[SSC] Maps and politics of 'radical education projects'

[Peter Somerville]

I sympathise with Andrew Taggart but I don't think the SSC is about
political posturing - at least, that's not what I'm interested in doing.
The 'real' anarchists these days are the Tories, with their 'Big
Society' and their unshakeable belief in the anarchy of the market. But
do we really need to have an agreed 'position' with respect to the state
and the market? I hope not. Do we even need to have a set of 'common
values', which we all sign up to? I think not, except in the broadest
possible terms, e.g. mutual respect and democratic decision-making. If
we must be judged at all (which I doubt) it should be by what we do
rather than by what we believe in.

Pete 

-----Original Message-----
From: ssc-bounces at lists.aktivix.org
[mailto:ssc-bounces at lists.aktivix.org] On Behalf Of Amsler, Sarah
Sent: 25 September 2011 22:59
To: ssc at lists.aktivix.org
Subject: [SSC] Maps and politics of 'radical education projects'

Dear all,

I came across the two texts below and would be interested in discussing
them with anyone also interested. I think they offer a way into some
pressing questions about major concepts (freeness and freedom,
radicalism, anarchistic politics, etc.) that are being both materialised
in practice and called into question. It might be an interesting
exercise, for example, to try to formulate responses to some of the
(perhaps rhetorically framed) questions in the second.

Sociological Imagination's working list of 'radical education projects'
in the UK:
http://sociologicalimagination.org/a-work-in-progress

Andrew Taggart's critical questioning of the above forms, as
particularly read:
http://andrewjtaggart.com/2011/09/19/on-the-other-side-of-radical-educat
ion-lies-wisdom-an-exhortation-or-on-the-question-whether-really-free-is
-really-good/

After spending a second weekend working with the people of the Free
University of Liverpool (to whom I will send a copy of this message), I
am clearer that there is certainly a moment of emergence with these
different projects, which have been developing for a little (or long)
while, all coming into some serious material form but often autonomously
from each other. I'd like to think about the place of this in history,
the context of this historical moment and the forms of politics and
pedagogies being developed -- and whether or not they really are all
characterised by a 'shared ethos of anarchism' (an argument which I do
not entirely agree with) it seems like a wider conversation to have on
the radar. I have had some thoughts about at some point in the
reasonably near future bringing people involved in these different
projects/spaces together to share experiences and imaginaries?

Best,
Sarah

Dr Sarah S Amsler
Lecturer in Sociology
Aston University
Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK
+44 (0) 121 204 3072
s.s.amsler at aston.ac.uk

Campaign for the Public University: http://publicuniversity.org.uk

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