Where The Blog Has No Name

The Department of Education, University of Athens, Greece is hosting the

2nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CRITICAL EDUCATION

10-14 July 2012, Athens, Greece

Organized by the journals:

 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES (UK)

CULTURAL LOGIC (USA/CANADA)

KRITIKI (GREECE)

RADICAL NOTES (INDIA)

ICCE Conference Website: http://icce-2012.weebly.com/index.html

Some of last year’s papers (from the 2011 conference) will go into a special edition of JCEPS, the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, coming out in around April 2012. In addition, all the papers that were presented at the 2011 conference and were submitted in written form will be published as conference proceedings in the next couple of months.The website is in process of improvement, e.g. re methods of payment, also final keynote speakers not yet confirmed.. we are asking Dennis Beach, Dave Hill, Marnie Holborow, and Alex Callinicos. As well as leading Greek Marxists/critical educators. So, hope to see you at this conference in Athens in July! Last year’s was great- politically, intellectually, socially!

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE (subject to confirmation)

Kostas Skordoulis (University of Athens, Greece)

Dave Hill (Universities of Middlesex, United Kingdom; Limerick, Ireland; Athens, Greece)

Peter McLaren (University of Auckland, New Zealand)

Grant Banfield (University of South Australia, Australia)

Dennis Beach (University of Göteburg, Sweden)

Ramin Farahmandpur (Portland State University, Oregon, USA)

Marnie Holborrow (University College Dublin, Ireland)

Alpesh Maisuria (Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom)

Sharzad Mojab (University of Toronto, Canada)

Ravi Kumar (South Asian University, New Delhi, India)

Deborah Kelsh (College of St. Rose, Albany, NY, USA)

Curry Malott (West Chester University, Pennsylvania, USA)

Gregory Martin (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia)

Micheal O’Flynn (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Perikles Pavlidis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)

Brad Porfilio (Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois, USA)

Martin Power (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Helena Sheehan (University College Dublin, Ireland

Juha Suoranta (University of Tampere, Finland)

Spyros Themelis (Middlesex University, United Kingdom)

Salim Vally (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)

Historical Materialism Conference Toronto - MAY 11-13, 2012

Historical Materialism Conference

Toronto

YORK UNIVERSITY, MAY 11-13, 2012

“SPACES OF CAPITAL, SPACES OF RESISTANCE”

Call for Papers: Following on the successes of the two previous North American Historical Materialism Conferences at York University (2008 and 2010), we are pleased to issue a call for papers for our third  conference. In light of the continuing instability of global capitalism and the mounting resistances from Egypt to the Occupy Movement, our over-riding theme will be “Spaces of Capital, Spaces of Resistance.” But we welcome all contributions that contribute to critical knowledge on the activist and scholarly Left and the development of historical materialism as a living research program. We specifically welcome papers dealing with The Spaces of Power; Critical Theory and the Politics of Liberation; Capital and its Discontents; Modes and Movements of Resistance.

We welcome individual submissions as well as panel proposals. For individual papers, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words. Panel organizers should submit a 100-word panel abstract along with individual paper abstracts of no more than 250-words for each paper to be presented as part of the panel. We will formulate the conference itinerary based upon the broad themes generated through the submission process. Proposals will be accepted until January 15, 2012 by email to historicalmaterialism12@gmail.com

We apologize, but cannot accommodate requests to present on specific days, so please be prepared to attend the full three days of the conference.

The Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies
Special Issue: Spring 2012
An International Examination of Teacher Education: Exposing and Resisting the Neoliberal Agenda

Chief Editor: Professor Dave Hill, Chief/Managing Editor and Founding Editor, Professor Dave Hill, Professor Peter L. McLaren Editor, North America, Professor Pablo Gentili Editor, Latin America

Guest Editors: Dr. Brad Porfilio, Lewis University & Dr. Julie Gorlewski, SUNY at New Paltz

In recent decades, the transnational capitalist class has wielded power and influence to gain control over elements of social life that were once considered vital domains to fostering the social welfare of global citizens. Affected public domains include natural resources, health care, prisons, transportation, post-catastrophe restoration, and education. The chief linchpin in the elite’s corporatization over social affairs is its effective propaganda campaign to inculcate the global community to believe that neoliberal capitalism ameliorates rather than devastates humanity. According to political pundits, free-market academics, and corporate leaders, economic prosperity and improvements in the social world emanate from “unregulated or free markets, the withering away of the state as government’s role in regulating businesses and funding social services are either eliminated or privatized, and encouraging individuals to become self-interested entrepreneurs” (Hursh, 2011). Since neoliberalism is a term rarely uttered is most dominant (mainstream) media outlets, most citizens are not cognizant of how it is linked to many deleterious economic and social developments at today’s historical juncture, such as massive unemployment, the swelling of home foreclosures, homelessness, militarism, school closings, maldistribution of wealth, and environmental degradation (Hill, 2008; Hursh, 2011; McLaren, 2007; Ross & Gibson, 2007; Scipes, 2009). Equally important, many global citizens fail to recognize how the transitional elite have spawned a McCarthy-like witch hunt to eliminate academics, policies, and programs that have the potential to engage citizens in a critical examination of what is responsible for today’s increasingly stark social world – as well as what steps are necessary to radically transform it.

In this special issue of The Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies, we call on progressive scholars from across the globe to provide empirical research, conceptual analysis, and theoretical insights in relation to how corporate policies, practices, and imperatives are structuring life in schools of education. Since the impact of neoliberal capitalism on programs, policies, relationships, and pedagogies in schools of education is not uniform, as local histories and politics structure how macro-forces come to impact people in local contexts (Gruenwell (2003), the issue will be integral in understanding and confronting the social actors and constitute forces gutting the humanizing nature of education. Additionally, we call on critical scholars and pedagogues who have found emancipatory fissures amid corporatized schools of education to share policies, pedagogies, and cultural work that have the potency promote critical forms of education, democratic relationships, and peace, equity and social justice across the globe.

Manuscripts are due by December 1, 2011 and should be submitted as email attachments to porfilio16@aol.com and gorlewsj@newpaltz.edu.

Papers submitted for publication should be between 5,000 and 8000 words long. While we would hope that papers would be submitted in accordance with the Harvard Referencing Style, we do accept those written in any commonly accepted academic style, as long as the style is consistent throughout the paper.

Please direct all inquires about this special issue to the guest editors at Porfilio16@aol.com and gorlewsj@newpaltz.edu.

Call for Papers for a Special Theme Issue on Feminism and Marxism: Reassessments and Reports

New Proposals calls for submissions for a special issue that will be dedicated to taking stock of intersections between feminism and marxism. A valuable series of publications on this debate appeared in the 1970s and 1980s.

We are interested in full-length articles (normally 3,500 to 10,000 words) as well as shorter comments and arguments (up to 3,500 words) that reengage with these earlier debates. For this issue, we also welcome short research reports (up to 1,500 words) summarizing the theoretical framework, methodology, and preliminary results of research projects that draw on both feminist and marxist traditions.

Submissions should be made to the journal web site by September 3, 2010. Please indicate that this submission is for this special issue.

Charles R. Menzies
University of British Columbia

http://www.newproposals.ca

Fourth International Conference on Education, Labor and Emancipation

This year’s Theme: Manifesto for New Social Movements: Equity, Access, and Empowerment

It will be help in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil on June 16th – 19th 2009.

Scholars, teachers, students and activists from various fields and countries will convene in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) to compare theoretical perspectives, share pedagogical experiences, and work toward developing a global movement for social justice in and through education. We invite proposals from the following perspectives: indigenous, feminist, postcolonial, Marxist/neomarxist, queer theory, critiques of neoliberalism/globalization, CRT, liberation theology, anthropology, comparative/international education, etc. Visit our website for more information. http://academics.utep.edu/confele

We appreciate if you can forward this invitation to others who may be interested.

Please do send in your proposals, here are the guidelines:

CALL FOR PROPOSALS
We are currently witnessing the emergence of a new context for education, labor, and emancipatory social movements. Global flows of people, capital, and energy increasingly define the world we live in. The multinational corporation, with its pursuit of ever-cheaper sources of labor and materials and its disregard for human life, is replacing the nation-state as the dominant form of economic organization. Faced with intensifying environmental pressures and depletion of essential resources, economic elites have responded with increased militarism and restriction of civil liberties.
At the same time, masses of displaced workers, peasants, and indigenous peoples are situating their struggles in a global context. Labor activists can no longer ignore the concomitant struggles of Indigenous peoples, African diasporic populations, other marginalized ethnic groups, immigrants, women, GLBT people, children and youth. Concern for democracy and human rights is moving in from the margins to challenge capitalist priorities of “efficiency” and exploitation. In some places, the representatives of popular movements are actually taking the reins of state power. Everywhere we look, new progressive movements are emerging to bridge national identities and boundaries, in solidarity with transnational class, gender, and ethnic struggles.

At this juncture, educators have a key role to play. The ideology of market competition has become more entrenched in schools, even as opportunities for skilled employment diminish. We must rethink the relationship between schooling and the labor market, developing transnational pedagogies that draw upon the myriad social struggles shaping students’ lives and communities. Critical educators need to connect with other social movements to put a radically democratic agenda, based on principles of equity, access, and emancipation, at the center of a transnational pedagogical praxis.
Distinguished scholars from numerous fields and various countries will convene in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) to compare and contribute to theoretical perspectives, share pedagogical experiences, and work toward developing a global movement of enlightening activism. Issues related to education, labor, and emancipation will be addressed from a range of theoretical perspectives, including but not limited to the following:

Critical Pedagogy

• Critical Race Theory
• Postcolonial Studies
• Marxist and Neo-Marxist Perspectives
• Social Constructivism
• Comparative/International Education
• Postmodernism
• Indigenous Perspectives
• Feminist Theory
• Queer Theory
• Poststructuralism
• Critical Environmental Studies
• Critiques of Globalization and Neoliberalism
• Liberation Theology

Proposals may be offered as panel presentations or individual papers. Please indicate type of proposal with the submission.

Individual paper proposals should contain a cover sheet with the paper title, contact information (e-mail, address, telephone number, and affiliation), a brief bio, for each presenter, and an abstract of no more than 250 words (not including references). Please indicate whether you will present in Portuguese, Spanish or English. Presenters who wish to present in Portuguese should nevertheless include an English or Spanish translation of the abstract with their submission.

Panel proposals must include a cover sheet with the panel title and organizers’ contact information (e-mail, address, telephone number, affiliation), as well as an abstract of the overall panel theme (no more than 400 words, not including references) and abstracts/bios for each paper included in the panel. Please indicate whether panel members will present in Portuguese, Spanish or English. Proposals submitted in Portuguese should include translations (either English or Spanish) of the panel theme with each individual abstract.

Please submit proposals by E-mail only to: confele@utep.edu . THE DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS IS March 1st, 2009. Proposals must be accompanied by your conference registration in order to be considered.

Following the tradition of the last three conferences, a book will be produced comprising the most engaging papers from CONFELE 2009, as selected by an editorial board. Presenters wishing to be considered for this volume should submit full papers (in APA style) for review by August 1st, 2009.

CFP: Academic Labor and Law
Special Section of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor

Guest Editor: Jennifer Wingard, University of Houston

The historical connections between legislation, the courts, and the academy have been complex and multi-layered. This has been evident from early federal economic policies, such as the Morell Act and the GI Bill, through national and state legislation that protected student and faculty rights, such as the First Amendment and affirmative action clauses. These connections continue into our current moment of state and national efforts to define the work of the university, such as The Academic Bill of Rights and court cases regarding distance learning. The question, then, becomes whether and to what extent the impact of legislation and litigation reveals or masks the shifting mission of the academy. Have these shifts been primarily economic, with scarcities of funding leading many to want to legislate what is considered a university education, how it should be financed, and who should benefit from it? Are the shifts primarily ideological, with political interests working to change access, funding, and the intellectual project of higher education? Or are the shifts a combination of both political and economic influences? One thing does become clear from these discussions: at their core, the legal battles surrounding higher education are about the changing nature of the university –the use of managerial/corporate language; the desire to professionalize students rather than liberally educate them; the need to create transparent structures of evaluation for both students and faculty; and the attempt to define the types of knowledge produced and disseminated in the classroom. These are changes for which faculty, students, administrators, as well as citizens who feel they have a stake in higher education, seek legal redress. This special section of Workplace aims to explore the ways in which legislation and court cases impact the work of students, professors, contingent faculty, and graduate students in the university. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Academic Freedom for students and/or faculty
  • Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights
  • Missouri’s Emily Booker Intellectual Diversity Act
  • First Amendment court cases concerning faculty and student’s rights to freely express themselves in the classroom and on campuses
  • Facebook/Myspace/Blog court cases
  • Current legislative and budgetary “attacks” on area studies (i.e. Queer Studies in Georgia, Women’s Studies in Florida)
• Affirmative Action
  • The implementation of state and university diversity initiatives in the 1970s
  • The current repeal of affirmative action law across the country
• Benefits, including Health Benefits, Domestic Partner Benefits
  • How universities in states with same-sex marriage bans deal with domestic partner benefits
• Collective Bargaining
  • The recent rulings at NYU and Brown about the status of graduate students as employees
  • State anti-unionization measures and how they impact contingent faculty
• Copyright/Intellectual Property
  • In Distance Learning
  • In corporate sponsored science research
  • In government sponsored research
• Disability Rights and Higher Education
  • How the ADA impacts the university
• Sexual Harassment and Consensual Relationships
  • How diversity laws and sexual harassment policies impact the university
• Tenure
  • The Bennington Case
  • Post 9/11 court cases

Contributions for Workplace should be 4000-6000 words in length and should conform to MLA style. If interested, please send an abstract via word attachment to Jennifer Wingard (jwingard@central.uh.edu) by Friday, May 22, 2009. Completed essays will be due via email by Monday, August 24, 2009.