RESEARCH ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE ON KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE IN LAND MANAGEMENT
Newcastle University, School of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development (Centre for Rural Economy)
£23,002 - £26,666 p.a.
Closing Date: 8 January 2008
Based in the Centre for Rural Economy within the School of Agriculture, Food & Rural Development, you will work on the research project 'Science in the Field: Understanding the Changing Role of Expertise in the Rural Economy', funded by the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU). The research will explore the role of field-level advisers as knowledge brokers between scientific research and land management practice, focusing on the knowledge exchange practices of rural vets, wildlife ecologists, and land agents / surveyors. For one day a week, the researcher will also provide research support and analysis to the Director's Office of the RELU Programme. You must have a track record of qualitative research in a social science discipline and should have, or be near to completing, a postgraduate research degree in a relevant social science discipline.
The post will start in April 2008 and is for 2.5 years in duration.
For further particulars and details see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/vacancies/vacancy.phtml?ref=D2419R
Job Ref: D2419R
Jeremy Phillipson
Assistant Director
Rural Economy and Land Use Programme
Centre for Rural Economy
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
University of Newcastle
NE1 7RU
jeremy.phillipson@ncl.ac.uk
RELU Web site
http://www.relu.ac.uk
CRE Web site
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cre/
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Subject: Whats Working in Community Development Conference. June 23rd-25th 2008
Subject: Whats Working in Community Development Conference. June 23rd-25th 2008
** Please circulate widely **
Hello friends and colleagues,
We are very pleased by the response to our upcoming conference, What's Working in Community Development, and we look forward to welcoming you to this special gathering. As you know, the conference is scheduled for June 23rd - 25th, 2008, at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The pre-conference announcement can be downloaded from: http://www.horizonscda.ca/PDF%20Files/PreConfLo.pdf
Remember if you are submitting an abstract or presentation outline, we must receive it by December 31st, 2007. The call for abstracts/presentations can be downloaded from: http://www.horizonscda.ca/PDF%20Files/AbstractsLo.pdf
Due to popular demand, we have decided to open our on-line registration system now, instead of in February, as originally planned (the final conference program will be available in early February, after the abstracts have all been reviewed). The conference can accommodate 300 participants. 100 spaces are delegated for participants from Atlantic Canada,100 for participants from other parts of North America, and 100 from the other six UN regions in the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Oceania). Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and then people will be placed on a waiting list in case quotas from other regions are not filled.
Here's how the registration system works:
* Follow this link to get started: http://www.horizonscda.ca/upcoming
* Look for the Conference Registration heading, and follow the instructions once you're there.
Looking forward to seeing you!
The Horizons Team
P.O. Box 2404 Wolfville NS, B4P 2S3
Phone: (902) 542-0156 Fax: (902) 542-4765
E-mail: admin@horizonscda.ca Web: www.horizonscda.ca
If you do not wish to receive further information from Horizons, please reply to this message quoting unsubscribe.
** Please circulate widely **
Hello friends and colleagues,
We are very pleased by the response to our upcoming conference, What's Working in Community Development, and we look forward to welcoming you to this special gathering. As you know, the conference is scheduled for June 23rd - 25th, 2008, at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The pre-conference announcement can be downloaded from: http://www.horizonscda.ca/PDF%20Files/PreConfLo.pdf
Remember if you are submitting an abstract or presentation outline, we must receive it by December 31st, 2007. The call for abstracts/presentations can be downloaded from: http://www.horizonscda.ca/PDF%20Files/AbstractsLo.pdf
Due to popular demand, we have decided to open our on-line registration system now, instead of in February, as originally planned (the final conference program will be available in early February, after the abstracts have all been reviewed). The conference can accommodate 300 participants. 100 spaces are delegated for participants from Atlantic Canada,100 for participants from other parts of North America, and 100 from the other six UN regions in the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Oceania). Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and then people will be placed on a waiting list in case quotas from other regions are not filled.
Here's how the registration system works:
* Follow this link to get started: http://www.horizonscda.ca/upcoming
* Look for the Conference Registration heading, and follow the instructions once you're there.
Looking forward to seeing you!
The Horizons Team
P.O. Box 2404 Wolfville NS, B4P 2S3
Phone: (902) 542-0156 Fax: (902) 542-4765
E-mail: admin@horizonscda.ca Web: www.horizonscda.ca
If you do not wish to receive further information from Horizons, please reply to this message quoting unsubscribe.
FIT CITIES: BODIES, MOVEMENT, AND PRACTICES OF FITNESS AND SPORT IN THE CONTEMPORARY CITY
RGS ANNUAL CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPERS
FIT CITIES: BODIES, MOVEMENT, AND PRACTICES OF FITNESS AND SPORT IN THE CONTEMPORARY
CITY
*Alan Latham, Department of Geography, University College London*
*Clare Herrick, Department of Geography, King’s College London*
This group of sessions aims to start new conversations on a topic at once highly prescient and, at
the same time, grossly neglected by geographers: the place of fitness and sport in the
contemporary city.
While the wider sphere touched upon by sport and fitness is courting attention by the human
sciences, sociologists, public health, policy makers and urban planners, opportunities remain for
geographical perspectives. In particular, as government attention in the UK and beyond turns to
ways of encouraging and building physical activity back into the contemporary city, there is scope
for exploration of the ways in which this might unfold and the wider conceptual territory upon
which such activities might tread. Beyond the state, a whole range of sport and fitness practices
(from mass charity fun runs, to urban orienteering and Nordic walking, to parkour and urban
freeriding) point to how urban spaces are being reinterpreted, reworked, and reanimated in all
sorts of surprising ways through the inventiveness of the individual and collective human body.
This paper session will therefore start to try and map out what a urban geography focusing on
issues around sport and fitness might entail, the theoretical and conceptual frameworks upon
which it might fruitfully draw and the empirical domains waiting to be explored.
This group of sessions aims to think about and draw the links between sport and fitness and the
(often problematic) nature of the contemporary city. In particular, it wishes to move away from
discussions of the issues surrounding professional sport and its infrastructure towards the far
more mundane, everyday participatory practices of staying fit.
The organisers invite short abstracts of 200 words relating to (but not limited to) the following
broad thematic areas:
· Geographies of mass sporting participation.
· Urban geography and the ‘fit’ city
· Urban policy, sport and fitness.
· Public space and everyday practices of sport and fitness
· Sociality, community, and sport fitness
· Cultural geographies of sport and fitness
· Sport and geographies of urban justice
· Historical approaches to sport and fitness
· Embodiment and sport
· Urban political ecology and sport/ fitness
· The political economy of urban sporting consumption
· Landscapes of sport and exercise
If you have any inquiries about the sessions please email Clare Herrick (clare.herrick@kcl.ac.uk), or
Alan Latham (alan.latham@ucl.ac.uk).
Please email abstracts to alan.latham@ucl.ac.uk by *January 18, 2008 *
FIT CITIES: BODIES, MOVEMENT, AND PRACTICES OF FITNESS AND SPORT IN THE CONTEMPORARY
CITY
*Alan Latham, Department of Geography, University College London*
*Clare Herrick, Department of Geography, King’s College London*
This group of sessions aims to start new conversations on a topic at once highly prescient and, at
the same time, grossly neglected by geographers: the place of fitness and sport in the
contemporary city.
While the wider sphere touched upon by sport and fitness is courting attention by the human
sciences, sociologists, public health, policy makers and urban planners, opportunities remain for
geographical perspectives. In particular, as government attention in the UK and beyond turns to
ways of encouraging and building physical activity back into the contemporary city, there is scope
for exploration of the ways in which this might unfold and the wider conceptual territory upon
which such activities might tread. Beyond the state, a whole range of sport and fitness practices
(from mass charity fun runs, to urban orienteering and Nordic walking, to parkour and urban
freeriding) point to how urban spaces are being reinterpreted, reworked, and reanimated in all
sorts of surprising ways through the inventiveness of the individual and collective human body.
This paper session will therefore start to try and map out what a urban geography focusing on
issues around sport and fitness might entail, the theoretical and conceptual frameworks upon
which it might fruitfully draw and the empirical domains waiting to be explored.
This group of sessions aims to think about and draw the links between sport and fitness and the
(often problematic) nature of the contemporary city. In particular, it wishes to move away from
discussions of the issues surrounding professional sport and its infrastructure towards the far
more mundane, everyday participatory practices of staying fit.
The organisers invite short abstracts of 200 words relating to (but not limited to) the following
broad thematic areas:
· Geographies of mass sporting participation.
· Urban geography and the ‘fit’ city
· Urban policy, sport and fitness.
· Public space and everyday practices of sport and fitness
· Sociality, community, and sport fitness
· Cultural geographies of sport and fitness
· Sport and geographies of urban justice
· Historical approaches to sport and fitness
· Embodiment and sport
· Urban political ecology and sport/ fitness
· The political economy of urban sporting consumption
· Landscapes of sport and exercise
If you have any inquiries about the sessions please email Clare Herrick (clare.herrick@kcl.ac.uk), or
Alan Latham (alan.latham@ucl.ac.uk).
Please email abstracts to alan.latham@ucl.ac.uk by *January 18, 2008 *
CFP: Towards Transformative Knowledges/Practices for Sustainable Rural Futures
Call for papers: RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2008 - 27-29 August, London.
Title: Towards Transformative Knowledges/Practices for Sustainable Rural
Futures
Sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group
Convened by the Countryside and Community Research Institute
Within human geography and the social sciences more broadly there is a move
to break up settled, and narrowly drawn, institutional, pedagogic,
theoretical, disciplinary and methodological boundaries as we come to
realize that addressing the intensely complex, hybrid, unstable (yet
intransigent) nature of reality calls for new knowledge
formations/practices. New views of knowledge are exploring/practicing
integrations of theory, practice, politics and methods into new
'non-representational' assemblages of creative movement.
Related to this there is also what Latour calls a 'pixelisation of
politics', where progressive actions can take place at many sites, in many
forms, and at different scales and in different networks. These actions are
(can be) pragmatics of knowledge/practice created within competency groups
clustered around situations of concern and/or potential. Academic attention
focuses on action already in process within communities;
socio-techno-ecological networks; and processes of governance and economics.
Can rural academics identify, join and add value to these? Can rural
academics initiate these?
This session seeks to explore these new terrains of theory/practice "which
matter", in relation to sustainable rural futures. In particular we invite
papers which report upon work where academics (perhaps in interdisciplinary
alliances) are actively working with (rather than on) rural actants (which
may include non-humans) in ways which seek to be transformative in some way
- not least in terms of sustainable socio-ecological formations.
Possible themes (amongst many)
Action research and rural sustainability
Participatory research and rural sustainability
Interdisciplinary research and rural sustainability
Innovative stakeholder engagement strategies
Working with humans and non-humans
Case studies of rural projects working toward sustainable socio-ecological
sustainability in the developed and developing world
Putting non-representational theory into practise (and other theoretical
methodological trajectories)
The ethics and politics of non-representational research
Titles and Abstracts of up to 200 words to be sent to ojones@glos.ac.uk by
12 Jan 2008
Owain Jones
mobile: 07871 572969
office: 01242 715315
home: 01761 472908
Research Fellow
Countryside and Community Research Institute
Dunholme Villa, Park Campus
Cheltenham, GL50 2RH
ojones@glos.ac.uk
Title: Towards Transformative Knowledges/Practices for Sustainable Rural
Futures
Sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group
Convened by the Countryside and Community Research Institute
Within human geography and the social sciences more broadly there is a move
to break up settled, and narrowly drawn, institutional, pedagogic,
theoretical, disciplinary and methodological boundaries as we come to
realize that addressing the intensely complex, hybrid, unstable (yet
intransigent) nature of reality calls for new knowledge
formations/practices. New views of knowledge are exploring/practicing
integrations of theory, practice, politics and methods into new
'non-representational' assemblages of creative movement.
Related to this there is also what Latour calls a 'pixelisation of
politics', where progressive actions can take place at many sites, in many
forms, and at different scales and in different networks. These actions are
(can be) pragmatics of knowledge/practice created within competency groups
clustered around situations of concern and/or potential. Academic attention
focuses on action already in process within communities;
socio-techno-ecological networks; and processes of governance and economics.
Can rural academics identify, join and add value to these? Can rural
academics initiate these?
This session seeks to explore these new terrains of theory/practice "which
matter", in relation to sustainable rural futures. In particular we invite
papers which report upon work where academics (perhaps in interdisciplinary
alliances) are actively working with (rather than on) rural actants (which
may include non-humans) in ways which seek to be transformative in some way
- not least in terms of sustainable socio-ecological formations.
Possible themes (amongst many)
Action research and rural sustainability
Participatory research and rural sustainability
Interdisciplinary research and rural sustainability
Innovative stakeholder engagement strategies
Working with humans and non-humans
Case studies of rural projects working toward sustainable socio-ecological
sustainability in the developed and developing world
Putting non-representational theory into practise (and other theoretical
methodological trajectories)
The ethics and politics of non-representational research
Titles and Abstracts of up to 200 words to be sent to ojones@glos.ac.uk by
12 Jan 2008
Owain Jones
mobile: 07871 572969
office: 01242 715315
home: 01761 472908
Research Fellow
Countryside and Community Research Institute
Dunholme Villa, Park Campus
Cheltenham, GL50 2RH
ojones@glos.ac.uk
Climate Change and Urban Design
>
> CALL FOR PAPERS:
>
>
> CLIMATE CHANGE
> AND URBAN DESIGN
>
> Science, Policy, Education and Best Practice
>
>
> The Third International C.E.U. Congress, Oslo, Norway, 14 - 16
> September 2008-
>
> (Attached and below)
>
>
> ABSTRACTS DUE February 1, 2008
> ANNOUNCEMENTS of Accepted Papers March 1, 2008
> COMPLETED DRAFTS DUE June 1, 2008
>
>
> The Topic
> Following successful Congresses in Berlin 2005 and Leeds 2006, the
> Council for European Urbanism will hold its third international
> congress in Oslo, Norway from the 14 th to 16th September 2008.
>
> The congress will discuss the rapidly-evolving topic of "Climate
> Change and Urban Design". Papers are invited on the latest
> implications in science, policy, education and best practice. What
> is the latest science telling us? What are the consequences for
> urban development internationally? What are the practical
> solutions available to reduce climate gas emissions from urban
> settlements and transportation? What strategies are available to
> adapt to changing conditions?
> The congress will welcome government officials, planners,
> architects, social scientists, ecologists, developers, local
> community activists, and all other development stakeholders who
> feel a responsibility to contribute to more sustainable urban
> development.
>
> We invite authors engaged in urban development and climate change
> topics from all parts of the world to submit paper proposals with
> abstracts by February 1, 2008 .
> Announcements of accepted proposals will be on March 1, 2008.
> Completed drafts of papers will be due by June 1, 2008.
>
> Background
> The climate change agenda has clearly reached a world-wide tipping
> point. Yet while there is growing consensus that the phenomenon
> poses a major threat to future human well-being, legitimate debate
> remains about what is to be done to reduce atmospheric carbon
> levels, as well as to adapt to changes that already appear
> likely. In particular there is ongoing debate about how the cost
> of various options correlates to potential benefits. Debate also
> continues about how the issue of climate change relates to the
> larger agenda of sustainable development.
> The built environment is well known to be one of the largest
> current contributors to greenhouse gases. Therefore those who
> work in the planning, design and building professions have a key
> role in working to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. While much
> work has been done to decrease contributions from individual
> buildings, the role of urban design in addressing climate change
> remains more obscure, and more contentious.
>
> To be sure, buildings are not passive emitters of greenhouse
> gases. They shape the patterns of activity and consumption of
> their occupants, which in turn profoundly affect emissions. Must
> occupants drive between scattered locations, perhaps for long
> distances? Do they spend large percentages of time in buildings
> isolated from a functional public realm, with high patterns of
> consumption and emissions? Are those buildings sited in remote new
> developments where significant areas of existing vegetation have
> been replaced with paved or reflective surfaces? How does the
> urban street and block pattern contribute? What about the mix of
> uses, and the distribution of daily activities and needs?
>
> There has been much discussion of the dramatic carbon reductions
> possible per person in a higher-density urban morphology,
> particularly in comparison to automobile-dominated "sprawl"
> development. But what are the factors to be teased out? If we
> are to pursue such a goal, what are the issues to be addressed in
> economics, market dynamics, project permitting, legal regulation?
> How are these issues being addressed successfully, and what further
> challenges and opportunities remain?
>
> What about the preference of some consumers for lower density
> neighborhoods, or the argument that it is more sustainable to
> accommodate a settlement distribution or "transect" from the
> highest human use to the most pristine natural environment,
> including lower-density agricultural settlements? Does the new
> agenda imply, as some argue, that only very high densities will be
> viable? Or can a mixture that includes some lower-density
> morphologies be sustained in combination with other forms of
> mitigation? Is such a range of densities more economically
> sustainable, as some argue?
>
> Even at high densities, a wide range of morphologies is possible.
> What are the benefits and tradeoffs of the alternatives? For
> example, are dense high rise cities the inevitable best option?
> What about the negative energy impacts of tall buildings that may
> feature extensive curtain wall glazing, or require other high-
> energy conditioning, maintenance or repair? How do tall buildings
> perform across socio-economic classes, or in promoting social
> diversity and economic sustainability? How do they perform in
> repairability, adaptive re-use, or typical life-cycle?
>
> What about the advantages of "green" retrofits of existing
> buildings, in comparison to new green buildings? Since roughly
> half of the energy use of a building is in its construction, is
> there credible evidence to suggest that adaptive re-use of heritage
> buildings should be a greater priority? Are there examples of
> traditional urban fabric that offer better models of sustainable
> morphology, such as medium rise "liner" buildings, or high-density
> terraces? And do traditional buildings offer any significant
> morphological benefits for the sustainability challenge?
>
> These questions remind us that emissions are a cumulative
> phenomenon, and must be considered over whole systems and whole
> life cycles. Clearly a reduction in one targeted parameter is of
> little use if it results in the increase of another parameter by an
> equal or greater amount. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions are
> only one parameter of sustainability that must be considered in
> balance with others.
> We encourage papers that discuss the inter-disciplinary nature of
> this challenge, and the need for a more "joined-up" approach. We
> particularly encourage discussion of effective new diagnostic and
> prescriptive tools to optimize performance across whole systems and
> whole life cycles.
>
> Themes Within the Topic
> We welcome your papers on one of the six themes below. Where
> necessary, a paper may combine two or more themes.
>
> THEME ONE: Climate Change and Urban Morphology - The Evidence
> What is the scientific evidence for or against particular links
> between urban form and contributions of greenhouse gases? What are
> the interrelationships? What are the pitfalls in research, and in
> its application? Papers may survey previous literature and/or
> present new research.
>
> THEME TWO: Climate Change and Best Practice in Urban Design
> What are the implications of climate change research for standards
> of best practice? What does the evolving evidence suggest about
> the relative importance of such parameters as density, transit
> modes, mixed use, building height, social diversity and others?
> What about the relative benefits of retrofit versus new
> construction? How can best practice address issues of market
> acceptance and consumer choice?
>
> THEME THREE: Climate Change, Urban Design and Public Policy
> What are the steps being taken to address the contribution of urban
> design on climate change through public policy, and how well are
> they succeeding? What steps are being taken to mitigate initial
> diseconomies, create new incentives, ease regulatory restrictions,
> and shift market behaviour?
>
> THEME FOUR: Climate Change, Education and Research
> How should academic institutions respond to the climate change
> agenda? What are the implications for inter-disciplinary and
> inter-institutional research? How should design schools respond to
> the challenge? What alternative curricula are implied or required?
>
> THEME FIVE: Case Studies of Urban Projects and Their Impacts
> Paper in this category should present one or more case studies with
> detailed assessment of success in mitigating greenhouse gases, or
> adapting to the consequences of climate change. They may discuss
> challenges of entitlement, market acceptance, economic performance,
> and other project requirements.
>
> THEME SIX: Innovative New Strategies
> Papers in this category should discuss new theoretical or pragmatic
> approaches, such as certification schemes (LEED-ND in the USA,
> BREEAM in the UK, et al.), trading schemes, new coding approaches,
> and other innovations.
> If your paper does not fit within one of the six themes above, be
> advised that we will accept a limited number of papers under
> general or alternative topics.
>
> The Papers
> Papers should be at least 3,000 words and no more than 6,000. Bear
> in mind that speaker presentation time will be no more than 30
> minutes, or about 3,600 words for most speakers. Papers should be
> written in 12 point Times Roman font, in Microsoft Word or
> equivalent format. Footnotes and/or references should appear at
> the end of papers. Authors agree that papers may be published in
> the Congress proceedings. Full guidelines will be sent to selected
> authors.
>
> The Abstracts
> Abstracts should be 12 point Times Roman font, in Microsoft Word or
> equivalent format. Please include your full name, full address and
> affiliation details with an abstract of your presentation of
> between 100 and 300 words. You may include a cover letter or
> email message with additional comments.
> ----
> Please submit proposals with abstracts to the following email address:
> climate.change.2007@gmail.com
>
> -
> Academic Committee:
> Michael Mehaffy (Chair), Sustasis Foundation, US
> ( michael.mehaffy@gmail.com )
> Harald Bodenschatz, Ph.D., Professor, Technical University of
> Berlin, DE ( harald.bodenschatz@t-online.de)
> Charles Bohl, Ph.D., Professor, University of Miami, US
> ( cbohl@miami.edu)
> Sarah Chaplin, Head, School of Architecture and Landscape, Kingston
> University, UK ( S.Chaplin@kingston.ac.uk)
> Harald Kegler, Ph.D.,Laboratory for Regional Planning, DE
> ( harald_kegler@yahoo.com)
> Susan Parham, Ph.D. Candidate, London School of Economics, UK
> ( sp@cagconsult.co.uk)
> Arne Sodal, architect, C.E.U. Norway ( arnsoeda@online.no )
> Lucien Steil, The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment
> (UK) ( lucien.steil@princes-foundation,org)
> Emily Talen, Ph.D, Professor, Arizona State University, US
> ( etalen@asu.edu)
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
> The Call for Papers is also attached.
>
>
> For other information about the 2008 C.E.U. Congress, and
> preliminary registration of participants, please contact the
> congress organizers:
>
> Audun Engh.
> C.E.U. Norway
> St. Olavs gate 9, 0165 Oslo, Norway.
> Tel. +47.92 62 26 26
> Email: audun.engh@gmail.com
>
>
> C.E.U. - Council for European Urbanism
>
> www.ceunet.org
>
> CALL FOR PAPERS:
>
>
> CLIMATE CHANGE
> AND URBAN DESIGN
>
> Science, Policy, Education and Best Practice
>
>
> The Third International C.E.U. Congress, Oslo, Norway, 14 - 16
> September 2008-
>
> (Attached and below)
>
>
> ABSTRACTS DUE February 1, 2008
> ANNOUNCEMENTS of Accepted Papers March 1, 2008
> COMPLETED DRAFTS DUE June 1, 2008
>
>
> The Topic
> Following successful Congresses in Berlin 2005 and Leeds 2006, the
> Council for European Urbanism will hold its third international
> congress in Oslo, Norway from the 14 th to 16th September 2008.
>
> The congress will discuss the rapidly-evolving topic of "Climate
> Change and Urban Design". Papers are invited on the latest
> implications in science, policy, education and best practice. What
> is the latest science telling us? What are the consequences for
> urban development internationally? What are the practical
> solutions available to reduce climate gas emissions from urban
> settlements and transportation? What strategies are available to
> adapt to changing conditions?
> The congress will welcome government officials, planners,
> architects, social scientists, ecologists, developers, local
> community activists, and all other development stakeholders who
> feel a responsibility to contribute to more sustainable urban
> development.
>
> We invite authors engaged in urban development and climate change
> topics from all parts of the world to submit paper proposals with
> abstracts by February 1, 2008 .
> Announcements of accepted proposals will be on March 1, 2008.
> Completed drafts of papers will be due by June 1, 2008.
>
> Background
> The climate change agenda has clearly reached a world-wide tipping
> point. Yet while there is growing consensus that the phenomenon
> poses a major threat to future human well-being, legitimate debate
> remains about what is to be done to reduce atmospheric carbon
> levels, as well as to adapt to changes that already appear
> likely. In particular there is ongoing debate about how the cost
> of various options correlates to potential benefits. Debate also
> continues about how the issue of climate change relates to the
> larger agenda of sustainable development.
> The built environment is well known to be one of the largest
> current contributors to greenhouse gases. Therefore those who
> work in the planning, design and building professions have a key
> role in working to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. While much
> work has been done to decrease contributions from individual
> buildings, the role of urban design in addressing climate change
> remains more obscure, and more contentious.
>
> To be sure, buildings are not passive emitters of greenhouse
> gases. They shape the patterns of activity and consumption of
> their occupants, which in turn profoundly affect emissions. Must
> occupants drive between scattered locations, perhaps for long
> distances? Do they spend large percentages of time in buildings
> isolated from a functional public realm, with high patterns of
> consumption and emissions? Are those buildings sited in remote new
> developments where significant areas of existing vegetation have
> been replaced with paved or reflective surfaces? How does the
> urban street and block pattern contribute? What about the mix of
> uses, and the distribution of daily activities and needs?
>
> There has been much discussion of the dramatic carbon reductions
> possible per person in a higher-density urban morphology,
> particularly in comparison to automobile-dominated "sprawl"
> development. But what are the factors to be teased out? If we
> are to pursue such a goal, what are the issues to be addressed in
> economics, market dynamics, project permitting, legal regulation?
> How are these issues being addressed successfully, and what further
> challenges and opportunities remain?
>
> What about the preference of some consumers for lower density
> neighborhoods, or the argument that it is more sustainable to
> accommodate a settlement distribution or "transect" from the
> highest human use to the most pristine natural environment,
> including lower-density agricultural settlements? Does the new
> agenda imply, as some argue, that only very high densities will be
> viable? Or can a mixture that includes some lower-density
> morphologies be sustained in combination with other forms of
> mitigation? Is such a range of densities more economically
> sustainable, as some argue?
>
> Even at high densities, a wide range of morphologies is possible.
> What are the benefits and tradeoffs of the alternatives? For
> example, are dense high rise cities the inevitable best option?
> What about the negative energy impacts of tall buildings that may
> feature extensive curtain wall glazing, or require other high-
> energy conditioning, maintenance or repair? How do tall buildings
> perform across socio-economic classes, or in promoting social
> diversity and economic sustainability? How do they perform in
> repairability, adaptive re-use, or typical life-cycle?
>
> What about the advantages of "green" retrofits of existing
> buildings, in comparison to new green buildings? Since roughly
> half of the energy use of a building is in its construction, is
> there credible evidence to suggest that adaptive re-use of heritage
> buildings should be a greater priority? Are there examples of
> traditional urban fabric that offer better models of sustainable
> morphology, such as medium rise "liner" buildings, or high-density
> terraces? And do traditional buildings offer any significant
> morphological benefits for the sustainability challenge?
>
> These questions remind us that emissions are a cumulative
> phenomenon, and must be considered over whole systems and whole
> life cycles. Clearly a reduction in one targeted parameter is of
> little use if it results in the increase of another parameter by an
> equal or greater amount. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions are
> only one parameter of sustainability that must be considered in
> balance with others.
> We encourage papers that discuss the inter-disciplinary nature of
> this challenge, and the need for a more "joined-up" approach. We
> particularly encourage discussion of effective new diagnostic and
> prescriptive tools to optimize performance across whole systems and
> whole life cycles.
>
> Themes Within the Topic
> We welcome your papers on one of the six themes below. Where
> necessary, a paper may combine two or more themes.
>
> THEME ONE: Climate Change and Urban Morphology - The Evidence
> What is the scientific evidence for or against particular links
> between urban form and contributions of greenhouse gases? What are
> the interrelationships? What are the pitfalls in research, and in
> its application? Papers may survey previous literature and/or
> present new research.
>
> THEME TWO: Climate Change and Best Practice in Urban Design
> What are the implications of climate change research for standards
> of best practice? What does the evolving evidence suggest about
> the relative importance of such parameters as density, transit
> modes, mixed use, building height, social diversity and others?
> What about the relative benefits of retrofit versus new
> construction? How can best practice address issues of market
> acceptance and consumer choice?
>
> THEME THREE: Climate Change, Urban Design and Public Policy
> What are the steps being taken to address the contribution of urban
> design on climate change through public policy, and how well are
> they succeeding? What steps are being taken to mitigate initial
> diseconomies, create new incentives, ease regulatory restrictions,
> and shift market behaviour?
>
> THEME FOUR: Climate Change, Education and Research
> How should academic institutions respond to the climate change
> agenda? What are the implications for inter-disciplinary and
> inter-institutional research? How should design schools respond to
> the challenge? What alternative curricula are implied or required?
>
> THEME FIVE: Case Studies of Urban Projects and Their Impacts
> Paper in this category should present one or more case studies with
> detailed assessment of success in mitigating greenhouse gases, or
> adapting to the consequences of climate change. They may discuss
> challenges of entitlement, market acceptance, economic performance,
> and other project requirements.
>
> THEME SIX: Innovative New Strategies
> Papers in this category should discuss new theoretical or pragmatic
> approaches, such as certification schemes (LEED-ND in the USA,
> BREEAM in the UK, et al.), trading schemes, new coding approaches,
> and other innovations.
> If your paper does not fit within one of the six themes above, be
> advised that we will accept a limited number of papers under
> general or alternative topics.
>
> The Papers
> Papers should be at least 3,000 words and no more than 6,000. Bear
> in mind that speaker presentation time will be no more than 30
> minutes, or about 3,600 words for most speakers. Papers should be
> written in 12 point Times Roman font, in Microsoft Word or
> equivalent format. Footnotes and/or references should appear at
> the end of papers. Authors agree that papers may be published in
> the Congress proceedings. Full guidelines will be sent to selected
> authors.
>
> The Abstracts
> Abstracts should be 12 point Times Roman font, in Microsoft Word or
> equivalent format. Please include your full name, full address and
> affiliation details with an abstract of your presentation of
> between 100 and 300 words. You may include a cover letter or
> email message with additional comments.
> ----
> Please submit proposals with abstracts to the following email address:
> climate.change.2007@gmail.com
>
> -
> Academic Committee:
> Michael Mehaffy (Chair), Sustasis Foundation, US
> ( michael.mehaffy@gmail.com )
> Harald Bodenschatz, Ph.D., Professor, Technical University of
> Berlin, DE ( harald.bodenschatz@t-online.de)
> Charles Bohl, Ph.D., Professor, University of Miami, US
> ( cbohl@miami.edu)
> Sarah Chaplin, Head, School of Architecture and Landscape, Kingston
> University, UK ( S.Chaplin@kingston.ac.uk)
> Harald Kegler, Ph.D.,Laboratory for Regional Planning, DE
> ( harald_kegler@yahoo.com)
> Susan Parham, Ph.D. Candidate, London School of Economics, UK
> ( sp@cagconsult.co.uk)
> Arne Sodal, architect, C.E.U. Norway ( arnsoeda@online.no )
> Lucien Steil, The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment
> (UK) ( lucien.steil@princes-foundation,org)
> Emily Talen, Ph.D, Professor, Arizona State University, US
> ( etalen@asu.edu)
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
> The Call for Papers is also attached.
>
>
> For other information about the 2008 C.E.U. Congress, and
> preliminary registration of participants, please contact the
> congress organizers:
>
> Audun Engh.
> C.E.U. Norway
> St. Olavs gate 9, 0165 Oslo, Norway.
> Tel. +47.92 62 26 26
> Email: audun.engh@gmail.com
>
>
> C.E.U. - Council for European Urbanism
>
> www.ceunet.org
>
CFP: “The Lie of the Land”: Rural Lies, Myths and Realities
Please see below a call for papers for a session in the RGS-IBG Annual
Conference 2008 (27-29 August).
Title: “The Lie of the Land”: Rural Lies, Myths and Realities
Sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group
Convenors:
Gareth Enticott (Cardiff University)
Keith Halfacree (Swansea University)
In May 2006, Channel 4 screened “The Lie of the Land”, a documentary by
Molly Dineen. Originally intended to be about hunting, the documentary ended
up focusing on traditional productive agriculture in marginal South-west
England. In doing so it provoked equal amounts of outrage, praise, anger and
shock. It showed in graphic detail some of the less attractive realities of
rural living: from the routine slaughter of healthy yet unprofitable
new-born calves on dairy farms, to the acute poverty of many farmers’
day-to-day lives, to the harsh impacts of reforms to agricultural subsidies.
In the agricultural press, farmers were equally pleased and angered: pleased
because the film served to highlight the plight of productive agriculture
but also angered because some felt that it undermined those seeking to
develop quality products.
The title of the documentary – “The Lie of the Land” – resonates powerfully
in more general ways too. It signifies a set of long held ‘lies’ about the
English countryside – from the ‘lie’ of a bucolic rural idyll and the
(unseen) ‘lies’ of modern agriculture. These lies, though, are not
necessarily told by farmers but arguably more commonly by governments and
the urban population.
For this session, therefore, we are calling for papers that deal with the
implications for rural geography raised by the “Lie of the Land”. In
particular, papers are invited that deal with the following themes:
1) Rural Lies and Myths. The title of Molly Dineen’s documentary brings to
the surface wide-ranging questions about rural lies, myths and realities.
Who lies about the rural and who is aware of those untruths? What rural
myths exist? How do they circulate around rural populations? What impact do
they have? How are lies manifested and by whom or what: humans, nonhumans,
topographies/geomorphologies?
2) The practice of agriculture in (marginal) rural areas. How have recent
reforms to agricultural policy affected rural livelihoods? For example, how
has the management of the Rural Payments Agency impacted upon farmers? How
have changes to the management of agri-environment schemes, animal health
policies and the Common Agricultural Policy generally altered the practice
of farming today?
3) Methodological Lies. Dineen’s documentary is situated as a journey of
discovery and accidental realisation of a set of rural problems. What other
methodological journeys have researchers experienced that has awakened them
to rural lies and truths? To what extent are the truths researchers say
about the rural based on purposive or accidental journeys? The documentary
also raises the question of how geographers should deal with lying. Which
methods are best suited for exploring and capturing lies? Does it matter if
research participants lie? What untruths do researchers themselves tell?
Please submit abstracts of not more than 250 words by January 31st 2008 to
either:
Dr Keith Halfacree
Swansea University
k.h.halfacree@swansea.ac.uk
or:
Dr Gareth Enticott
Cardiff University
enticottg@cardiff.ac.uk
Conference 2008 (27-29 August).
Title: “The Lie of the Land”: Rural Lies, Myths and Realities
Sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group
Convenors:
Gareth Enticott (Cardiff University)
Keith Halfacree (Swansea University)
In May 2006, Channel 4 screened “The Lie of the Land”, a documentary by
Molly Dineen. Originally intended to be about hunting, the documentary ended
up focusing on traditional productive agriculture in marginal South-west
England. In doing so it provoked equal amounts of outrage, praise, anger and
shock. It showed in graphic detail some of the less attractive realities of
rural living: from the routine slaughter of healthy yet unprofitable
new-born calves on dairy farms, to the acute poverty of many farmers’
day-to-day lives, to the harsh impacts of reforms to agricultural subsidies.
In the agricultural press, farmers were equally pleased and angered: pleased
because the film served to highlight the plight of productive agriculture
but also angered because some felt that it undermined those seeking to
develop quality products.
The title of the documentary – “The Lie of the Land” – resonates powerfully
in more general ways too. It signifies a set of long held ‘lies’ about the
English countryside – from the ‘lie’ of a bucolic rural idyll and the
(unseen) ‘lies’ of modern agriculture. These lies, though, are not
necessarily told by farmers but arguably more commonly by governments and
the urban population.
For this session, therefore, we are calling for papers that deal with the
implications for rural geography raised by the “Lie of the Land”. In
particular, papers are invited that deal with the following themes:
1) Rural Lies and Myths. The title of Molly Dineen’s documentary brings to
the surface wide-ranging questions about rural lies, myths and realities.
Who lies about the rural and who is aware of those untruths? What rural
myths exist? How do they circulate around rural populations? What impact do
they have? How are lies manifested and by whom or what: humans, nonhumans,
topographies/geomorphologies?
2) The practice of agriculture in (marginal) rural areas. How have recent
reforms to agricultural policy affected rural livelihoods? For example, how
has the management of the Rural Payments Agency impacted upon farmers? How
have changes to the management of agri-environment schemes, animal health
policies and the Common Agricultural Policy generally altered the practice
of farming today?
3) Methodological Lies. Dineen’s documentary is situated as a journey of
discovery and accidental realisation of a set of rural problems. What other
methodological journeys have researchers experienced that has awakened them
to rural lies and truths? To what extent are the truths researchers say
about the rural based on purposive or accidental journeys? The documentary
also raises the question of how geographers should deal with lying. Which
methods are best suited for exploring and capturing lies? Does it matter if
research participants lie? What untruths do researchers themselves tell?
Please submit abstracts of not more than 250 words by January 31st 2008 to
either:
Dr Keith Halfacree
Swansea University
k.h.halfacree@swansea.ac.uk
or:
Dr Gareth Enticott
Cardiff University
enticottg@cardiff.ac.uk
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
CALL FOR PAPERS -- 9th Essex Conference in Critical Political Theory -- Capitalism, Faith, Nature -- 12-13 June 2008
9th ESSEX CONFERENCE IN
CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY
CAPITALISM, FAITH, NATURE
Call for Papers
Dates: 12-13 June 2008
Location: University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Call for Papers Deadline: 30 March, 2008.
Website: 9th Essex Conference in Critical Political Theory
All Inquiries to: polcon@essex.ac.uk
Keynote Speakers
Professor Jane Bennett, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Professor William E. Connolly, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Organizing Committee at the University of Essex
Jason Glynos, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
David Howarth, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Aletta J. Norval, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Sarah Hartley, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
Blendi Kajsiu, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
The Conference Theme: Capitalism, Faith, Nature
ONLY a few years ago, the use of abstract nouns like 'capitalism', 'faith' and 'nature' - not to mention their conjunction as a series of terms - would have seemed a little unusual, perhaps even antiquated. Yet any history of the present today highlights the continuing pertinence of these signifiers for critically engaging with a growing range of social and political phenomena.
ONE obvious issue here is the rise of new fundamentalisms - dogmatic and monist faiths - whether of an economic, political, religious, or national character. Another is the peculiar linking together of heterogeneous doctrines and sensibilities, such as Christianity, corporate capitalism and conservativism in the United States, for instance, into new assemblages and projects that directly impinge upon existing political institutions and democratic settlements. In part, these new fundamentalisms constitute a reactionary backlash against the emergence of novel cultural identities and existential faiths that seek to pluralize the pluralism of existing democratic institutions and practices, or put forward demands for greater freedom and equality. Fundamentalisms are also organised against efforts to reorganize our geo-political landscapes - or construct new transnational networks - so as to foster greater cooperation and security across once sedimented territorial divisions.
IN equal measure, there are pressing questions about the place of nature in the contemporary world, whether this is understood in terms of the intensifying environmental crisis, or debates about the character and role of 'human nature' in our increasingly technological societies, or with respect to the character of human and political subjectivity. Underpinning many of these new concerns are further questions about new forms of political economy at the local, national and global levels, and their impact on our changing conceptions of space, time, culture and speed.
HOW do we problematize and critically explain these new phenomena? In what ways can various fundamentalisms be challenged and engaged with in the name of a democratic politics that is not itself fundamentalist in character? What are the limits and potentials of contemporary political and ethical theory in addressing these new issues? What are the prospects and limits of pluralizing pluralism? Ought we to restrict agency to humans, or does it extend to the material and non-human world more generally? What is the relationship between nature and culture? How can cultural theory respond to recent developments in science? What is the relationship between cultural theory, materialism and naturalism? What kind of ethos needs to be cultivated in the face of these new challenges, and how can it be brought about? How do these broad sets of issues and questions get addressed in specific contexts and policy arenas? And what theoretical languages and methods are best able to respond to these changes and trends? These are just some of the tasks of critical political theory today.
THE NINTH CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY at the University of Essex provides a space to address and engage with these issues. The conference has achieved a renowned reputation for the quality of the papers presented and the large number of international participants. Previous guest speakers have included Michael Hardt, Wendy Brown, Judith Squires, Quentin Skinner, Joan Copjec, James Tully, Fred Dallmayr, Bonnie Honig, David Owen, David Campbell, Simon Critchley, Ernesto Laclau, and Chantal Mouffe, among others.
THE conference provides an important opportunity to engage with the contemporary challenges and possibilities of social and political theory and to exchange views on ongoing research. We welcome papers from young scholars, postdoctoral researchers, and postgraduates from a wide variety of backgrounds in the field of social and political theory. But as is customary with the Essex conference, the themes are in part shaped by the thought and writings of our invited guests, and this year is no exception. We are delighted to host William Connolly and Jane Bennett.
WILLIAM CONNOLLY and JANE BENNETT are two of the leading political theorists of our time, and they both speak directly and powerfully to the problems and opportunities of the new conjuncture. Though far from complacent about the complexity of the issues confronting us today, each of them consistently seeks new lines of flight and intellectual nourishment that can advance the ideals of democracy, freedom, and pluralism. Their various writings straddle a wide range of debates about pluralism, nature, bio-ethics, materialism, global politics, radical democracy, the limits and possibilities of contemporary liberal theory, as well as discussions in the philosophy of science and social explanation. Most importantly, their work is persistently open to new events and possibilities, and focussed on movements and practices that invent new rights or promote new identities, which may or may not have been acknowledged on established cultural fields.
Broad Themes Include
* Politics of Immanence and Transcendence
* Varieties of Pluralism
* Politics and Technology
* Universalism and Particularism
* Democracy and Representation
* Capitalism, Multiculturalism, Globalization
* Identity Politics and Mobilization
* Subjectivity and Psychoanalysis
* Religion, Faith and Pluralism
* Fundamentalisms
* New Ecologies
* Philosophies of Nature
* Political Economy
* The Politics of Space and Territoriality
* Rethinking Identity/Difference
Biographies
JANE BENNETT is Professor and Chair of Political Theory at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. Her published books include The Enchantment of Modernity: Crossings, Energetics, and Ethics (Princeton University Press, 2001); Thoreau's Nature: Ethics, Politics, and The Wild (Sage Publications, 1994); and Unthinking Faith and Enlightenment: Nature and State in a Post-Hegelian Era (New York University Press, 1994).
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. His recent books include Pluralism (Duke University Press, 2005); Neuropolitics: Thinking, Culture, Politics (University of Minnesota, 2002); and Why I Am Not a Secularist (University of Minnesota, 1999). His most recent book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style (Duke University Press) will be available in 2008.
JASON GLYNOS is Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Director of the Masters Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis at the University of Essex. He is co-editor of Lacan & Science (Karnac, 2002) and Traversing the Fantasy (Ashgate, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007), co-authored with David Howarth.
DAVID HOWARTH is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. His published books include Discourse (Open University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory and Political Analysis (Manchester University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory in European Politics (Macmillan, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007).
ALETTA NORVAL is Reader in Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, where she is also Director of the Doctoral Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis, and Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. Her most recent book is entitled Aversive Democracy: Inheritance and Originality in the Democratic Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Conference fees for Staff: £50
Conference fees for Students:
£30 Paper Givers (£25 for Essex students)
£35 Attendance Only (£30 for Essex students)
£45 If institutionally funded (£40 for Essex students)
________________________________________
Dr. Jason Glynos
Director, Graduate Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis
Department of Government
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO3 4SQ
UK
Tel. (01206) 872515
e-mail: ljglyn@essex.ac.uk
CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY
CAPITALISM, FAITH, NATURE
Call for Papers
Dates: 12-13 June 2008
Location: University of Essex, Colchester, UK
Call for Papers Deadline: 30 March, 2008.
Website: 9th Essex Conference in Critical Political Theory
All Inquiries to: polcon@essex.ac.uk
Keynote Speakers
Professor Jane Bennett, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Professor William E. Connolly, The Johns Hopkins University (USA)
Organizing Committee at the University of Essex
Jason Glynos, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
David Howarth, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Aletta J. Norval, Centre for Theoretical Studies, University of Essex (UK)
Sarah Hartley, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
Blendi Kajsiu, PhD Candidate, Department of Government, University of Essex (UK)
The Conference Theme: Capitalism, Faith, Nature
ONLY a few years ago, the use of abstract nouns like 'capitalism', 'faith' and 'nature' - not to mention their conjunction as a series of terms - would have seemed a little unusual, perhaps even antiquated. Yet any history of the present today highlights the continuing pertinence of these signifiers for critically engaging with a growing range of social and political phenomena.
ONE obvious issue here is the rise of new fundamentalisms - dogmatic and monist faiths - whether of an economic, political, religious, or national character. Another is the peculiar linking together of heterogeneous doctrines and sensibilities, such as Christianity, corporate capitalism and conservativism in the United States, for instance, into new assemblages and projects that directly impinge upon existing political institutions and democratic settlements. In part, these new fundamentalisms constitute a reactionary backlash against the emergence of novel cultural identities and existential faiths that seek to pluralize the pluralism of existing democratic institutions and practices, or put forward demands for greater freedom and equality. Fundamentalisms are also organised against efforts to reorganize our geo-political landscapes - or construct new transnational networks - so as to foster greater cooperation and security across once sedimented territorial divisions.
IN equal measure, there are pressing questions about the place of nature in the contemporary world, whether this is understood in terms of the intensifying environmental crisis, or debates about the character and role of 'human nature' in our increasingly technological societies, or with respect to the character of human and political subjectivity. Underpinning many of these new concerns are further questions about new forms of political economy at the local, national and global levels, and their impact on our changing conceptions of space, time, culture and speed.
HOW do we problematize and critically explain these new phenomena? In what ways can various fundamentalisms be challenged and engaged with in the name of a democratic politics that is not itself fundamentalist in character? What are the limits and potentials of contemporary political and ethical theory in addressing these new issues? What are the prospects and limits of pluralizing pluralism? Ought we to restrict agency to humans, or does it extend to the material and non-human world more generally? What is the relationship between nature and culture? How can cultural theory respond to recent developments in science? What is the relationship between cultural theory, materialism and naturalism? What kind of ethos needs to be cultivated in the face of these new challenges, and how can it be brought about? How do these broad sets of issues and questions get addressed in specific contexts and policy arenas? And what theoretical languages and methods are best able to respond to these changes and trends? These are just some of the tasks of critical political theory today.
THE NINTH CONFERENCE IN CRITICAL POLITICAL THEORY at the University of Essex provides a space to address and engage with these issues. The conference has achieved a renowned reputation for the quality of the papers presented and the large number of international participants. Previous guest speakers have included Michael Hardt, Wendy Brown, Judith Squires, Quentin Skinner, Joan Copjec, James Tully, Fred Dallmayr, Bonnie Honig, David Owen, David Campbell, Simon Critchley, Ernesto Laclau, and Chantal Mouffe, among others.
THE conference provides an important opportunity to engage with the contemporary challenges and possibilities of social and political theory and to exchange views on ongoing research. We welcome papers from young scholars, postdoctoral researchers, and postgraduates from a wide variety of backgrounds in the field of social and political theory. But as is customary with the Essex conference, the themes are in part shaped by the thought and writings of our invited guests, and this year is no exception. We are delighted to host William Connolly and Jane Bennett.
WILLIAM CONNOLLY and JANE BENNETT are two of the leading political theorists of our time, and they both speak directly and powerfully to the problems and opportunities of the new conjuncture. Though far from complacent about the complexity of the issues confronting us today, each of them consistently seeks new lines of flight and intellectual nourishment that can advance the ideals of democracy, freedom, and pluralism. Their various writings straddle a wide range of debates about pluralism, nature, bio-ethics, materialism, global politics, radical democracy, the limits and possibilities of contemporary liberal theory, as well as discussions in the philosophy of science and social explanation. Most importantly, their work is persistently open to new events and possibilities, and focussed on movements and practices that invent new rights or promote new identities, which may or may not have been acknowledged on established cultural fields.
Broad Themes Include
* Politics of Immanence and Transcendence
* Varieties of Pluralism
* Politics and Technology
* Universalism and Particularism
* Democracy and Representation
* Capitalism, Multiculturalism, Globalization
* Identity Politics and Mobilization
* Subjectivity and Psychoanalysis
* Religion, Faith and Pluralism
* Fundamentalisms
* New Ecologies
* Philosophies of Nature
* Political Economy
* The Politics of Space and Territoriality
* Rethinking Identity/Difference
Biographies
JANE BENNETT is Professor and Chair of Political Theory at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. Her published books include The Enchantment of Modernity: Crossings, Energetics, and Ethics (Princeton University Press, 2001); Thoreau's Nature: Ethics, Politics, and The Wild (Sage Publications, 1994); and Unthinking Faith and Enlightenment: Nature and State in a Post-Hegelian Era (New York University Press, 1994).
WILLIAM E. CONNOLLY is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. His recent books include Pluralism (Duke University Press, 2005); Neuropolitics: Thinking, Culture, Politics (University of Minnesota, 2002); and Why I Am Not a Secularist (University of Minnesota, 1999). His most recent book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style (Duke University Press) will be available in 2008.
JASON GLYNOS is Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Director of the Masters Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis at the University of Essex. He is co-editor of Lacan & Science (Karnac, 2002) and Traversing the Fantasy (Ashgate, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007), co-authored with David Howarth.
DAVID HOWARTH is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Government at the University of Essex, UK. He is also Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. His published books include Discourse (Open University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory and Political Analysis (Manchester University Press, 2000); Discourse Theory in European Politics (Macmillan, 2005). His most recent book is Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007).
ALETTA NORVAL is Reader in Political Theory in the Department of Government, University of Essex, where she is also Director of the Doctoral Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis, and Co-Director of the Centre for Theoretical Studies. Her most recent book is entitled Aversive Democracy: Inheritance and Originality in the Democratic Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Conference fees for Staff: £50
Conference fees for Students:
£30 Paper Givers (£25 for Essex students)
£35 Attendance Only (£30 for Essex students)
£45 If institutionally funded (£40 for Essex students)
________________________________________
Dr. Jason Glynos
Director, Graduate Programme in Ideology and Discourse Analysis
Department of Government
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester CO3 4SQ
UK
Tel. (01206) 872515
e-mail: ljglyn@essex.ac.uk
Monday, 10 December 2007
Call for papers: Sustainable development and the city
You will find below the call for papers of an international symposium on the question of sustainable development and the city (29th and 30th may 2008; Saint-Etienne, France).
http://portail.univ-st-etienne.fr/1196954172093/0/fiche_04__actualite/
Abstracts should be sent to organizers by January 31st, 2008.
Regards.
Vincent Béal
CERAPSE-TemiS
Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne
http://portail.univ-st-etienne.fr/1196954172093/0/fiche_04__actualite/
Abstracts should be sent to organizers by January 31st, 2008.
Regards.
Vincent Béal
CERAPSE-TemiS
Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
EARLY CAREER HOUSING RESEARCHERS’ NETWORK
ECHRN
EARLY CAREER HOUSING RESEARCHERS’ NETWORK
For early career researchers engaged in the study of housing, and its intersection with social theory, policy, urban design, inequality and change
: to promote the communication and dissemination of ideas, through a supportive medium, to early career housing researchers
The Early Career Housing Researchers’ Network (ECHRN) is an interdisciplinary, informal email network. Membership is open to all early career researchers (working in academia, public and private sectors) and PhD students, with research interests relating to housing and society.
The network operates as an independent email forum, linking members into key events and news in housing research. Members can also use the mailing list to ask each other for advice and support in conducting their research, and to promote events, publications and new research that they are involved in. Informal social events will be held, linked into housing conferences, to provide new researchers with an opportunity to meet face to face. The first such social event – the formal launch of the Network – will be at the Housing Studies Association Annual Conference (2 – 4 April 2008).
Early career researchers are encouraged to attend this important housing event, and present their work – further details are available at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/conf2008.htm There are reduced conference rates for those presenting in the ‘early career housing scholar’ stream – but please note the deadline for abstracts is the 20th January 2008. Hope to see you there!*
__________________________________________________________________________
To join the network please send a brief note of your name, research interests, institution and email address to:
Dr Carol Corinne McNaughton, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, cm583@york.ac.uk
Or contact Regional Co-ordinators for more information:
Jamie Keddie Kirsteen Paton
PhD Candidate
London School of Economics University of Glasgow
Cities Programme Department of Urban Studies,
j.e.keddie@lse.ac.uk k.paton.1@research.gla.ac.uk
We are recruiting more regional co-ordinators across the country, and hope to develop the Network throughout Europe in the future – please indicate if you would like to act as a co-ordinator for your institution when you reply and we will contact you with more details.
*The network in independent from the HSA.
EARLY CAREER HOUSING RESEARCHERS’ NETWORK
For early career researchers engaged in the study of housing, and its intersection with social theory, policy, urban design, inequality and change
: to promote the communication and dissemination of ideas, through a supportive medium, to early career housing researchers
The Early Career Housing Researchers’ Network (ECHRN) is an interdisciplinary, informal email network. Membership is open to all early career researchers (working in academia, public and private sectors) and PhD students, with research interests relating to housing and society.
The network operates as an independent email forum, linking members into key events and news in housing research. Members can also use the mailing list to ask each other for advice and support in conducting their research, and to promote events, publications and new research that they are involved in. Informal social events will be held, linked into housing conferences, to provide new researchers with an opportunity to meet face to face. The first such social event – the formal launch of the Network – will be at the Housing Studies Association Annual Conference (2 – 4 April 2008).
Early career researchers are encouraged to attend this important housing event, and present their work – further details are available at http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/hsa/conf2008.htm There are reduced conference rates for those presenting in the ‘early career housing scholar’ stream – but please note the deadline for abstracts is the 20th January 2008. Hope to see you there!*
__________________________________________________________________________
To join the network please send a brief note of your name, research interests, institution and email address to:
Dr Carol Corinne McNaughton, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, cm583@york.ac.uk
Or contact Regional Co-ordinators for more information:
Jamie Keddie Kirsteen Paton
PhD Candidate
London School of Economics University of Glasgow
Cities Programme Department of Urban Studies,
j.e.keddie@lse.ac.uk k.paton.1@research.gla.ac.uk
We are recruiting more regional co-ordinators across the country, and hope to develop the Network throughout Europe in the future – please indicate if you would like to act as a co-ordinator for your institution when you reply and we will contact you with more details.
*The network in independent from the HSA.
PLACE SHAPING, SPATIAL PLANNING (FOR HOUSING) AND LIVEABILITY - Manchester
PLACE SHAPING, SPATIAL PLANNING (FOR HOUSING) AND LIVEABILITY - Manchester
Professor Cecilia Wong (Manchester University) and Nick Gallent would like
to invite you to attend a seminar at UCL on the 26th and 27th March 2008.
The focus will be *place shaping, spatial planning (for housing) and
liveability*. There are 13 speakers lined up over 2 days, who will speak
generally to these topics, provide case study presentations, discuss
different dimensions of urban liveability, and look at how quality in the
built environment (for communities) can be delivered.
If you would like to attend this event, which is free, please email Judith
Hillmore at UCL (j.hillmore@ucl.ac.uk) We need to know whether you wish to
attend for one or two days, so could you state *just 26th* or *26th and
27th* etc in your message. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, free
of charge, in UCL*s main building. If, subsequently, you are unable to
attend, please let them know. Space at the seminar will be limited to 60-
70 people. The event is being sponsored by the Regional Studies
Association.
We hope you can attend. Best wishes
Nick Gallent
Professor Cecilia Wong (Manchester University) and Nick Gallent would like
to invite you to attend a seminar at UCL on the 26th and 27th March 2008.
The focus will be *place shaping, spatial planning (for housing) and
liveability*. There are 13 speakers lined up over 2 days, who will speak
generally to these topics, provide case study presentations, discuss
different dimensions of urban liveability, and look at how quality in the
built environment (for communities) can be delivered.
If you would like to attend this event, which is free, please email Judith
Hillmore at UCL (j.hillmore@ucl.ac.uk) We need to know whether you wish to
attend for one or two days, so could you state *just 26th* or *26th and
27th* etc in your message. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, free
of charge, in UCL*s main building. If, subsequently, you are unable to
attend, please let them know. Space at the seminar will be limited to 60-
70 people. The event is being sponsored by the Regional Studies
Association.
We hope you can attend. Best wishes
Nick Gallent
Doing Race Conference
Doing Race:
an event exploring contemporary thinking around race and racisms
January 10th 2008
Department of Geography, Durham University
(Sponsored by the Social/Spatial Theory Research Cluster)
This one-day event aims to explore and develop innovative thinking on race and racisms. The
primary goal of the event is to produce a forum for conversation and engagement, and the day will
be organised around a series of conceptual, methodological and empirical interventions designed
to provoke and inform discussion. Themes to be addressed include:
- contemporary modalities of racism
- phenomenologies of race
- racisms of phenotype
- materiality and materialisations of race
- race and ethnography
- race and affect
- ethical engagements with/in/through difference
Confirmed speakers include:
- Claire Alexander
- Ash Amin
- Les Back
- Jason Lim
- Dan Swanton
Invitation to participate:
Places are limited so if you are interested in attending then please contact me for a registration
form or more details as soon as possible, and no later than Wednesday 12th December 2007.
There is a registration fee of £10 that includes lunch/tea/coffee.
Contact:
Dr Dan Swanton
ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Geography
Durham University
Science Site
South Road
Durham
DH1 3LE
d.j.swanton@durham.ac.uk
www.dur.ac.uk/geography
an event exploring contemporary thinking around race and racisms
January 10th 2008
Department of Geography, Durham University
(Sponsored by the Social/Spatial Theory Research Cluster)
This one-day event aims to explore and develop innovative thinking on race and racisms. The
primary goal of the event is to produce a forum for conversation and engagement, and the day will
be organised around a series of conceptual, methodological and empirical interventions designed
to provoke and inform discussion. Themes to be addressed include:
- contemporary modalities of racism
- phenomenologies of race
- racisms of phenotype
- materiality and materialisations of race
- race and ethnography
- race and affect
- ethical engagements with/in/through difference
Confirmed speakers include:
- Claire Alexander
- Ash Amin
- Les Back
- Jason Lim
- Dan Swanton
Invitation to participate:
Places are limited so if you are interested in attending then please contact me for a registration
form or more details as soon as possible, and no later than Wednesday 12th December 2007.
There is a registration fee of £10 that includes lunch/tea/coffee.
Contact:
Dr Dan Swanton
ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Geography
Durham University
Science Site
South Road
Durham
DH1 3LE
d.j.swanton@durham.ac.uk
www.dur.ac.uk/geography
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2007 UK - JRF Report
The New Policy Institute of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has
produced its tenth annual report of indicators of poverty and social
exclusion in the United Kingdom, providing a comprehensive analysis of
trends and differences between groups.
It has a nice summary webpage. It can be found at:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/2164.asp
Its principal conclusion is that the strategy against poverty and
social exclusion pursued since the late 1990s is now largely
exhausted.
Key points
* Overall poverty levels in 2005/06 were the same as in 2002/03. Child
poverty in 2005/06 was still 500,000 higher than the target set for
2004/05.
* The unemployment rate among the under-25s has been rising since
2004, while the rate for those over 25 stopped falling in 2005.
* Half the children in poverty are still in working families.
* The number of children in working families where earnings and Child
Benefit are insufficient for them to escape poverty goes on rising.
* Overall earnings inequalities are widening.
* At least a quarter of 19-year-olds lack minimum levels of qualification.
* Not all those who want to work can do so, and disability rather than
lone parenthood is the factor most likely to leave a person workless.
* The value of social security benefits for working-age adults falls
ever further behind earnings.
* Half the poorest households lack home contents insurance, the same
as in the late 1990s when first identified by the government as a
priority.
* 1½ million children in poverty belong to households that pay full Council Tax.
* The public sector is the largest employer of low-paid workers aged 25 or over.
produced its tenth annual report of indicators of poverty and social
exclusion in the United Kingdom, providing a comprehensive analysis of
trends and differences between groups.
It has a nice summary webpage. It can be found at:
http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/2164.asp
Its principal conclusion is that the strategy against poverty and
social exclusion pursued since the late 1990s is now largely
exhausted.
Key points
* Overall poverty levels in 2005/06 were the same as in 2002/03. Child
poverty in 2005/06 was still 500,000 higher than the target set for
2004/05.
* The unemployment rate among the under-25s has been rising since
2004, while the rate for those over 25 stopped falling in 2005.
* Half the children in poverty are still in working families.
* The number of children in working families where earnings and Child
Benefit are insufficient for them to escape poverty goes on rising.
* Overall earnings inequalities are widening.
* At least a quarter of 19-year-olds lack minimum levels of qualification.
* Not all those who want to work can do so, and disability rather than
lone parenthood is the factor most likely to leave a person workless.
* The value of social security benefits for working-age adults falls
ever further behind earnings.
* Half the poorest households lack home contents insurance, the same
as in the late 1990s when first identified by the government as a
priority.
* 1½ million children in poverty belong to households that pay full Council Tax.
* The public sector is the largest employer of low-paid workers aged 25 or over.
Monday, 3 December 2007
Ethnographies of mobility-CALL FOR PAPERS
Roads less travelled: The culture of shared air, marine, and land
mobility
A series of important contributions to the international and
interdisciplinary study of mobility over the past decade have shown the
centrality of automobility in Western societies and cultures.
Automobility stands as an icon of individualized freedom of movement,
late modern lifestyle, reliance on transportation technology for daily
living, as well as the advent and downward-spiralling of pollution,
(sub)urbanization, and consumerism. The study of automobility also
stands as an exception to the generalized paucity of knowledge on the
cultures of other practices of mobility. In contrast, little do we know,
for example, about the sociological, media-ecological, and
anthropological significance of non-individual (hence, shared) land,
air, and marine mobility. Acquiring additional knowledge about these
forms of mobility seems necessary if we wish to comprehend the cultural
meaningfulness of alternatives to the patently unsustainable dominant
medium of transportation of the day, the car.
As fuel prices rise, as petrol becomes less easily available worldwide,
and as the reflexive feeling of citizen responsibility for sustainable
mobility grows, it behoves scholars to understand the symbolic
significance of car-less lifestyles and countercultures of immobility.
The proposed book will collect 12 original ethnographic studies written
from a wide variety of social scientific fields and interdisciplinary
social sciences. Submissions of proposals for papers dealing with the
culture of marine mobility, air mobility, shared land mobility, and
immobility are invited.
Ideal proposals for ethnographic studies would look at the role played
by the mentioned modes of mobility in the everyday life of individuals
living in precise geographical contexts. Essays would focus on the
logic, experience, and practice of alternative mobility and its shaping
of the senses of space, time, identity, and community.
Essay topics would include, but are not limited to, ferry-boat
transportation, the culture of year-round sailboat travellers, the
mobility options and movement practices of remote island communities,
the experience of regional, national, and international airline travel,
the practice of bush pilot air travel, train and subway commuting, urban
bus transit, long-range coach travel, and also the experiences and
lifestyle of immobile individuals--those who wish to "maroon" themselves
within the confines of a unique space.
The deadline for proposals is March 1, 2008. Proposals should consist of
200 word abstracts emailed to the editor, Phillip Vannini:
phillip.vannini@royalroads.ca
Expressions of interest, preliminary inquiries, and requests for further
information are welcomed at any time. Preliminary interest in the
project from an international publisher of academic titles has already
been expressed.
Phillip Vannini, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Communication and Culture
2005 Sooke Road
Royal Roads University
Victoria BC V9B 5Y2
CANADA
Phone: (250) 391-2600 ext. 4477 (no voice mail)
Fax: (250) 391-2694
Send messages to this list to:
ethnography-in-education@jiscmail,.ac.uk
To activate commands for this list send only the following messages, with no subject heading, to
jiscmail@jiscmail.ac.uk
For Example:
leave ethnography-in-education [This deletes your membership]
set ethnography-in-education nomail [Suspends mail to you from this list]
set ethnography-in-education mail [Resumes mail]
review ethnography-in-education [This gets you a list of members]
index ethnography-in-education [This gets a list of files in the list archive]
get ethnography-in-education\FILENAME.FILETYPE [This gets a file from the archive. Type filename
accurately.]
To contact the owners of this list send your message to:
ethnography-in-education-request@jiscmail.ac.uk
To access the ethnography-in-education website at Jiscmail go to:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk and search for ethnography-in-education
mobility
A series of important contributions to the international and
interdisciplinary study of mobility over the past decade have shown the
centrality of automobility in Western societies and cultures.
Automobility stands as an icon of individualized freedom of movement,
late modern lifestyle, reliance on transportation technology for daily
living, as well as the advent and downward-spiralling of pollution,
(sub)urbanization, and consumerism. The study of automobility also
stands as an exception to the generalized paucity of knowledge on the
cultures of other practices of mobility. In contrast, little do we know,
for example, about the sociological, media-ecological, and
anthropological significance of non-individual (hence, shared) land,
air, and marine mobility. Acquiring additional knowledge about these
forms of mobility seems necessary if we wish to comprehend the cultural
meaningfulness of alternatives to the patently unsustainable dominant
medium of transportation of the day, the car.
As fuel prices rise, as petrol becomes less easily available worldwide,
and as the reflexive feeling of citizen responsibility for sustainable
mobility grows, it behoves scholars to understand the symbolic
significance of car-less lifestyles and countercultures of immobility.
The proposed book will collect 12 original ethnographic studies written
from a wide variety of social scientific fields and interdisciplinary
social sciences. Submissions of proposals for papers dealing with the
culture of marine mobility, air mobility, shared land mobility, and
immobility are invited.
Ideal proposals for ethnographic studies would look at the role played
by the mentioned modes of mobility in the everyday life of individuals
living in precise geographical contexts. Essays would focus on the
logic, experience, and practice of alternative mobility and its shaping
of the senses of space, time, identity, and community.
Essay topics would include, but are not limited to, ferry-boat
transportation, the culture of year-round sailboat travellers, the
mobility options and movement practices of remote island communities,
the experience of regional, national, and international airline travel,
the practice of bush pilot air travel, train and subway commuting, urban
bus transit, long-range coach travel, and also the experiences and
lifestyle of immobile individuals--those who wish to "maroon" themselves
within the confines of a unique space.
The deadline for proposals is March 1, 2008. Proposals should consist of
200 word abstracts emailed to the editor, Phillip Vannini:
phillip.vannini@royalroads.ca
Expressions of interest, preliminary inquiries, and requests for further
information are welcomed at any time. Preliminary interest in the
project from an international publisher of academic titles has already
been expressed.
Phillip Vannini, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Communication and Culture
2005 Sooke Road
Royal Roads University
Victoria BC V9B 5Y2
CANADA
Phone: (250) 391-2600 ext. 4477 (no voice mail)
Fax: (250) 391-2694
Send messages to this list to:
ethnography-in-education@jiscmail,.ac.uk
To activate commands for this list send only the following messages, with no subject heading, to
jiscmail@jiscmail.ac.uk
For Example:
leave ethnography-in-education [This deletes your membership]
set ethnography-in-education nomail [Suspends mail to you from this list]
set ethnography-in-education mail [Resumes mail]
review ethnography-in-education [This gets you a list of members]
index ethnography-in-education [This gets a list of files in the list archive]
get ethnography-in-education\FILENAME.FILETYPE [This gets a file from the archive. Type filename
accurately.]
To contact the owners of this list send your message to:
ethnography-in-education-request@jiscmail.ac.uk
To access the ethnography-in-education website at Jiscmail go to:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk and search for ethnography-in-education
‘EMPLOYABILITY AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE’
REGIONAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION WORKING GROUP ON
‘EMPLOYABILITY AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE’
CALL FOR PAPERS: SECOND SEMINAR
FACULTY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE, MADRID, SPAIN
FRIDAY 7th MARCH 2008
ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) Working Group on ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy in European Perspective’ seeks to bring together UK researchers with European colleagues to discuss the local and regional dimensions of labour market disadvantage and the employability policy agenda in European states. A successful first seminar, drawing participants from eight countries, was held at the Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh during October 2007.
This call for papers relates to a second seminar to be held at Complutense University, Madrid. Together, these two international seminars seek to build upon the success of a previous ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy’ seminar series (co-funded by the RSA) organised by Napier University, Warwick University, and Paisley University in 2003-4 (findings were published in a February 2005 special edition of Urban Studies journal). It is hoped that findings from the 2007-8 seminar series will lead to similar publications.
BACKGROUND
The second seminar of the RSA Working Group on ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy in European Perspective’ will be held at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, Friday 7th March 2008. This seminar will focus on the local and regional dimensions of labour market disadvantage and the employability policy agenda in European states. Comparative (cross-national or cross-regional) papers would be particularly welcome, but national or regional case studies will also be considered. Colleagues who participated in the first seminar in Edinburgh in October 2007 are encouraged to attend and/or contribute a paper, but new participants would also be very welcome.
The seminar is targeted at researchers interested in employability and labour market issues, drawing on specific local or regional contexts, and with a strong emphasis on lessons for and from policy. Papers addressing the policy implications of, and/or policy responses to, any of the following issues would be particularly welcome:
· changes in local/regional labour demand and implications for employability;
· spatial concentrations of unemployment and labour market disadvantage;
· barriers to employability and social inclusion in urban/rural labour markets;
· local and regional responses to the ‘flexicurity’ agenda;
· implementing the EES at the local and regional level – governance and strategies in labour market policy;
· factors affecting the recovery and/or continued disadvantage of areas affected by industrial decline, and implications for employability.
THE SEMINAR
The seminar format will involve seven presenters each delivering an extended paper, followed by discussion (i.e. seven sessions, each of 50-60 minutes duration).
· Abstracts (maximum 250 words) should be e-mailed to Colin Lindsay at the address below no later than Friday 21st December 2007.
· Notifications of acceptance of abstracts will be sent no later than Wednesday 9th January 2008.
· The seminar to take place at Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, on Friday 7th March 2008.
Abstracts to:
Colin Lindsay
Employment Research Institute
Napier University
Edinburgh EH14 1DJ
United Kingdom
E-mail: c.lindsay@napier.ac.uk
‘EMPLOYABILITY AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY IN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE’
CALL FOR PAPERS: SECOND SEMINAR
FACULTY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE, MADRID, SPAIN
FRIDAY 7th MARCH 2008
ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP
The Regional Studies Association (RSA) Working Group on ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy in European Perspective’ seeks to bring together UK researchers with European colleagues to discuss the local and regional dimensions of labour market disadvantage and the employability policy agenda in European states. A successful first seminar, drawing participants from eight countries, was held at the Employment Research Institute, Napier University, Edinburgh during October 2007.
This call for papers relates to a second seminar to be held at Complutense University, Madrid. Together, these two international seminars seek to build upon the success of a previous ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy’ seminar series (co-funded by the RSA) organised by Napier University, Warwick University, and Paisley University in 2003-4 (findings were published in a February 2005 special edition of Urban Studies journal). It is hoped that findings from the 2007-8 seminar series will lead to similar publications.
BACKGROUND
The second seminar of the RSA Working Group on ‘Employability and Labour Market Policy in European Perspective’ will be held at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, Friday 7th March 2008. This seminar will focus on the local and regional dimensions of labour market disadvantage and the employability policy agenda in European states. Comparative (cross-national or cross-regional) papers would be particularly welcome, but national or regional case studies will also be considered. Colleagues who participated in the first seminar in Edinburgh in October 2007 are encouraged to attend and/or contribute a paper, but new participants would also be very welcome.
The seminar is targeted at researchers interested in employability and labour market issues, drawing on specific local or regional contexts, and with a strong emphasis on lessons for and from policy. Papers addressing the policy implications of, and/or policy responses to, any of the following issues would be particularly welcome:
· changes in local/regional labour demand and implications for employability;
· spatial concentrations of unemployment and labour market disadvantage;
· barriers to employability and social inclusion in urban/rural labour markets;
· local and regional responses to the ‘flexicurity’ agenda;
· implementing the EES at the local and regional level – governance and strategies in labour market policy;
· factors affecting the recovery and/or continued disadvantage of areas affected by industrial decline, and implications for employability.
THE SEMINAR
The seminar format will involve seven presenters each delivering an extended paper, followed by discussion (i.e. seven sessions, each of 50-60 minutes duration).
· Abstracts (maximum 250 words) should be e-mailed to Colin Lindsay at the address below no later than Friday 21st December 2007.
· Notifications of acceptance of abstracts will be sent no later than Wednesday 9th January 2008.
· The seminar to take place at Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, on Friday 7th March 2008.
Abstracts to:
Colin Lindsay
Employment Research Institute
Napier University
Edinburgh EH14 1DJ
United Kingdom
E-mail: c.lindsay@napier.ac.uk
Draft: Regeneration Institute Lunch-time Discussions Programme
Draft: Regeneration Institute Lunch-time Discussions Programme
Date Speaker Title Room
4 December 2007
1-2pm
Paul Milbourne 'Planting spaces, Growing Places: Exploring the role of environmental projects in regeneration' Committee Room 1
29 January 2008
12-1pm
Bob Smith 'Housing and its contribution to Regeneration' Committee Room 1
19 February 2008
12-1pm
Huw Thomas 'Race equality's continuing struggle in planning and regeneration' Committee Room 1
March 2008 Gareth Williams To be decided Committee Room 1
April 2008 Phil Bowen
(Engineering)
To be decided Committee Room 1
20 May 2008
12-1pm
Gabrielle Ivinson and Judith Marshall 'Intergenerational memories of education: using the symbolic resources of the locale' Committee Room 1
17 June 2008
12-1pm
Phil Jones (Architecture) 'Towards a low carbon future - what changes are needed' Committee Room 1
1 July 2008
12-1pm
Adam Edwards 'Vox Populi and the Eggheads: the interaction of popular-democratic and rational-bureaucratic technologies of governance' Committee Room 1
Date Speaker Title Room
4 December 2007
1-2pm
Paul Milbourne 'Planting spaces, Growing Places: Exploring the role of environmental projects in regeneration' Committee Room 1
29 January 2008
12-1pm
Bob Smith 'Housing and its contribution to Regeneration' Committee Room 1
19 February 2008
12-1pm
Huw Thomas 'Race equality's continuing struggle in planning and regeneration' Committee Room 1
March 2008 Gareth Williams To be decided Committee Room 1
April 2008 Phil Bowen
(Engineering)
To be decided Committee Room 1
20 May 2008
12-1pm
Gabrielle Ivinson and Judith Marshall 'Intergenerational memories of education: using the symbolic resources of the locale' Committee Room 1
17 June 2008
12-1pm
Phil Jones (Architecture) 'Towards a low carbon future - what changes are needed' Committee Room 1
1 July 2008
12-1pm
Adam Edwards 'Vox Populi and the Eggheads: the interaction of popular-democratic and rational-bureaucratic technologies of governance' Committee Room 1
RI lunchtime discussion
A reminder that the first Regeneration Institute lunchtime discussion is timetabled for this week:
Speaker: Prof. Paul Milbourne
Chair: Dr. Bob Smith
Subject: 'Planting spaces, Growing Places: Exploring the role of environmental projects in
regeneration'
Date/Time: Tuesday 4 December 2007, 1-2pm
Place: Committee Room 1
Feel free to bring your lunch along.
Speaker: Prof. Paul Milbourne
Chair: Dr. Bob Smith
Subject: 'Planting spaces, Growing Places: Exploring the role of environmental projects in
regeneration'
Date/Time: Tuesday 4 December 2007, 1-2pm
Place: Committee Room 1
Feel free to bring your lunch along.
New findings on the JRF website
Just published on the JRF website:
Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2007
This annual report on the state of poverty and social exclusion in the United Kingdom covers low income, work, education, health, housing, disadvantaged children and exclusion from services.
Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2007
This annual report on the state of poverty and social exclusion in the United Kingdom covers low income, work, education, health, housing, disadvantaged children and exclusion from services.
Three New BRASS (ESRC) Research Centre Posts
Due to the expansion of our research at the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability,
Society and Sustainability (BRASS), Cardiff University, three new positions have become available
which may be of interest to members of the Critical Geography Forum. The areas are:
- Sustainable Communities, Lifestyles and Consumption
- Sustainable Production, Technology & Resource Use
- Responsible Management Thinking (Including Measuring and Reporting for Sustainability)
The primary purpose of these positions will be to further develop the portfolio of research being
undertaken and the outputs produced within this stream of research. Working in collaboration with
other Centre researchers, the successful applicants will become involved in a range of different
research projects. Specific activities are likely to include furthering existing ESRC funded
research; writing for publication; and assisting in the development of new research bids for
external funding. The successful applicant will also be expected to work closely with one of three
Research Managers in the Centre in publicising the work of the research group and promoting
knowledge transfer.
The positions offer an exciting opportunity for an early to mid-career researcher to further their
publication record, expand their knowledge base and gain experience in managing a research agenda.
The positions are available from February 1st 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Salary: £27,466 - £32,796 per annum.
For further information, please click on the post you are interested in from the list below:
Research Associate for Sustainable Communities, Lifestyles and Consumption
http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070831-131207.html
Research Associate for Sustainable Production, Technology & Resource Use
http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070832-131207.html
Research Associate for Responsible Management Thinking (Including Measuring and Reporting for
Sustainability) http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070830-131207.html
Society and Sustainability (BRASS), Cardiff University, three new positions have become available
which may be of interest to members of the Critical Geography Forum. The areas are:
- Sustainable Communities, Lifestyles and Consumption
- Sustainable Production, Technology & Resource Use
- Responsible Management Thinking (Including Measuring and Reporting for Sustainability)
The primary purpose of these positions will be to further develop the portfolio of research being
undertaken and the outputs produced within this stream of research. Working in collaboration with
other Centre researchers, the successful applicants will become involved in a range of different
research projects. Specific activities are likely to include furthering existing ESRC funded
research; writing for publication; and assisting in the development of new research bids for
external funding. The successful applicant will also be expected to work closely with one of three
Research Managers in the Centre in publicising the work of the research group and promoting
knowledge transfer.
The positions offer an exciting opportunity for an early to mid-career researcher to further their
publication record, expand their knowledge base and gain experience in managing a research agenda.
The positions are available from February 1st 2008, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Salary: £27,466 - £32,796 per annum.
For further information, please click on the post you are interested in from the list below:
Research Associate for Sustainable Communities, Lifestyles and Consumption
http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070831-131207.html
Research Associate for Sustainable Production, Technology & Resource Use
http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070832-131207.html
Research Associate for Responsible Management Thinking (Including Measuring and Reporting for
Sustainability) http://www.cf.ac.uk/jobs/academic/20070830-131207.html
Friday, 30 November 2007
The New Urbanism and the Making of Sustainable Cities
RGS-IBG Annual Conference, London, 27-29 August 2008: Call for Papers
Session: The New Urbanism and the Making of Sustainable Cities
Organisers: Gesa Helms (University of Glasgow), Gerry Mooney (Open University) and Mike Raco (King’s College London)
This session calls for papers that examine the relationships between the group of ideas loosely known as the ‘new urbanism’ and the planning and development of sustainable cities. For new urbanists, urban policy and planning should actively work towards the creation of new urban designs and spaces in order to facilitate new modes of community interaction and formation. Following a long tradition of such work, the emphasis is on the ways in which urban design can be used to shape the mobility and activities of individuals as much as (excluded) social groups for a wider ‘common good’. In recent times, this mode of planning thinking has become elided with broader sustainability discourses with their visions of social, economically, and environmentally ‘balanced’ urban environments.
This session seeks papers that engage with ongoing debates within social policy, geography, and criminology that are exploring the ways in which social practices and interaction are controlled, governed, and regulated under this new urbanism, and the power relationships and agendas that underpin these changes. For example, many of the debates around law and order policies, punishment, and social control try to capture the social visions, goals and aspirations of ‘bettering’ or civilising urban subjects through urban and social policy initiatives. Research has often explicitly or implicitly taken on Foucault’s governmentality as a theoretical frame for understanding such changes. Yet, what is often absent in such accounts is the use of detailed, systematic empirical evidence that explores in detail the ways in which policy objectives and visions are actually put into practice on the ground.
We, therefore, welcome papers that: explore and assess the ways in which new urbanist planning principles have been developed, mobilised, and rolled-out in recent planning discourses and practices: focus on the interconnectedness of urban, criminal justice and social policies around the New Urbanism; and examine the attempts that have been made in cities to mobilise and encourage particular forms of social interaction and engagement and with what impacts on the urban. Papers that explore the emergence and novelty or such themes in the light of grounded conceptual and empirical work are particularly encouraged.
Please send a 200 word abstract by January 21 2008 to one of the session organisers: Gesa Helms, Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, (g.helms@lbss.gla.ac.uk); Gerry Mooney, Faculty of Social Science, The Open University (g.c.mooney@open.ac.uk); and Mike Raco, Department of Geography, King’s College London (mike.raco@kcl.ac.uk).
Session: The New Urbanism and the Making of Sustainable Cities
Organisers: Gesa Helms (University of Glasgow), Gerry Mooney (Open University) and Mike Raco (King’s College London)
This session calls for papers that examine the relationships between the group of ideas loosely known as the ‘new urbanism’ and the planning and development of sustainable cities. For new urbanists, urban policy and planning should actively work towards the creation of new urban designs and spaces in order to facilitate new modes of community interaction and formation. Following a long tradition of such work, the emphasis is on the ways in which urban design can be used to shape the mobility and activities of individuals as much as (excluded) social groups for a wider ‘common good’. In recent times, this mode of planning thinking has become elided with broader sustainability discourses with their visions of social, economically, and environmentally ‘balanced’ urban environments.
This session seeks papers that engage with ongoing debates within social policy, geography, and criminology that are exploring the ways in which social practices and interaction are controlled, governed, and regulated under this new urbanism, and the power relationships and agendas that underpin these changes. For example, many of the debates around law and order policies, punishment, and social control try to capture the social visions, goals and aspirations of ‘bettering’ or civilising urban subjects through urban and social policy initiatives. Research has often explicitly or implicitly taken on Foucault’s governmentality as a theoretical frame for understanding such changes. Yet, what is often absent in such accounts is the use of detailed, systematic empirical evidence that explores in detail the ways in which policy objectives and visions are actually put into practice on the ground.
We, therefore, welcome papers that: explore and assess the ways in which new urbanist planning principles have been developed, mobilised, and rolled-out in recent planning discourses and practices: focus on the interconnectedness of urban, criminal justice and social policies around the New Urbanism; and examine the attempts that have been made in cities to mobilise and encourage particular forms of social interaction and engagement and with what impacts on the urban. Papers that explore the emergence and novelty or such themes in the light of grounded conceptual and empirical work are particularly encouraged.
Please send a 200 word abstract by January 21 2008 to one of the session organisers: Gesa Helms, Department of Urban Studies, University of Glasgow, (g.helms@lbss.gla.ac.uk); Gerry Mooney, Faculty of Social Science, The Open University (g.c.mooney@open.ac.uk); and Mike Raco, Department of Geography, King’s College London (mike.raco@kcl.ac.uk).
Rotten Neighbors
Rotten Neighbors
ABC News – Channel 7
November 27, 2007 - Posting complaints about your neighbors is just one part of what's known as on-line shaming. In June, ABC7 told you about people who embarrass their friends and enemies on the web in our special segment "Cyber Smearing." Now, a cybersmearing site that attacks "rotten neighbors," is at 41 million users and counting.
Litter . Drugs. Inconsiderate neighbors. Now people are logging on to air out their dirty neighborhood laundry. The website is called RottenNeighbor.com (http://www.rottenneighbor.com/).
Some local complaints get downright nasty. One on the city's Northwest Side claims that neighbors are dealers, junkies and --- we can't print the last descriptive. The complaint alleges people yelling obscenities, fighting and leaving used needles in the alley. This neighbor did not post the complaint but says it's true.
"I have been here 5 years and it affects me because I have little ones," said Angelina Barreia, neighbor.
The website was created by a San Diego web designer over the summer. He had rotten neighbors of his own.
"Some real estate agents don't want it, they don't like it, think it will hurt their business. People looking to buy homes love it. Some people looking to sell homes think it will bring their values down," said Brant Walker, RottenNeighbor.com.
The Chicago Association of Realtors discourages homeowners from using the site - even though exact addresses are usually not listed, users can zoom all the way down to specific blocks and homes, with Google satellite map imagery.
"If you complain about your street or your condo building -- and you complain publically about it -- you are going to create concern from potential buyers, which, in turn, can effect the value not only of your neighbor's unit but your unit as well," said Michael Golden, Chicago Association of Realtors.
Real estate agents say neighbors should try to talk to each other face to face - or mediate problems with a condo or neighborhood association. You can also call your alderman or police about serious issues instead of telling the world on line.
"To me it seems almost caddy - like 'I am telling on you,'" said Gerilyn Gordan.
These college students in Lincoln Park don't think posting problems will have any effect. One of their neighbors is on it for allegedly playing loud music until 4 a.m.
"They are not going to stop because someone blogged about them," said Kateland Vandiver.
What sounds like scoop could be false.
"We all know there are at least three sides to every story and basically you are getting just one side," said Golden.
Grant Dietmeier, for example, disputes a posting about excessive noise on his block.
"I think its a great place to live. Very safe, very quiet, wonderful neighborhood," said Dietmeier.
Walker said video and pictures will be added to his site in a few weeks. As far as legal liability goes for smearing online- only the person posting false information can be sued and, in most cases, laws don't hold websites accountable.
Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=special_coverage&id=5787689
http://www.rottenneighbor.com/
New York Post article about the site:
RIP THY NEIGHBOR: BLAST NUISANCE NEXT DOOR ON NEW WEB SITE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10012007/news/regionalnews/rip_thy_neighbor.htm
ABC News – Channel 7
November 27, 2007 - Posting complaints about your neighbors is just one part of what's known as on-line shaming. In June, ABC7 told you about people who embarrass their friends and enemies on the web in our special segment "Cyber Smearing." Now, a cybersmearing site that attacks "rotten neighbors," is at 41 million users and counting.
Litter . Drugs. Inconsiderate neighbors. Now people are logging on to air out their dirty neighborhood laundry. The website is called RottenNeighbor.com (http://www.rottenneighbor.com/).
Some local complaints get downright nasty. One on the city's Northwest Side claims that neighbors are dealers, junkies and --- we can't print the last descriptive. The complaint alleges people yelling obscenities, fighting and leaving used needles in the alley. This neighbor did not post the complaint but says it's true.
"I have been here 5 years and it affects me because I have little ones," said Angelina Barreia, neighbor.
The website was created by a San Diego web designer over the summer. He had rotten neighbors of his own.
"Some real estate agents don't want it, they don't like it, think it will hurt their business. People looking to buy homes love it. Some people looking to sell homes think it will bring their values down," said Brant Walker, RottenNeighbor.com.
The Chicago Association of Realtors discourages homeowners from using the site - even though exact addresses are usually not listed, users can zoom all the way down to specific blocks and homes, with Google satellite map imagery.
"If you complain about your street or your condo building -- and you complain publically about it -- you are going to create concern from potential buyers, which, in turn, can effect the value not only of your neighbor's unit but your unit as well," said Michael Golden, Chicago Association of Realtors.
Real estate agents say neighbors should try to talk to each other face to face - or mediate problems with a condo or neighborhood association. You can also call your alderman or police about serious issues instead of telling the world on line.
"To me it seems almost caddy - like 'I am telling on you,'" said Gerilyn Gordan.
These college students in Lincoln Park don't think posting problems will have any effect. One of their neighbors is on it for allegedly playing loud music until 4 a.m.
"They are not going to stop because someone blogged about them," said Kateland Vandiver.
What sounds like scoop could be false.
"We all know there are at least three sides to every story and basically you are getting just one side," said Golden.
Grant Dietmeier, for example, disputes a posting about excessive noise on his block.
"I think its a great place to live. Very safe, very quiet, wonderful neighborhood," said Dietmeier.
Walker said video and pictures will be added to his site in a few weeks. As far as legal liability goes for smearing online- only the person posting false information can be sued and, in most cases, laws don't hold websites accountable.
Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=special_coverage&id=5787689
http://www.rottenneighbor.com/
New York Post article about the site:
RIP THY NEIGHBOR: BLAST NUISANCE NEXT DOOR ON NEW WEB SITE
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10012007/news/regionalnews/rip_thy_neighbor.htm
1st Global Conference Intellectuals - Knowledge, Power, Ideas
1st Global Conference
Intellectuals - Knowledge, Power, Ideas
Thursday 8th May - Saturday 10th May 2008
Budapest, Hungary
Call for Papers
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to explore the
role,
character, nature and place of intellectuals and intellectual work in
contemporary society. Whilst the ‘intellectual’ emerges as a
particular
category with the development of modernity, the ‘knowledgeable’ and
knowledge producers have been an important historical agent and social
actor since the early Greek philosophers, and knowledge production,
whether religious, scientific or philosophical, has been important in
shaping social, political, economic and cultural change. Intellectuals
and the knowledge they produce have been subject to competing
representations: from an ‘elect’ producing knowledge for its own
sake to
different forms of philosopher king, servant of the state or dissenting
movement intellectuals connecting politically with change in the social
world. In contemporary ‘knowledge’ societies, much of the focus on
the
intellectual as a ‘public’ figure, residing within the media
intelligentsia or institutions of higher learning, but competing
theories of intellectuals and their work identify elitist, meritocratic
and radical alternatives about who intellectuals are, what they do, how
they are connected to and divided from other social institutions, and
why we understand them the way we do.
The Project underpinning this inaugural conference seeks to build both
an evidenced and critical understanding of the intellectual and
intellectual work in the past and a critical understanding of
intellectuals and intellectual work in the present, and its prospects
for the future. In doing so, it recognises that the interdisciplinary
basis of such an analysis will take in the fields of cultural studies,
education studies (with a particular focus on higher education),
history, literature, philosophy, politics, sociology, social theory and
open avenues to wider and more diverse disciplinary connections, and
the
project welcomes interdisciplinary explorations.
Some indicative themes are suggested below to indicate the types of
issues that might be addressed in conference papers and workshops.
A. History, the Intellectual and Intellectual Work
How do we understand intellectuals and intellectual work in the past?
What relationships characterised the categorisation, role, nature and
place of intellectuals within society and social institutions in the
past? How have the roles, natures and places of intellectuals changed
through history? How have we come to understand the intellectual both
before and after that particular identification emerged within the
onset
of the enlightenment project and modernity? What different models or
characterisations of the intellectual emerge historically and how
persuasive are they? What do historical understandings of the
intellectual tell us about the intellectual today?
B. Intellectuals, the Academy and Higher Education
What are the role and functions and positions that intellectuals have
taken within learning institutions? What overlap and interplay is there
between the academy and the intellectual? How have learning
institutions
developed in relation to the production of intellectuals and knowledge?
What moral, cultural, political and educational principles underpin the
academy and the learning institution? How has the association between
academy and intellectual been impacted on by recent developments in the
role and place of higher learning institutions within economy and
society?
C. Intellectuals and their Troubling Relationship to Knowledge
What is knowledge? Is it a commodity, ‘mere’ information or
something
more intrinsically apart from the production of information? What, if
anything, is the difference between knowledge and information? What
different relationships does the intellectual have with knowledge and
how do we understand them? What is the place of various types of
credentials in contemporary society and how does that relate to
intellectual status and intellectual work? To what extent is knowledge
only understood within the social context of its production and to what
extent has it a universal or divorced from social context?
D. Intellectuals and the Knowledge Society
How has the intellectual changed in their role, character and place in
the knowledge society? How have the internet and ICT’s changed the
way
intellectuals work and intellectual work is produced, distributed and
exchanged? How has the knowledge society changed our understanding of
the intellectual in society? Have we moved from the primacy of the mode
of production to the primacy of the mode of information?
E. Public Intellectuals and the Intellectual in Public and Political
Life
What is a public intellectual and how is a public intellectual
distinguished from other intellectuals and knowledge producers? What
roles and places do public intellectuals have in past and contemporary
societies? Are intellectuals and is intellectual work always political?
What political and public roles do intellectuals play?
F. Intellectuals and Cultural Life
How have intellectuals impacted on cultural life, in shaping everyday
experience, providing frameworks for understanding and producing
cultural enrichment? In what ways have intellectuals played a role in
shaping the cultural milieu? What is the relationship between the
intellectual and the artist or producer of cultural knowledge and
products? What is the relationship between intellectuals and the
aesthetic?
G. Intellectuals and the Development of Bodies of Knowledge
How do intellectuals produce and create knowledge? How should we
understand the processes of knowledge production and creation as social
and political and well as research processes? How should we understand
notions of discovery, exploration and speaking truth in the context of
critical perspectives on knowledge creation? How have particular bodies
of knowledge developed historically and come to play determining roles
in social, cultural, political and economic change?
Papers will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts
should be submitted by Friday 18th January 2008. If an abstract is
accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by
Friday 18th April 2008.
300 word abstracts should be submitted to both Organising Chairs;
abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this
order: author(s), affiliation, email address, title of abstract, body
of
abstract. We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals
submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should
assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in
cyberspace!
We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or
resend.
Paul Reynolds
Social and Psychological Sciences,
Edge Hill University
United Kingdom
E-Mail: Reynoldp@edgehill.ac.uk
Rob Fisher
Network Founder & network Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HR
E-Mail: ikp@inter-disciplinary.net
The conference is part of the Critical Issues programme of research
projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and
interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are
innovative and exciting. All papers accepted for and presented at this
conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected
papers will be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume.
For further details about the project, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/intellectuals/int.html
For further details about the conference, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/intellectuals/int1/cfp.html
=============
Dr Rob Fisher
Network Founder and Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Paul Reynolds
Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy
Programme Leader in Sociology and Social Psychology
Department of Social and Psychological Sciences
Edge Hill University
St Helens Road
Ormskirk
Lancs L39 4QP
Tel: 01695 584370
email: reynoldp@edgehill.ac.uk
Intellectuals - Knowledge, Power, Ideas
Thursday 8th May - Saturday 10th May 2008
Budapest, Hungary
Call for Papers
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to explore the
role,
character, nature and place of intellectuals and intellectual work in
contemporary society. Whilst the ‘intellectual’ emerges as a
particular
category with the development of modernity, the ‘knowledgeable’ and
knowledge producers have been an important historical agent and social
actor since the early Greek philosophers, and knowledge production,
whether religious, scientific or philosophical, has been important in
shaping social, political, economic and cultural change. Intellectuals
and the knowledge they produce have been subject to competing
representations: from an ‘elect’ producing knowledge for its own
sake to
different forms of philosopher king, servant of the state or dissenting
movement intellectuals connecting politically with change in the social
world. In contemporary ‘knowledge’ societies, much of the focus on
the
intellectual as a ‘public’ figure, residing within the media
intelligentsia or institutions of higher learning, but competing
theories of intellectuals and their work identify elitist, meritocratic
and radical alternatives about who intellectuals are, what they do, how
they are connected to and divided from other social institutions, and
why we understand them the way we do.
The Project underpinning this inaugural conference seeks to build both
an evidenced and critical understanding of the intellectual and
intellectual work in the past and a critical understanding of
intellectuals and intellectual work in the present, and its prospects
for the future. In doing so, it recognises that the interdisciplinary
basis of such an analysis will take in the fields of cultural studies,
education studies (with a particular focus on higher education),
history, literature, philosophy, politics, sociology, social theory and
open avenues to wider and more diverse disciplinary connections, and
the
project welcomes interdisciplinary explorations.
Some indicative themes are suggested below to indicate the types of
issues that might be addressed in conference papers and workshops.
A. History, the Intellectual and Intellectual Work
How do we understand intellectuals and intellectual work in the past?
What relationships characterised the categorisation, role, nature and
place of intellectuals within society and social institutions in the
past? How have the roles, natures and places of intellectuals changed
through history? How have we come to understand the intellectual both
before and after that particular identification emerged within the
onset
of the enlightenment project and modernity? What different models or
characterisations of the intellectual emerge historically and how
persuasive are they? What do historical understandings of the
intellectual tell us about the intellectual today?
B. Intellectuals, the Academy and Higher Education
What are the role and functions and positions that intellectuals have
taken within learning institutions? What overlap and interplay is there
between the academy and the intellectual? How have learning
institutions
developed in relation to the production of intellectuals and knowledge?
What moral, cultural, political and educational principles underpin the
academy and the learning institution? How has the association between
academy and intellectual been impacted on by recent developments in the
role and place of higher learning institutions within economy and
society?
C. Intellectuals and their Troubling Relationship to Knowledge
What is knowledge? Is it a commodity, ‘mere’ information or
something
more intrinsically apart from the production of information? What, if
anything, is the difference between knowledge and information? What
different relationships does the intellectual have with knowledge and
how do we understand them? What is the place of various types of
credentials in contemporary society and how does that relate to
intellectual status and intellectual work? To what extent is knowledge
only understood within the social context of its production and to what
extent has it a universal or divorced from social context?
D. Intellectuals and the Knowledge Society
How has the intellectual changed in their role, character and place in
the knowledge society? How have the internet and ICT’s changed the
way
intellectuals work and intellectual work is produced, distributed and
exchanged? How has the knowledge society changed our understanding of
the intellectual in society? Have we moved from the primacy of the mode
of production to the primacy of the mode of information?
E. Public Intellectuals and the Intellectual in Public and Political
Life
What is a public intellectual and how is a public intellectual
distinguished from other intellectuals and knowledge producers? What
roles and places do public intellectuals have in past and contemporary
societies? Are intellectuals and is intellectual work always political?
What political and public roles do intellectuals play?
F. Intellectuals and Cultural Life
How have intellectuals impacted on cultural life, in shaping everyday
experience, providing frameworks for understanding and producing
cultural enrichment? In what ways have intellectuals played a role in
shaping the cultural milieu? What is the relationship between the
intellectual and the artist or producer of cultural knowledge and
products? What is the relationship between intellectuals and the
aesthetic?
G. Intellectuals and the Development of Bodies of Knowledge
How do intellectuals produce and create knowledge? How should we
understand the processes of knowledge production and creation as social
and political and well as research processes? How should we understand
notions of discovery, exploration and speaking truth in the context of
critical perspectives on knowledge creation? How have particular bodies
of knowledge developed historically and come to play determining roles
in social, cultural, political and economic change?
Papers will also be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts
should be submitted by Friday 18th January 2008. If an abstract is
accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by
Friday 18th April 2008.
300 word abstracts should be submitted to both Organising Chairs;
abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this
order: author(s), affiliation, email address, title of abstract, body
of
abstract. We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals
submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should
assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in
cyberspace!
We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or
resend.
Paul Reynolds
Social and Psychological Sciences,
Edge Hill University
United Kingdom
E-Mail: Reynoldp@edgehill.ac.uk
Rob Fisher
Network Founder & network Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HR
E-Mail: ikp@inter-disciplinary.net
The conference is part of the Critical Issues programme of research
projects. It aims to bring together people from different areas and
interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are
innovative and exciting. All papers accepted for and presented at this
conference will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected
papers will be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume.
For further details about the project, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/intellectuals/int.html
For further details about the conference, please visit:
http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/ci/intellectuals/int1/cfp.html
=============
Dr Rob Fisher
Network Founder and Leader
Inter-Disciplinary.Net
Paul Reynolds
Reader in Sociology and Social Philosophy
Programme Leader in Sociology and Social Psychology
Department of Social and Psychological Sciences
Edge Hill University
St Helens Road
Ormskirk
Lancs L39 4QP
Tel: 01695 584370
email: reynoldp@edgehill.ac.uk
New OECD report: Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life
See Link at
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2649_33729_39699821_1_1_1_1,00.html
Improved childcare policies needed to achieve better work/life balance, says
OECD
- Getting family-friendly policies right will help reduce poverty, promote
child development, enhance equity between men and women and stem the fall in
birth-rates, according to a new OECD report.
Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life compares the different
approaches that the 30 OECD countries take to help parents balance their work
and family commitments.
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2825_498370_39651501_1_1_1_1,00.htm
l
Denmark and Iceland have the most effective public policies and workplace
practices that promote a healthy work and family balance, the report finds.
Finland, France, Norway and Sweden also perform well. English-speaking
countries generally do well in some respects, but have high rates of child
poverty, mainly because fewer lone parents work in these countries. Germany,
Korea, and the Slovak Republic do poorly in most areas covered.
The report analyses tax and benefit policies, parental-leave arrangements,
childcare, out-of-school-hours care, and workplace practices, such as access
to part-time and flexible working hours, across the 30 OECD countries. The
findings are then compared with key indicators, such as the level of child
poverty, the gender pay gap and the birth rate (see Table 1 at link).
While there is no "one-size fits all" policy recipe, the following elements
can contribute to an effective public spending and policy development
strategy:
Giving parents money on condition that one of them is not working but caring
for children sounds sensible but is often counter-productive. It destroys
incentives to work and leads employers to assume that women will stay at
home, so they stop hiring women and stop investing in their careers.
Financial incentives to work are important. Tax/benefit systems should be
designed to give both parents strong financial incentives to work.
Single parents should be obliged to look for work and given the quality
childcare support to ensure that they can.
Many countries could get better value for money from their spending on
childcare support. Out-of-school-hours care for older children, for example,
is relatively cheap to offer and can make a big impact on the ability of both
parents to work.
Parental leave works best when it is short but well-paid. To promote gender
equity and greater paternal involvement in child rearing, some part of the
leave should be shared by the parents (rather than as now, when nearly all
leave is taken by mothers).
Workplaces need to be more family-friendly. Part-time working, flexible hours
and the ability to take leave to care for sick children can all make a big
difference to parents seeking to reconcile work and family life.
See a selection of tables and graphs and country notes for selected
countries.
See the previous Babies and Bosses reviews of policies to promote work and
family reconciliation for Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands (Vol. 1);
Austria, Ireland and Japan (Vol. 2); New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland
(Vol. 3.); and, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (Vol. 4).
Peter Whiteford
Principal Administrator (Welfare Reform)
Social Policy Division
Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
OECD
Phone: 33 (0)1 45 24 90 41
Fax: 33 (0)1 45 24 90 98
OECD Social Policy Division via www.oecd.org/els/social
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2649_33729_39699821_1_1_1_1,00.html
Improved childcare policies needed to achieve better work/life balance, says
OECD
- Getting family-friendly policies right will help reduce poverty, promote
child development, enhance equity between men and women and stem the fall in
birth-rates, according to a new OECD report.
Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life compares the different
approaches that the 30 OECD countries take to help parents balance their work
and family commitments.
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2825_498370_39651501_1_1_1_1,00.htm
l
Denmark and Iceland have the most effective public policies and workplace
practices that promote a healthy work and family balance, the report finds.
Finland, France, Norway and Sweden also perform well. English-speaking
countries generally do well in some respects, but have high rates of child
poverty, mainly because fewer lone parents work in these countries. Germany,
Korea, and the Slovak Republic do poorly in most areas covered.
The report analyses tax and benefit policies, parental-leave arrangements,
childcare, out-of-school-hours care, and workplace practices, such as access
to part-time and flexible working hours, across the 30 OECD countries. The
findings are then compared with key indicators, such as the level of child
poverty, the gender pay gap and the birth rate (see Table 1 at link).
While there is no "one-size fits all" policy recipe, the following elements
can contribute to an effective public spending and policy development
strategy:
Giving parents money on condition that one of them is not working but caring
for children sounds sensible but is often counter-productive. It destroys
incentives to work and leads employers to assume that women will stay at
home, so they stop hiring women and stop investing in their careers.
Financial incentives to work are important. Tax/benefit systems should be
designed to give both parents strong financial incentives to work.
Single parents should be obliged to look for work and given the quality
childcare support to ensure that they can.
Many countries could get better value for money from their spending on
childcare support. Out-of-school-hours care for older children, for example,
is relatively cheap to offer and can make a big impact on the ability of both
parents to work.
Parental leave works best when it is short but well-paid. To promote gender
equity and greater paternal involvement in child rearing, some part of the
leave should be shared by the parents (rather than as now, when nearly all
leave is taken by mothers).
Workplaces need to be more family-friendly. Part-time working, flexible hours
and the ability to take leave to care for sick children can all make a big
difference to parents seeking to reconcile work and family life.
See a selection of tables and graphs and country notes for selected
countries.
See the previous Babies and Bosses reviews of policies to promote work and
family reconciliation for Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands (Vol. 1);
Austria, Ireland and Japan (Vol. 2); New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland
(Vol. 3.); and, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (Vol. 4).
Peter Whiteford
Principal Administrator (Welfare Reform)
Social Policy Division
Directorate of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
OECD
Phone: 33 (0)1 45 24 90 41
Fax: 33 (0)1 45 24 90 98
OECD Social Policy Division via www.oecd.org/els/social
People, Place & Policy Online
Apologies for cross-posting.
People, Place & Policy Online
Volume 1, Issue 3 is now available free to download at
www.ppp-online.org
Issue 3 contents:
*
European Union Accession State Migrants in Social Housing in England
David Robinson
*
Civilising offensives and ambivalence: the case of British gypsies
Ryan Powell
*
Housing Market Renewal in an era of new housing supply
Ed Ferrari
*
Changes in the profile of men claiming Incapacity Benefit - a case
study
Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill
*
Anti-social behaviour and disability - the response of social
landlords
Caroline Hunter, Nick Hodge, Judy Nixon and Sadie Parr
About People, Place & Policy Online
This major new journal provides a forum for debate between academics,
policy-makers and practitioners thinking about major societal challenges
and concerned with identifying problems and suggesting solutions.
PPP-Online publishes:
* research findings, including emerging findings from ongoing research
* methodological discussions and reflections on research and evaluative
techniques and approaches
* policy reviews
* literature reviews
* opinion pieces, stimulating ongoing debate across issues
PPP-Online welcomes both empirically and theoretically informed
discussion from different viewpoints about: the problems facing contemporary
society; how they are perceived and presented by policy makers; the
appropriateness and effectiveness of the policy and practice response; the
practical and political realities of policy orientated research;
perspectives on different methods and methodologies; and the conflicts and
challenges encountered by the researcher and the researched.
To receive future issue alerts, please email ppp-online@shu.ac.uk
For further information please visit www.ppp-online.org
People, Place & Policy Online
Volume 1, Issue 3 is now available free to download at
www.ppp-online.org
Issue 3 contents:
*
European Union Accession State Migrants in Social Housing in England
David Robinson
*
Civilising offensives and ambivalence: the case of British gypsies
Ryan Powell
*
Housing Market Renewal in an era of new housing supply
Ed Ferrari
*
Changes in the profile of men claiming Incapacity Benefit - a case
study
Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill
*
Anti-social behaviour and disability - the response of social
landlords
Caroline Hunter, Nick Hodge, Judy Nixon and Sadie Parr
About People, Place & Policy Online
This major new journal provides a forum for debate between academics,
policy-makers and practitioners thinking about major societal challenges
and concerned with identifying problems and suggesting solutions.
PPP-Online publishes:
* research findings, including emerging findings from ongoing research
* methodological discussions and reflections on research and evaluative
techniques and approaches
* policy reviews
* literature reviews
* opinion pieces, stimulating ongoing debate across issues
PPP-Online welcomes both empirically and theoretically informed
discussion from different viewpoints about: the problems facing contemporary
society; how they are perceived and presented by policy makers; the
appropriateness and effectiveness of the policy and practice response; the
practical and political realities of policy orientated research;
perspectives on different methods and methodologies; and the conflicts and
challenges encountered by the researcher and the researched.
To receive future issue alerts, please email ppp-online@shu.ac.uk
For further information please visit www.ppp-online.org
Thursday, 29 November 2007
New book on Gentrification
Dear Colleague,
Routledge is pleased to offer you an exciting new book from Loretta
Lees, Tom Slater, and Elvin Wyly - Gentrification.
"Intelligent, thorough, appropriately critical, and with a perfect
balance of theory and case material, this is a significant addition to
the gentrification literature, one that (finally!) brings it all
together."
--ROBERT BEAUREGARD, Columbia University
"Three prominent urban researchers come together here, exercising their
responsibilities as intellectuals with eloquence, acumen and force. In
the moral economy of gentrification, the voices of Lees, Slater and Wyly
stand not only to alter the perspectives of many people, but moreover to
affect the course of events in many places."
--ERIC CLARK, Lund University
This first textbook on the topic of gentrification is written for
upper-level undergraduates in geography, sociology, and planning. The
gentrification of urban areas has accelerated across the globe to become
a central engine of urban development, and it is a topic that has
attracted a great deal of interest in both academia and the popular
press. Gentrification presents major theoretical ideas and concepts with
case studies, and summaries of the ideas in the book as well as offering
ideas for future research.
Order your copy now. If you are in the US, Canada or Latin America
please email your order to orders@taylorandfrancis.com or call toll free
800-634-7064. If you are in the rest of the world, please email your
order to book.orders@tandf.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1264 343070. If you
would to mail your order, please use the attached flyer to do so.
Respectfully yours,
Nicole Hanley
------------------------------------------------------
Nicole R. Hanley
Marketing Manager
Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(917) 351-7169
nicole.hanley@taylorandfrancis.com
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
Routledge is pleased to offer you an exciting new book from Loretta
Lees, Tom Slater, and Elvin Wyly - Gentrification.
"Intelligent, thorough, appropriately critical, and with a perfect
balance of theory and case material, this is a significant addition to
the gentrification literature, one that (finally!) brings it all
together."
--ROBERT BEAUREGARD, Columbia University
"Three prominent urban researchers come together here, exercising their
responsibilities as intellectuals with eloquence, acumen and force. In
the moral economy of gentrification, the voices of Lees, Slater and Wyly
stand not only to alter the perspectives of many people, but moreover to
affect the course of events in many places."
--ERIC CLARK, Lund University
This first textbook on the topic of gentrification is written for
upper-level undergraduates in geography, sociology, and planning. The
gentrification of urban areas has accelerated across the globe to become
a central engine of urban development, and it is a topic that has
attracted a great deal of interest in both academia and the popular
press. Gentrification presents major theoretical ideas and concepts with
case studies, and summaries of the ideas in the book as well as offering
ideas for future research.
Order your copy now. If you are in the US, Canada or Latin America
please email your order to orders@taylorandfrancis.com or call toll free
800-634-7064. If you are in the rest of the world, please email your
order to book.orders@tandf.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1264 343070. If you
would to mail your order, please use the attached flyer to do so.
Respectfully yours,
Nicole Hanley
------------------------------------------------------
Nicole R. Hanley
Marketing Manager
Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(917) 351-7169
nicole.hanley@taylorandfrancis.com
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
call for papers: The Olympics: Politics and Protest
From: Long, Jonathan A [mailto:J.A.Long@leedsmet.ac.uk]
Sent: 16 November 2007 15:25
Call for Papers
The Olympics: Politics and Protest
The Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Metropolitan
University invites papers for the above conference, to be held at
Headingley Carnegie Stadium over 17th and 18th July 2008.
The Olympic Games are probably the most popular event in the history of
sport. The TV audiences for both the Summer and the Winter Games now
approach saturation point, the Games generate huge commercial
possibilities for 'Olympic partners' and a deafening cheer goes up in
the nominated country when the venue for the next tournament but one is
revealed. Olympic history - especially the history dispensed by the
International Olympic Committee itself - is invariably a history of
sporting triumph and comradeship. The political dimensions of the
Olympic movement have too often been hidden from its history - hence
this conference.
We invite papers that take a critical stance on the Olympic movement at
some point in its history. These papers may address any of the following
themes:
- de Coubertin and the establishment of the modern Olympics
- campaigns against the Olympics and/or specific Olympiads
- gender and the Olympics and the campaign for gender equity
- racism and the Olympics
- the campaign to establish, and issues around, the Paralympics
- the amateur-professional divide
- commercialism and the Olympics
- Olympics and the Cold War
- the Olympics as a site of protest
- the Olympics and 'human rights'
- the Olympics and the environment
- critiques of Olympic ideology and educational programmes
Needless to say, papers outside of these specified themes will be
considered.
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Helen Lenskyj (University of Toronto) author of Inside the
Olympic Industry(State University of New York Press, 2000).
John Horne, Reader in the Sociology of Sport, University of Edinburgh
Please direct outline of your proposed paper (300 words approx.), and
any academic enquires, to conference organiser:
Stephen Wagg, Reader in Sport and Society, Leeds Metropolitan
University: S.Wagg@leedsmet.ac.uk
Sent: 16 November 2007 15:25
Call for Papers
The Olympics: Politics and Protest
The Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education at Leeds Metropolitan
University invites papers for the above conference, to be held at
Headingley Carnegie Stadium over 17th and 18th July 2008.
The Olympic Games are probably the most popular event in the history of
sport. The TV audiences for both the Summer and the Winter Games now
approach saturation point, the Games generate huge commercial
possibilities for 'Olympic partners' and a deafening cheer goes up in
the nominated country when the venue for the next tournament but one is
revealed. Olympic history - especially the history dispensed by the
International Olympic Committee itself - is invariably a history of
sporting triumph and comradeship. The political dimensions of the
Olympic movement have too often been hidden from its history - hence
this conference.
We invite papers that take a critical stance on the Olympic movement at
some point in its history. These papers may address any of the following
themes:
- de Coubertin and the establishment of the modern Olympics
- campaigns against the Olympics and/or specific Olympiads
- gender and the Olympics and the campaign for gender equity
- racism and the Olympics
- the campaign to establish, and issues around, the Paralympics
- the amateur-professional divide
- commercialism and the Olympics
- Olympics and the Cold War
- the Olympics as a site of protest
- the Olympics and 'human rights'
- the Olympics and the environment
- critiques of Olympic ideology and educational programmes
Needless to say, papers outside of these specified themes will be
considered.
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Helen Lenskyj (University of Toronto) author of Inside the
Olympic Industry(State University of New York Press, 2000).
John Horne, Reader in the Sociology of Sport, University of Edinburgh
Please direct outline of your proposed paper (300 words approx.), and
any academic enquires, to conference organiser:
Stephen Wagg, Reader in Sport and Society, Leeds Metropolitan
University: S.Wagg@leedsmet.ac.uk
Just published on the JRF website
Just published on the JRF website:
Ward councillors and community leadership: a future perspective
An exploration of how the role of ward councillors in England is likely to develop over the next five years.
Ward councillors and community leadership: a future perspective
An exploration of how the role of ward councillors in England is likely to develop over the next five years.
OECD report: Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life
See Link at
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2649_33729_39699821_1_1_1_1,00.html
Improved childcare policies needed to achieve better work/life balance, says
OECD
- Getting family-friendly policies right will help reduce poverty, promote
child development, enhance equity between men and women and stem the fall in
birth-rates, according to a new OECD report.
Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life compares the different
approaches that the 30 OECD countries take to help parents balance their work
and family commitments.
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2825_498370_39651501_1_1_1_1,00.htm
l
Denmark and Iceland have the most effective public policies and workplace
practices that promote a healthy work and family balance, the report finds.
Finland, France, Norway and Sweden also perform well. English-speaking
countries generally do well in some respects, but have high rates of child
poverty, mainly because fewer lone parents work in these countries. Germany,
Korea, and the Slovak Republic do poorly in most areas covered.
The report analyses tax and benefit policies, parental-leave arrangements,
childcare, out-of-school-hours care, and workplace practices, such as access
to part-time and flexible working hours, across the 30 OECD countries. The
findings are then compared with key indicators, such as the level of child
poverty, the gender pay gap and the birth rate (see Table 1 at link).
While there is no "one-size fits all" policy recipe, the following elements
can contribute to an effective public spending and policy development
strategy:
Giving parents money on condition that one of them is not working but caring
for children sounds sensible but is often counter-productive. It destroys
incentives to work and leads employers to assume that women will stay at
home, so they stop hiring women and stop investing in their careers.
Financial incentives to work are important. Tax/benefit systems should be
designed to give both parents strong financial incentives to work.
Single parents should be obliged to look for work and given the quality
childcare support to ensure that they can.
Many countries could get better value for money from their spending on
childcare support. Out-of-school-hours care for older children, for example,
is relatively cheap to offer and can make a big impact on the ability of both
parents to work.
Parental leave works best when it is short but well-paid. To promote gender
equity and greater paternal involvement in child rearing, some part of the
leave should be shared by the parents (rather than as now, when nearly all
leave is taken by mothers).
Workplaces need to be more family-friendly. Part-time working, flexible hours
and the ability to take leave to care for sick children can all make a big
difference to parents seeking to reconcile work and family life.
See a selection of tables and graphs and country notes for selected
countries.
See the previous Babies and Bosses reviews of policies to promote work and
family reconciliation for Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands (Vol. 1);
Austria, Ireland and Japan (Vol. 2); New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland
(Vol. 3.); and, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (Vol. 4).
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2649_33729_39699821_1_1_1_1,00.html
Improved childcare policies needed to achieve better work/life balance, says
OECD
- Getting family-friendly policies right will help reduce poverty, promote
child development, enhance equity between men and women and stem the fall in
birth-rates, according to a new OECD report.
Babies and Bosses, Reconciling Work and Family Life compares the different
approaches that the 30 OECD countries take to help parents balance their work
and family commitments.
http://www.oecd.org/document/45/0,3343,en_2825_498370_39651501_1_1_1_1,00.htm
l
Denmark and Iceland have the most effective public policies and workplace
practices that promote a healthy work and family balance, the report finds.
Finland, France, Norway and Sweden also perform well. English-speaking
countries generally do well in some respects, but have high rates of child
poverty, mainly because fewer lone parents work in these countries. Germany,
Korea, and the Slovak Republic do poorly in most areas covered.
The report analyses tax and benefit policies, parental-leave arrangements,
childcare, out-of-school-hours care, and workplace practices, such as access
to part-time and flexible working hours, across the 30 OECD countries. The
findings are then compared with key indicators, such as the level of child
poverty, the gender pay gap and the birth rate (see Table 1 at link).
While there is no "one-size fits all" policy recipe, the following elements
can contribute to an effective public spending and policy development
strategy:
Giving parents money on condition that one of them is not working but caring
for children sounds sensible but is often counter-productive. It destroys
incentives to work and leads employers to assume that women will stay at
home, so they stop hiring women and stop investing in their careers.
Financial incentives to work are important. Tax/benefit systems should be
designed to give both parents strong financial incentives to work.
Single parents should be obliged to look for work and given the quality
childcare support to ensure that they can.
Many countries could get better value for money from their spending on
childcare support. Out-of-school-hours care for older children, for example,
is relatively cheap to offer and can make a big impact on the ability of both
parents to work.
Parental leave works best when it is short but well-paid. To promote gender
equity and greater paternal involvement in child rearing, some part of the
leave should be shared by the parents (rather than as now, when nearly all
leave is taken by mothers).
Workplaces need to be more family-friendly. Part-time working, flexible hours
and the ability to take leave to care for sick children can all make a big
difference to parents seeking to reconcile work and family life.
See a selection of tables and graphs and country notes for selected
countries.
See the previous Babies and Bosses reviews of policies to promote work and
family reconciliation for Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands (Vol. 1);
Austria, Ireland and Japan (Vol. 2); New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland
(Vol. 3.); and, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (Vol. 4).
Call for Papers - ERSA 2008
Chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2008, Liverpool has been the focus for numerous regeneration initiatives. The city has changed dramatically in the last decade and is emerging as one of the UK’s leading centres for learning, culture, entertainment, sport and endeavour. The 2008 ERSA Congress, jointly hosted by the Department of Civic Design at the University of Liverpool and the British and Irish Section of the Regional Science Association International, will provide an excellent opportunity to see, and reflect on, the substantial progress that has been made. The overarching theme for the Congress, ‘Culture, Cohesion and Competitiveness’ encapsulates a number of different aspects that are topical and relevant, not only for Liverpool but also across the whole of Europe.
The programme will be organised around a variety of topics and include plenary sessions with lectures by distinguished keynote speakers, including Professor Ed Glaeser (Harvard). Papers are invited on topics that not only reflect the central theme, but also reflect other topics such as:
• Cultural regeneration and its evaluation
• Climate change and its implications for urban and regional development
• The evidence base for regional policy
• Regional analysis of enterprise formation, deformation and survival
• The development of air transport in European regions
• Labour mobility in the extended European Union
• The regenerative role of river basin management
• Spatial targeting and urban policy
• Geographical information systems and spatial analysis
• Local dimensions of sustainable development
• Globalisation and regional competitiveness
• Migration, diasporas and development
• Social segregation, poverty and space
• Rural and local development
• Dublin and Liverpool: two cities compared
• Cross-border cooperation and development
• Renewable energy: a regional development perspective
• Regeneration of urban districts: analysis, policy and evaluation
• The future for regional policy in Europe
• Public health and regional prosperity
• Spatial econometrics
• Long-term unemployment and lagging regions
• New technologies, innovation and space
• Public finance and regional development
• Sustainable development and regional economic strategies
• Spatial economic analysis
• Retail development and competitiveness
• Agglomeration, clusters and policy
• City and regional marketing
• Location of economic activities and people: new directions
• City and regional governance: the role of city regions
• Infrastructure, transport, mobility and communication
• Learning regions
• New frontiers in regional science: theory and methodology
In addition to the above, there will also be young scientists sessions.
Prospective participants should submit an abstract of up to two pages to the conference website, http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/ersa2008 by 14 January 2008. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent to authors by 29 February 2008 and the deadline for full paper submission is 30 April 2008.
Contact: Professor Peter Batey (Chair, LOC) Sandra Robinson (Congress Administration)
Tel: +44 [0]151 794 3811 Tel: +44 [0]151 794 3118
Email: pwjbatey@liverpool.ac.uk Email: ERSA2008@liverpool.ac.uk or sandrob@liverpool.ac.uk
Department of Civic Design, University of Liverpool, The Gordon Stephenson Building,
74 Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZQ, UK
The programme will be organised around a variety of topics and include plenary sessions with lectures by distinguished keynote speakers, including Professor Ed Glaeser (Harvard). Papers are invited on topics that not only reflect the central theme, but also reflect other topics such as:
• Cultural regeneration and its evaluation
• Climate change and its implications for urban and regional development
• The evidence base for regional policy
• Regional analysis of enterprise formation, deformation and survival
• The development of air transport in European regions
• Labour mobility in the extended European Union
• The regenerative role of river basin management
• Spatial targeting and urban policy
• Geographical information systems and spatial analysis
• Local dimensions of sustainable development
• Globalisation and regional competitiveness
• Migration, diasporas and development
• Social segregation, poverty and space
• Rural and local development
• Dublin and Liverpool: two cities compared
• Cross-border cooperation and development
• Renewable energy: a regional development perspective
• Regeneration of urban districts: analysis, policy and evaluation
• The future for regional policy in Europe
• Public health and regional prosperity
• Spatial econometrics
• Long-term unemployment and lagging regions
• New technologies, innovation and space
• Public finance and regional development
• Sustainable development and regional economic strategies
• Spatial economic analysis
• Retail development and competitiveness
• Agglomeration, clusters and policy
• City and regional marketing
• Location of economic activities and people: new directions
• City and regional governance: the role of city regions
• Infrastructure, transport, mobility and communication
• Learning regions
• New frontiers in regional science: theory and methodology
In addition to the above, there will also be young scientists sessions.
Prospective participants should submit an abstract of up to two pages to the conference website, http://www.liverpool.ac.uk/ersa2008 by 14 January 2008. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent to authors by 29 February 2008 and the deadline for full paper submission is 30 April 2008.
Contact: Professor Peter Batey (Chair, LOC) Sandra Robinson (Congress Administration)
Tel: +44 [0]151 794 3811 Tel: +44 [0]151 794 3118
Email: pwjbatey@liverpool.ac.uk Email: ERSA2008@liverpool.ac.uk or sandrob@liverpool.ac.uk
Department of Civic Design, University of Liverpool, The Gordon Stephenson Building,
74 Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZQ, UK
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
The Value of Ethnography
Apologies for Cross Posting
Call for Papers
The Value of Ethnography in Social and Management Science
Teaching and Research
The 3rd Annual Joint University of Liverpool Management School and Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management Symposium on Current Developments in Ethnographic Research in the Social and Management Sciences.
Tuesday 2ndth - Thursday 4th September 2008
Hosted by
The University of Liverpool Management School
Chatham Street
Liverpool, UK
L69 7ZH
In Association with Ethnography
Conference Chairs:
Dr Frank Worthington, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Matthew Brannan, Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management
Organising Committee:
Dr Matthew Brannan, Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management
Dr Jason Ferdinand, University of Liverpool Management School.
Dr Mike Rowe, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Geoff Pearson, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Frank Worthington, University of Liverpool Management School
Key Note Speakers:
Professor Gary Armstrong, Brunel University, UK
Professor Rick Delbridge, University of Cardiff, UK
Joanna Scammell and Ashley Roberts, University of Cardiff, UK
Dr Clare Holdsworth and Sarah Hall, University of Liverpool, UK
Professor Dvora Yanow, University of Amsterdam, NL
Call for Papers
In recent years ethnography has become an increasingly popular and vibrant mode of research within the social and management sciences. Within the context of work and organizations, current areas of interest include the study of new organizational forms, new management control methods, quality, auditing and information systems, work restructuring, employee involvement, empowerment, changing patterns and conditions of employment, and the impact these developments have on the lived-experience of work in terms of job-satisfaction and job-security, employee motivation and morale, commitment, leadership and change. In critical management and labour process studies these areas of research have been examined within the context of employee subjectivity and identity, gender, workplace politics, ethics, knowledge, power, control, oppression, exploitation, alienation and subjugation. Other broader social science areas of interest within the field include research into recent organisational and institutional changes within public sector services and local authorities in terms of the impact of these developments on the professions and other public sector occupations, local communities and civic society. There is also a growing interest within the field of ethnography in virtual and new media mediated ethnographies, ethnography and art and architecture, consumption, community, ethnicity, emotions and ethnography as emotional labour.
Other areas of interest include questions about the kinds of practical as well as political ethical and theoretical challenges ethnographers face within the field, the purpose of ethnography and whose interests it serves, whether ethnography can or should be ‘value-free’ and what actually counts and does not count as ‘good’ ethnography given the range of traditional (i.e.: naturalist, interpretivist, constructivist, modernist) and more contemporary (i.e.: postmodern, poststructuralist and critical) theoretical standpoints which inform how ethnographers choose to approach, conduct and write-up their research.
This symposium aims to bring together established and emerging social and management science scholars with an interest in ethnographic research to explore current trends in qualitative research in and around these and other developments within the field from a broad range of perspectives. The symposium will appeal not only to organization and management academics but also those working within sociology, anthropology, human geography, architecture, law, criminology, politics, cultural studies, environmental studies, gender studies and social and public policy. The symposium organizers welcome papers from any of these disciplines. Papers that examine the role and value of ethnography in social and management teaching and research, and those that address the theoretical, philosophical, empirical and practical questions in ethnography will be particularly welcome. In addition the organizers would also like to welcome papers that examine the political and ethical challenges involved in conducting critical ethnographic research.
Theoretically informed and empirically based papers, as well as work-in-progress papers from new and young emerging scholars, in any of the following areas will be considered:
- Public and private sector work organization and work restructuring.
- New organizational forms and changing forms of employment.
- Organizational, professional, group, community and social class cultures and sub-cultures.
- Management-labour relations and trade union practices.
- Accounting, auditing and governance.
- Services-marketing and consumer behaviour.
- Healthcare, education, local government and social and public policy.
- Ethnographies of conflict, deviance, resistance and misbehaviour (including researcher misbehaviour).
- Business ethics/ unethical business and management and employee practices.
- The role of ethnography in new times.
- The prospects for shop-floor ethnography in an era characterised by the break-up of tradition forms of shop-floor and trade union organisation.
- The contribution of virtual or new media mediated ethnographies.
- The relationship between ethnography and art.
- Ethnographies of consumption and community.
- Problematising methods of teaching and conducting ethnography.
- Ethnography as emotional labour: dealing with fear, anxiety and stress in the field.
Abstracts (up to 750-words, excluding contact details and references) should be submitted to the symposium organizers at the following email address by Friday 11th of January 2008: f.worthington@liv.ac.uk
Decisions on acceptance of papers will be given, subject to external refereeing, by Friday 15th of February 2008. Full papers will need to be submitted by 31st of July 2008. Only papers submitted to the organizers by this date will be published on the symposium website. Delegates whose papers are accepted but who are unable to meet this deadline are asked to submit a copy of their paper as soon as possible thereafter to allow the organizers to make photocopies for circulation on the opening day of the symposium.
*All papers presented at the conference will be automatically considered for publication in the Journal Ethnography.
Symposium attendance fees, accommodation and registration*
Attendance fee for delegates in full-time employment: £255.
Emerging scholars (PhD research students) and delegates in part-time employment £105
*Attendance fees include symposium proceedings, refreshments, lunches and the symposium evening dinner on Wednesday 3rdth September.
Accommodation:
All delegates will need to arrange their own accommodation. A list of recommended local hotels and guesthouses will be available shortly on the following website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/management/events/ethnography_conference_accomodation.htm
How to Register:
Symposium registration form will be available shortly to download from the following website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/management/events/ethnography_conference.htm
Informal enquiries to:
Dr Frank Worthington, email: f.worthington@liv.ac.uk
We look forward to seeing you at the event in September 2008
Call for Papers
The Value of Ethnography in Social and Management Science
Teaching and Research
The 3rd Annual Joint University of Liverpool Management School and Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management Symposium on Current Developments in Ethnographic Research in the Social and Management Sciences.
Tuesday 2ndth - Thursday 4th September 2008
Hosted by
The University of Liverpool Management School
Chatham Street
Liverpool, UK
L69 7ZH
In Association with Ethnography
Conference Chairs:
Dr Frank Worthington, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Matthew Brannan, Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management
Organising Committee:
Dr Matthew Brannan, Keele University Institute for Public Policy and Management
Dr Jason Ferdinand, University of Liverpool Management School.
Dr Mike Rowe, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Geoff Pearson, University of Liverpool Management School
Dr Frank Worthington, University of Liverpool Management School
Key Note Speakers:
Professor Gary Armstrong, Brunel University, UK
Professor Rick Delbridge, University of Cardiff, UK
Joanna Scammell and Ashley Roberts, University of Cardiff, UK
Dr Clare Holdsworth and Sarah Hall, University of Liverpool, UK
Professor Dvora Yanow, University of Amsterdam, NL
Call for Papers
In recent years ethnography has become an increasingly popular and vibrant mode of research within the social and management sciences. Within the context of work and organizations, current areas of interest include the study of new organizational forms, new management control methods, quality, auditing and information systems, work restructuring, employee involvement, empowerment, changing patterns and conditions of employment, and the impact these developments have on the lived-experience of work in terms of job-satisfaction and job-security, employee motivation and morale, commitment, leadership and change. In critical management and labour process studies these areas of research have been examined within the context of employee subjectivity and identity, gender, workplace politics, ethics, knowledge, power, control, oppression, exploitation, alienation and subjugation. Other broader social science areas of interest within the field include research into recent organisational and institutional changes within public sector services and local authorities in terms of the impact of these developments on the professions and other public sector occupations, local communities and civic society. There is also a growing interest within the field of ethnography in virtual and new media mediated ethnographies, ethnography and art and architecture, consumption, community, ethnicity, emotions and ethnography as emotional labour.
Other areas of interest include questions about the kinds of practical as well as political ethical and theoretical challenges ethnographers face within the field, the purpose of ethnography and whose interests it serves, whether ethnography can or should be ‘value-free’ and what actually counts and does not count as ‘good’ ethnography given the range of traditional (i.e.: naturalist, interpretivist, constructivist, modernist) and more contemporary (i.e.: postmodern, poststructuralist and critical) theoretical standpoints which inform how ethnographers choose to approach, conduct and write-up their research.
This symposium aims to bring together established and emerging social and management science scholars with an interest in ethnographic research to explore current trends in qualitative research in and around these and other developments within the field from a broad range of perspectives. The symposium will appeal not only to organization and management academics but also those working within sociology, anthropology, human geography, architecture, law, criminology, politics, cultural studies, environmental studies, gender studies and social and public policy. The symposium organizers welcome papers from any of these disciplines. Papers that examine the role and value of ethnography in social and management teaching and research, and those that address the theoretical, philosophical, empirical and practical questions in ethnography will be particularly welcome. In addition the organizers would also like to welcome papers that examine the political and ethical challenges involved in conducting critical ethnographic research.
Theoretically informed and empirically based papers, as well as work-in-progress papers from new and young emerging scholars, in any of the following areas will be considered:
- Public and private sector work organization and work restructuring.
- New organizational forms and changing forms of employment.
- Organizational, professional, group, community and social class cultures and sub-cultures.
- Management-labour relations and trade union practices.
- Accounting, auditing and governance.
- Services-marketing and consumer behaviour.
- Healthcare, education, local government and social and public policy.
- Ethnographies of conflict, deviance, resistance and misbehaviour (including researcher misbehaviour).
- Business ethics/ unethical business and management and employee practices.
- The role of ethnography in new times.
- The prospects for shop-floor ethnography in an era characterised by the break-up of tradition forms of shop-floor and trade union organisation.
- The contribution of virtual or new media mediated ethnographies.
- The relationship between ethnography and art.
- Ethnographies of consumption and community.
- Problematising methods of teaching and conducting ethnography.
- Ethnography as emotional labour: dealing with fear, anxiety and stress in the field.
Abstracts (up to 750-words, excluding contact details and references) should be submitted to the symposium organizers at the following email address by Friday 11th of January 2008: f.worthington@liv.ac.uk
Decisions on acceptance of papers will be given, subject to external refereeing, by Friday 15th of February 2008. Full papers will need to be submitted by 31st of July 2008. Only papers submitted to the organizers by this date will be published on the symposium website. Delegates whose papers are accepted but who are unable to meet this deadline are asked to submit a copy of their paper as soon as possible thereafter to allow the organizers to make photocopies for circulation on the opening day of the symposium.
*All papers presented at the conference will be automatically considered for publication in the Journal Ethnography.
Symposium attendance fees, accommodation and registration*
Attendance fee for delegates in full-time employment: £255.
Emerging scholars (PhD research students) and delegates in part-time employment £105
*Attendance fees include symposium proceedings, refreshments, lunches and the symposium evening dinner on Wednesday 3rdth September.
Accommodation:
All delegates will need to arrange their own accommodation. A list of recommended local hotels and guesthouses will be available shortly on the following website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/management/events/ethnography_conference_accomodation.htm
How to Register:
Symposium registration form will be available shortly to download from the following website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/management/events/ethnography_conference.htm
Informal enquiries to:
Dr Frank Worthington, email: f.worthington@liv.ac.uk
We look forward to seeing you at the event in September 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
