This initiative may be of interest to Radstats supporters.

>> 3rd April mtg of Critical Academic Network
>>
>> This announcement should be circulated widely to
>> anyone interested.
>>
>> The idea for a Critical Academic Network was floated
>> at a conference on
>> 'Thinking and Doing', held on 2nd March in
>> Southampton.  The conference
>> led to an email discussion list and then to a
>> proposal for a planning
>> meeting.  Both are open to all staff and activists
>> at academic
>> institutions, regardless of employment status.
>>
>> The meeting will be held as follows:
>>
>> 11am-6pm Weds 3rd April
>> in the upstairs room at the
>> Jorene Celeste Pub
>> 256 Kentish Town Road
>> London NW5
>> Located two minutes walk southwards from Kentish
>> Town tube station on the
>> Northern Line;
>> same as the Kentish Town rail station of the
>> Thameslink line from Brighton
>> to St Alban's.
>>
>> Admission free.  No need to register -- just turn
>> up.
>>
>> Tentative agenda
>>
>> 11am:  Strategic issues, e.g.
>> * how to draw on academic resources for contributing
>> to wider political
>> campaigns, and
>> * how to oppose commercialization tendencies (and
>> other oppressive
>> practices) in their own institutions, while
>> developing alternative
>> practices which link with progressive forces within
>> and beyond.
>> Those two topics will start with brief introductory
>> talks.  The topics
>> could run in sequence or in parallel, depending upon
>> how many people
>> attend the morning session.
>>
>> 1pm: lunch
>> The meeting room is free of charge, but we are
>> expected to buy lunch in
>> the pub.
>>
>> 2pm:  Organizational issues: what the network should
>> try to do:
>> * infrastructural issues: our collective name,
>> statement of aims (see
>> draft below), webpage, etc;
>> * other activities essential for the network: future
>> events which we
>> organize or in which we intervene, circulation of
>> critical texts, our own
>> collective publications, mass-media contacts, etc.;
>> * activities optional for the network or which we
>> could spawn: statements
>> on specific issues (e.g. the Zionist occupation of
>> Palestine, NATO-US-UK
>> terrorism, etc.), a War Crimes Tribunal focusing on
>> the UK government,
>> intervention at the European Social Forum in
>> November in Italy, etc.
>>
>> 4pm:  Small work-groups which take responsibility
>> for specific tasks,
>> followed by a report-back to the entire meeting.
>>
>> Possible list of aims:
>> 1) to coordinate debate on how academic resources
>> and skills can best
>> comment on political issues, contribute to protest
>> campaigns, and help to
>> build alternative practices;
>> 2) to attack higher-education trends towards
>> commercial dependence,
>> marketization, neoliberal agendas, standardization,
>> etc.;
>> 3) to clarify ways to design research for those
>> purposes;
>> 4) to catalyse a network of academic networks;
>> 5) to intervene in relevant events (e.g. academic or
>> overtly political
>> conferences) and to hold our own events.
>>
>> Hope to see you there,
>> Anne Gray and Les Levidow
>>
>> If you would like to take part in an email
>> discussion of ideas for the
>> network, then send a message to
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Everything you'll ever need on one web page
>from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
>http://uk.my.yahoo.com
>

******************************************************
Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your
message will go only to the sender of this message.
If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's
'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically
to [log in to unmask]
*******************************************************