I think we've gotten somewhat off-track. I think the point of the
original post was to encourage "big tent" brainstorming, to generate a
repository of forms of resistance that we can draw from, wherever we plant
our flag in terms of practice (broadly construed). To the extent that
we're trying to come up with our own Top 10 or differentiate between more
and less promising/worthwhile types of action, etc., we should also
critique one another's suggestions. But can we do so constructively,
succinctly, and with a modicum of respect?
Here's what I have down for the conversation so far, and from the
forwarded anthro posts. The following could be elaborated in the
abstract, or better yet, illustrated with accounts of how folks have
attempted to put each into practice, and what did or did not work:
1) use critical pedagogy - encouraging critical thinking, moving beyond
lecture-exam format to group discussions, more participatory/empowering
approaches, etc. (e.g. Cook et al paper in latest Geoforum)
2) link with activist, community groups, etc. beyond the academy
3) carry out critical (including participatory) research
4) make research findings and publications freely and publicly accessible
on the web (vis a vis recent discussions on this list!)
5) expose and oppose corporate control of academia
6) use the growing 'sustainability consensus' to push for a
democratisation of academia - as sustainability centrally implies
participation. And encourage awareness of the wider implications of
academia e.g. climate change and campus energy use/academic travel
7) build and maintain strong, militant and rank-n-file controlled unions
in higher education
8) collectively write a practical manifesto of/for critical geographies
And from the anthro list:
1) avoid using free student labor
2) require less teaching from PhD canditates and research fellows than is
suggested in the instructions of their fellowships. So the University has
to
employ more professors, and the quality of eucation is (supposed to be)
higher.
3) pressure university managers to hire as many professors under contract
as possible, and improve their working conditions
4) Resist homogenization/marketing:
*Now it is taking place a process of homogeneization of university studies
all over Europe. In Spain universities are negotiating with government the
new catalogue of studies. Antropology, in order to survive, has to
demonstrate that it has a demand from the job market. And courses must be
oriented towards market demands. It's hard, but we are trying to preserve
the critical perspective and independence of our discipline, while
surviving.
4) Invite adjunct and part-time faculty to departmental meetings. *
5) Do not require standardized testing for student admissions.
6) Use course packets or next-to-last edition textbooks, which students
may purchase for $10 (rather than $120).
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