Many thanks Jan

It would be great if you could make it.

And then, to all,

The responses that people are giving to the questions are very helpful.

Keep them coming, guys.

Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: [log in to unmask]">Harris Carl (R3) BCH

To: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]

Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 10:40 AM

Subject: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] April Event in Birmingham

 

Dear All

 

This takes about 5 minutes to read through and then there are some questions to consider at the end. It would be helpful to have responses by next Wednesday, after which Christmas and New Year will intervene.

 

Many thanks for the responses to the questions asked regarding the event in April. We have identified a date and a venue: 20^th April at the Midland Arts Centre in Birmingham (the same venue that the national network conference took place at a few years ago). We currently have two rooms booked, one which seats up to 60 people in comfort and another that will seat up to 30, so we have considerable flexibility in how we organise ourselves on the day.

 

I have been reading through the responses from Paul, Annie, Deborah, Craig, Lisa, Paul (D), Mark and Gareth to try and pick out the issues people want to discuss as well as the products they would like to see at the end of the meeting. I will keep this brief but will be very happy to respond to queries.

 

Main Issues for Discussion

 

It was relatively easy to identify the main issues to be discussed, ie war (including torture) and globalisation (which were, of course, the original suggestions following the Great Yarmouth conference).

 

Suggestions for Products

 

There have also been a variety of suggestions regarding products and I am going to list just a few: a shared statement like the one produced by Psychologists for Social Responsibility regarding torture; a follow-up of any appropriate actions from the PSR meeting; an examination of Layard’s analysis of well-being, plus the production of an alternative set of psycho-social actions that link well-being with more global concerns rather than just to individual therapies; a community psychology perspective which could be shared with people on the ground in Israel and Palestine (and possibly campaign organisations here in the UK); offers of our services as psychologists to anti-globalisation and anti-war movements.

 

Some of these products are easier to achieve in a day than others. We may be able to make a start on some but would need some way of developing them subsequently (not easy).

 

The Process of the discussion

 

This discussion initially involved some suggestions for inviting speakers. This was supported in principle with a request that we ensure that there is a clear community psychology theme to the process. Further suggestions followed, including one that we consider offering our services to progressive organisations. Subsequent contributions offered a critical stance on suggestions that we are in a privileged position to critique “war” (privileged, that is relative to non-psychologists).

This critique was responded to with a statement of the importance of taking action. This statement referred to processes of power negotiation within our network and the possibility that critical activity could be an obstacle to us taking action in the wider world. Subsequent contributions discussed the relative impact of being shot by bullets with being “shot down” in debate.

 

The last two contributions referred to the complexity of the situation in which we find ourselves and which we seek to understand. Firstly, war is just one of many forms of violence (many of which appear to be carried out through the corporations seeking profit) and against which critical thought and action could be a weapon of “active passivism”. Secondly, social inequality produces poorer outcomes for society as a whole, what are the mechanisms which produce these outcomes?

 

The process of this discussion has included critical reflection: what do academics add to the critique of war that non-psychologists cannot do for themselves? How do we ensure that our critical reflection doesn’t act to stop our positive contributions? We cannot assume that because we have signed up to community psychology that we share politics and express ourselves in similar ways and therefore need not critically scrutinise each other’s beliefs and actions.

 

Implications for the organisation of the day

 

The activities people suggest for the meeting have implications for how we organise ourselves. [Contributors referred to the potential value of community psychology, while also referring to the scale of the task of comprehending the challenges which face us. They emphasised the need for collaboration in order to explore the value of community psychology and develop our understandings.]

This leaves us with options to consider and decide between.

 

Do we talk amongst ourselves (no small task in itself) aiming to produce a statement on a topic or perhaps some ideas for action?

 

Do we invite people from outside the “network” as participants (ie speakers, audience or collaborators)?

 

We have suggestions for speakers: Colin Hay (political analysis re: globalisation); Richard Wilkinson (social epidemiologist re: inequality & globalisation); Darko Suvin (war, sorry don’t know what else to say here).

 

We have suggestions for collaborators: Psychologists for Social Responsibility; Amnesty International; Palestinian Solidarity.

 

Practical outcomes from this process:

 

If we want to invite outside speakers we need to say who they are and see whether they will come.

 

If we want to talk among ourselves we just need to make sure that we have a roof over our heads (already sorted), food to eat and some means of facilitating the day.

 

I would like to say thank you to Gareth for his expression of interest in attending. We are likely to be charging about £20 to cover the cost of the facilities (if more than 20 people give a commitment to attend, we can start to reduce that cost). Coffee and food would be extra (probably about another £8 to £10). How does that sound to people?

 

If we want to invite somebody to speak and they need expenses, then that would need to be added onto the cost.

 

Questions to consider:

 

Do we want to talk about war or globalisation (or both)?

 

Do we want to aim for a particular product on the day?

 

Do we want to work with others or amongst ourselves?

 

Does anybody have a proposal for the overall structure of the day including topic, product and any collaborators?

 

Do we want to define and organise the day in advance or do we think we should arrive with open minds to discuss among ourselves?

 

 

Best Wishes to All

 

Carl (on behalf of the West Midlands Group)

 

 

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