For those possibly wanting a face-to-face forum in which to discuss theextent to which 'it is very difficult to raise any controversial ethical
issues in the academic community, and critical geography is no exception',
an almost finalish reminder that abstract submissions, AND applications for
postgraduate bursaries to the 'Beyond the Academy? Critical Geographies in
Action' should be submitted to me by the end of the month. Details below.
Beyond the academy? Critical geographies in action
University of Northumbria at Newcastle,
September 12-14, 2001
Co-sponsored by the Social and Cultural Geography, Women and Geography,
Economic Geography, and Political Geography Research/Study Groups of the
RGS/IBG
Convened by Duncan Fuller (Northumbria) and Rob Kitchin (Maynooth)
Conference web-site: http://gem.unn.ac.uk/conferences/beyond.html
In the age of direct action and sporadic mass mobilisation against a
multiplicity of forces of oppression and perceived injustices, this
conference aims to explore the involvement of the critical human geographer
in lives beyond the academy. Through paper presentations and workshops it is
hoped that delegates will explore the issues surrounding the potential for,
and pitfalls of, putting critical geography into action, and the politics,
ethics and practicalities critical geographers face in:
* feeding into policy
* engaging in activism
* undertaking consultancy work
* contributing to local/national debates/politics
* striving to engender change in local communities
* creating critical classrooms
Key speakers include
Simon Batterbury, Noel Castree, Paul Cloke, James DeFilippis, Keith
Halfacree, Ray Hudson, Ron Martin, Jon May, Rachel Pain, Jenny Robinson,
Paul Routledge, David Sibley, Janet Townsend, Rebekah Widdowfield, and Chris
Wilbert.
Papers are now invited, though in the spirit of the conference, not limited,
to the following themes:
* emancipatory politics * public policy *
institutional obstacles
* social justice * social change *
critical engagement
* regional policy * 'relevance' *
social movements
* going native * internationalism *
thirdspaces
* homelessness * poverty * activism &
direct action
* positionality * identity politics *
work and trade unionism
* community work * development & the 'South' *
ethics
* critical theory * the academic gaze *
work cultures
* domination / resistance * social responsibility *
morals
* social welfare * methodologies * teaching
* empowerment * participation * inclusion
Abstracts (no more than 300 words) should be submitted no later than 30th
April 2001 to Dr. Duncan Fuller (see below).
Booking details:
Booking forms can be downloaded from the conference web-site or by
contacting the organisers ([log in to unmask])
Registration costs: £40 (waged), £10 (PG/unwaged).
Details of local accommodation and food sources will be provided upon
receipt of booking forms. In order to allow you to choose (and individually
book) suitable venues according to your budget (and taste!) we will not be
block booking any accommodation facilities.
Postgraduate bursaries
The Social and Cultural Geography, Women and Geography, Economic Geography,
and Political Geography Research/Study groups have agreed to sponsor a
number of postgraduate bursaries. In order to be eligible, you must:
* have your abstract accepted for presentation at the conference (your
abstract should be submitted alongside your bursary application by the 30th
April)
* be a member of one of the four sponsoring research/study groups
Application forms can be downloaded by following the link from the
conference web-site. Successful applicants will be notified early in May
2001.
Further information and help contact:
Dr Duncan Fuller, Division of Geography and Environmental Management, Lipman
Building, University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST.
Phone: 0191 227 3753 Fax: 0191 227 4715 E-mail:
[log in to unmask]
____________________________________________
Dr. Duncan Fuller
Division of Geography and Environmental Management
Lipman Building
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
UK
Tel (Direct): (0191) 2273753
Mobile: 07946 401359
Tel (Division Office): (0191) 2273951
Fax: (0191) 2274715
'Beyond the Academy? Critical geographies in Action'
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
12-14 September 2001
Conference website - http://gem.unn.ac.uk/conferences/beyond.html
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Treanor [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 11:16 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Trade, freedom, democracy and ethics
>
>
> There is a clearer example of the ethical issues, than theplantation
> labour in West Africa. For several years the
> prostitution trade from Albania to Italy has been
> publicised, apparently without any impact. A 1998 CoE report
> brought no action, now the British charity Save the Children
> has reported essentially the same problem.
>
> Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Doc. 8284
> 18 December 1998, Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
> Situation of children in Albania
> http://stars.coe.fr/doc/doc98/EDOC8284.HTM
>
> Save the Children report Child Trafficking in Albania, 20
> April 2001
> http://193.129.255.93/pressrels/200401.html
>
> The recent press release says: "The main cause for this
> trade, says Save the Children, is the endemic poverty and
> lack of opportunities in Albania today."
>
> But that is clearly not true. 15 years ago Albania was even
> poorer, and there was no such trade with Italy, none, zero.
> 15 years ago Albania was a closed totalitarian society, a
> classic case of an undemocratic society. Albania is seen as
> the most extreme case of the post-1989 transitions from
> totalitarianism to democracy. It does have a full poliitcal
> democracy with OSCE-supervised elections, a multi-party
> system and a free press. It meets all the standard
> political-science criteria for a democracy, and it does have
> a genuine active political culture.
>
> The forced-prostitution trade with Italy is a direct
> consequence of the fall of totalitarianism in Albania, and
> the arrival of the present system. There is a direct causal
> relationship between the transition and the trafficking. The
> dictator Enver Hoxha did not permit any mass emigration to
> Italy. Albanians were simply not free to engage in
> prostitution in Italy - even if they wanted to and Italian
> law permitted. The phenomenon was simply impossible under
> the totalitarian regime.
>
> The causal relationship is exactly comparable with the
> emergence of stock exchanges in post-communist states. A
> stock exchange did not exist in a centrally planned
> Marxist-Leninist economy. Without the regime collapse there
> would still be no stock exchanges in Sofia or Ulaan Bataar.
> The transition to a market democracy was, by definition,
> intended to introduce market mechanisms and
> market-democratic society. The supporters of the transition
> process continue to see it as a virtue of the transition,
> that society has changed in this way.
>
> Substituting freedom and market for totalitarianism has
> effects. Many of these effects are trumpeted by democrats as
> reasons to support democracy. But others are embarrassing.
>
> I am in no way trying to evade the issues: it is democrats
> who evade the issues. Enver Hoxha ran a police state,
> including a notorious prison camp at Burrell for his
> political opponents. There is no doubt that the regime
> tortured its opponents, and that it created a general
> climate of fear with a wider political effect. The freeing
> of political prisoners was one of the first phases of the
> transition. Here too there is a direct causal relationship,
> between the transition and the end of the political repression.
>
> Democrats evade the issue, by referring to hypothetical
> democracies where there is no unethical trade. But these
> fictional democracies do not exist in the real world, to
> which ethical judgement applies. A hypothetical Enver Hoxha,
> who was 100% nice and generous to everyone, is also no basis
> to judge the real Enver Hoxha.
>
> We do not have a democratic Albania with no forced
> prostitution trade to Italy. We have democracy *with* this
> trade. We have a transition which brought this reality into
> existence. To say that "this transition was good" is to
> approve the world it brought into existence - unless you
> simply abandon the idea of causal relationships.
>
> The only possible ethical justification for what has
> happened in Albania would be utilitarian. Democrats could
> claim that, on balance, things had improved for the majority
> of Albanians. I would flatly reject such a utilitarian
> defence of the transition. But democrats are reluctant to
> present it anyway, no doubt because utilitarianism is known
> as a cruel doctrine. The ethical issue is simply evaded, put
> out of mind. It is very difficult to raise any controversial
> ethical issues in the academic community, and critical
> geography is no exception.
>
>
>
> --
> Paul Treanor
> http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/dem.wrong.html
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