 2010, 8 till late

DJ: Dr Groove
No cover charge
BYOB

All masks (and costumes) welcome - small prize for the best of the night!

Facebook invite here

Poster download / print off here

Learning from each other's struggles

Alternatives to university...

What is activist practice?

Global movements and social change

Changing yourself *and* changing the world...

"Pedagogy of the Oppressed" banned in Tucson schools

Anglo: not our debt meeting Monday 24 Jan

EYFA sustainable activism course

Occupy Dublin at 100, statement on Anglo debt

Conor McCabe activist course on the Irish economy

Communist Manifesto through cartoons

Making a living and changing the world: "career advice"

Conservatism and community development

John Holloway: Rage against the rule of money

Spectacle of Defiance and Occupy Dame Street

Boston College caves on oral history interviews

The origins of the Occupy movement

Person of the year: "The protester"

Interface 3/2: feminism, women's movements and women in movement

CEESA MA 2012 entry

MA in Community Education, Equality and SocialActivism

Anotherworld is possible: learning from each other's struggles

NUI Maynooth Sociology and Adult & Community Education

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

"Another world is possible: reflections on power, seeds and change" (Clare, Sat 3rd Dec)

Social movements conference, Maynooth, Saturday November 26th

Why we protest

Occupy Dame Street practice and politics

Latin American Development Issues Course

Occupy University

Social movements conference at Maynooth

“New agendas in social movementstudies”

NUI Maynooth, Saturday November 26th, 9.30 - 6.15

About theconference

Practicalities

Overall timings

Draft timetable

Session 1, 11.30 am - 1 pm

Session 2, 2.15 - 3.45 pm

Session 3, 4 - 5.30 pm

Centre for Politics, Power andSociety, Dept. of Sociology, NUI Maynooth

Researchcluster “Critical Political Thought, Activism and Alternative Futures”

Mobilising for social and environmental justice meeting

Occupy Dame Street

The alchemy of hope

Michael Albert in Dublin

DIY, Skillshare and Activism Festival

Horizontalism and "Occupy Wall Street"

The meeting

Rabble.ie hits Dublin

Anti-globalization movement endures

Mapping local social movements

CEESArrrrrrrrrrrrr

Egypt: how a civil resistance was built to win

Quis custodiet...

Weekend at City Arts campaign, Dublin

Rebellious media conference

Sustaining resistance: empowering renewal

What is education?

Education for transformation

Day conference: new agendas in social movement studies

2011 entry preliminary readings

Eisenstein, Hester (2009) Feminism Seduced: How Global Elites Use Women’s Labor and Ideas to Exploit the World

Leicester event on new media and protest

May Day International e-book

CEESA student video about the course

21st century motherhood movement book

Interface new issue and calls for papers

Voices from another Europe

Free Hetherington summer school, Glasgow

European Academy for Social Movements

Academy of activism

a living utopia

Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements

The Norwegian oil experience

Rape threats towards Maynooth student: updates

NUI Maynooth union expresses outrage and supports call for international inquiry

Protests against rape threats by Rossport gardai

Maynooth student at Rossport: threats of sexual violence by police

How to build a movement: on organising and activism

Changing yourself and changing the world...

Another world is possible:
learning from each other's struggles