Yes, could we not say that the agora comes under violent assault from
both loners and gangs from both 'Statist' and 'Terrorist' positions and
that this network in which we take up membership in these different ways may be in some small part an endeavour to uphold that
'public/private space', that it not be 'shot by both sides'?
best wishes
John
--- On Thu, 16/6/11, Barry Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Barry Richards <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms: media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in Bournemouth
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, 16 June, 2011, 13:07
Message
With apols to network
members who may be less interested in this debate:
Tom's exposition brings
out key issues very clearly. We could presumably all agree that there are
typically different measures of all things in the conduct of any State, but we
might read the measurements for, say, the British state rather differently.
Beyond that point, it would be good to think that a shared psychosocial
understanding of the importance of phantasy would enable the debate to continue.
Perhaps there'll be an occasion to test that out,
Barry
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Barry
Richards
Professor
of Public Communication
The
Media
School
Bournemouth
University
Talbot
Campus
Poole
BH12 5BB
UK
+44(0)1202
965331
Profile: http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/AcademicStaff/Profile.aspx?staff=brichards
Editor,
Containing Extremism Research Briefing http://www.cerb.ws
Founding
Co-Editor, Media, War and Conflict
(Sage)
http://mwc.sagepub.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Psychosocial Studies Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of tom
wengraf
Sent: 14 June 2011 13:18
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to
extremisms: media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
It’s hard to keep
gradations clear. I agree with Gail that creating a mental space in the
collective mind is something to be constantly worked at and enriched, and also
that the coalition struggle to create a business-civilisation American style
with no subsidised space for any humanities/social science research and thinking
that cannot find business supporters has to be fought against. The collective
mental space and the struggle to preserve public spaces in (higher) education,
in health and other arenas not subordinate to the military-political-business
complex is crucial.
As Raymond Williams
pointed out a long time ago, a fully democratic society has yet to be formed
(let alone maintained) and the “Long Revolution” has been subject to constant
counter-attack by attrition and now much more frontal assault by the powers for
whom democracy is very suspect when it no longer is fully efficient as a cover
for ruling class strategies. That is why a psycho-societal research program into
‘democratic’ and ‘anti-democratic’ forces in societies, and the democratic
struggle against ‘figleaf pseudo-democracies’ is so
important.
To do so, effectively,
however, different “we’s” must realise that they are differently treated. The
State, and the inter-0state coordination that I spoke of before,
assaults certain “we’s” in a 95% direct way (enemies of the USA in
Vietnam, Latin America and now AfPaq) by all-out military and economic attacks
(e.g. Cuba) and by fostered and imposed ‘regime change’. In the homelands
of the ‘interstate coordinations’ (e.g. the UK), the same state apparatus
assaults certain ‘internal enemies’ (see Northern Ireland before the ‘peace
process’) somewhat less brutally (mostly police, and more sparely the military;
mostly not assassinated, but mostly put in prison, boots on the ground rather
than bombs from the air) and protects certain key ‘internal friends’ (Northern
Irish Protestants; the corrupt RUC, etc) and attempts to intimidate the several
populational “we’s” into a new configuration of hegemonic power. More recently,
the
UK governments of Thatcher, Blair,
Brown, and the Con-Dems have been struggling to combine policies of assault,
intimidation and protection into new models of elite power-preservation and
expansion. This is all ordinary.
So. Assertions about
the truth-value or phantasy-value of a statement that an unspecified “we”
is being protected, nourished, lied to, intimidated or assaulted by a given
state/business/military coordination (Gramsci’s historical bloc, more or less)
is not helpful. State policies typically involve different measures of all these
things in relation to different “we-populations” and “they-populations”.
The current
UK state does in part provide
“conditional protection and intimidation” for we-academics in social-science
research. It has been concerned for a long time to reduce the ‘dysfunctions of
too much democracy, too much security of tenure, too much freedom to criticise
ruling elites” and continues to fight to fin d new ways of “making our democracy
as pseudo as possible” without losing the valuable stabilisation/legitimation
functions for state and business power that some real democracy (compare Nazi
Germany or Communist Russia) and a lot of apparent democracy can bring. So it is
concerned to reduce some real academic freedoms that a certain we still already
do have – and we do have some such freedoms despite the attempt to reduce them
that is also going on. The State does “protect certain us-es from certain
dangers to some extent from certain threats” while it des also “attack certain
us-es with certain dangers to some extent from other threats”. Not only one
thing is happening.
It is a phantasy
and ideological simplification to say that we live in a “democratic society and
are simply protected” (to which Barry’s words lend themselves); it is also a
phantasy and ideological simplification to say that “it is just a phantasy that
some “we’s” are protected by the state (to which Ian’s words lend
themselves).
The State (or
inter-state coordination) simultaneously spends enormous sums of money working
with all sorts of allies in all sorts of ways to simultaneously nourish,
protect, lie, intimidate and assault….. (include systematic state
militarism terrorism and extremism to return to Barry’s conference, or to the
denied implicit of that conference) and nothing can be properly understood
unless it is all understood.
Best wishes
Tom
P.S. Social science researchers. For a free
electronic copy of the current version of the BNIM Short Guide and Detailed Manual
, just click on
<[log in to unmask]> . Please indicate
your institutional affiliation and the purpose for which you might envisage
using BNIM’s open-narrative interviews, and I
' ll send it straight away.
The BNIM Short Guide and Detailed Manual
builds on and develops ch. 6 and 12 of my
earlier textbook, Qualitative Research
Interviewing: biographic narrative and semi-structured method
(2001 Sage Publications) which has a more general approach to semi-structured
depth interviewing, interpretation, and writing-up.
From: Psychosocial Studies Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian Parker
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:55
AM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
Perhaps it could
also be a forum in which questions of academic freedom are also be raised, to
explore the fantasy that we are protected by the state. One way of inviting
discussion about that would be to ask participants to call for the reinstatement
of Rod Thornton at the
University of
Nottingham . Please circulate this:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/support-whistleblower-at-nottingham/
Ian Parker, Dept
Psychology, MMU, Hathersage Rd,
Manchester , M13
0JA ,
UK
Department website is at http://www.hpsc.mmu.ac.uk/psychology/
www.discourseunit.com has resources including books, papers and links
Discourse
Unit diary of events is at
www.discourseunit.com/diary.doc
Manchester
Psychoanalytic Matrix:
www.discourseunit.com/matrix.htm
Annual
Review of Critical Psychology:
www.discourseunit.com/arcp.htm
Asylum Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry is at
www.asylumonline.net
Manchester 24 hours time-lapse
video is at http://vimeo.com/16147759
From: Psychosocial Studies Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of G.A.Lewis
Sent: 13 June 2011 18:43
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
I am also unable to
attend the conference and agree with Tom, Paul and Vic that the debate is
already warming up. I also agree that the need to think and respond to
both state driven and all other forms of threat to the formation and
maintainance of democratic cultures - but the acheivement of the latter surely
must be based on dealing with state and other together - and part of the task is
to create the mental space in the collective mind to be able to do that,
historically, contemporarily and future oriented too. Otherwise as has
been said so well we simply hold the
separations..
Sounds like it will be a really
interesting conference, and I look forward to hearing about it and contributing
to the continuing debate that is sure to
follow.
best
wishes
Gail
From: Vic Blake
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent:
13 June 2011 15:20
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
Such a fascinating debate - and such a shame I won’t be
able to be at the conference.
Going back to Tom’s final remark - I do find myself
increasingly wary of the established language and concepts that we import into
this project and which, when we speak of ‘the state’ or ‘the individual’ for
example, all too easily rive the concepts apart - as though they can be
understood as separate, even mutually exclusive domains. Thus, part of the
agenda for the psychosocial (noting too the absence of the hyphen here) is
surely to develop a language and a conceptual structure better suited to a
reality in which inner worlds and outer structures are necessarily understood as
inseparable dimensions of one and the same thing.
Best wishes and good luck for the
conference.
Vic
_________________________
Vic Blake
101 Morley
Ave.,
Mapperley,
Nottingham,
NG3 5FZ
UK
Tel:
+44(0)1159857124
Mobile:0781149980
Email: [log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
_________________________
P
Please consider the
environment
before
printing this e-mail.
From: Psychosocial Studies Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Stenner
Sent: 13 June 2011 14:21
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
Thanks Barry,
Looks like
we ' re already warming up for a
stimulating event!
Best
wishes,
Paul
From: Psychosocial Studies
Network [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of
Barry Richards
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 2:16
PM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
Tom and Paul, et
al.,
Some big questions raised by your
comments...My main response would be to say that the reality of state-driven
terror does not invalidate a focus at times on other threats to safe and
democratic life. To go further, I think your critique takes us into basic Qs
about our relationship to the democratic state in
UK and
elsewhere. The vision of a protective state (see e.g. Will Hutton
in Observer yesterday) is
vital for a shared civic life, common weal, etc. We
' ve also got the concepts for
that!
Best
Barry
Barry
Richards
Professor of Public
Communication
The
Media
School
Bournemouth
University
Talbot
Campus
Poole BH12
5BB
UK
+44(0)1202
965331
Profile:
http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/AcademicStaff/Profile.aspx?staff=brichards
Editor,
Containing Extremism
Research Briefing http://www.cerb.ws
Founding Co-Editor,
Media, War and
Conflict (Sage)
http://mwc.sagepub.com
-----Original
Message-----
From: Psychosocial
Studies Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Stenner
Sent: 13 June 2011 14:03
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth -
' extreme denial in practice
'
I tend to agree that
psychosocial attention needs to be directed at the motivations and desires of
those in positions of power and authority who profit enormously from the
exploitation that is implicated in generating
' extremism
' . How can we
' contain '
the greed and lust for power of a relatively small minority of hugely
influential and powerful people who typically pass as not only quite normal but
as exemplary in their
' moderation
' ?
Best
wishes
Paul
Stenner
From: Psychosocial Studies
Network [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of tom wengraf
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent:
Monday, June 13, 2011 1:26 PM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Responding to extremisms:
media roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth -
' extreme denial in practice
'
What worries me about
the program is that it itself seems to be based on extreme psycho-societal
denial (to be explained by Freud and Marx) about State extremism and State
terrorism as conducted by, say, the Belgians in the Belgian Congo,
the USA (and its allies) in the military dictatorships in Latin
America, Vietnam and elsewhere, the UK state in Kenya against the Mau-Mau, etc
and in Northern Ireland, as well as ‘drone assassinations’ and shock and
awe, in Israel, Pakistan and elsewhere. Such scotomisation needs itself to be
explained psycho-societally at the individual, small group, and macro-societal
level, especially in conjunction with analysis of the workings of the mass media
and its irresponsibilities….. luckily we have the concepts for
it!
Best wishes
Tom
P.S. Social science researchers. For a free
electronic copy of the current version of the BNIM Short Guide and Detailed Manual
, just click on
<[log in to unmask]> . Please indicate
your institutional affiliation and the purpose for which you might envisage
using BNIM’s open-narrative interviews, and I
' ll send it straight
away.
The BNIM Short Guide and Detailed Manual
builds on and develops ch. 6 and 12 of my
earlier textbook, Qualitative Research
Interviewing: biographic narrative and semi-structured method
(2001 Sage Publications) which has a more general approach to semi-structured
depth interviewing, interpretation, and
writing-up.
From: Psychosocial Studies
Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Barry Richards
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 12:58
PM
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Responding to extremisms: media
roles and responsibilities. 15 July conference in
Bournemouth
Dear
all,
There is now a programme for this event
(see blurb below), at
http://www.cerb.ws.
It
' s part of a project at
Bournemouth
University concerned with developing a
psychosocial approach to the field of violent political extremisms and
terrorism.
Barry
Richards
Professor of Public
Communication
The
Media
School
Bournemouth
University
Talbot
Campus
Poole BH12
5BB
UK
+44(0)1202
965331
Profile:
http://onlineservices.bournemouth.ac.uk/AcademicStaff/Profile.aspx?staff=brichards
Editor,
Containing Extremism
Research Briefing http://www.cerb.ws
Founding Co-Editor,
Media, War and
Conflict (Sage)
http://mwc.sagepub.com
News from
Bournemouth
University .
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View it in your web
browser.
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| contact
us | Media
School
Responding
to
extremisms:
media roles
and
responsibilities
(Conference)
Friday 15 July,
10.00am-5.00pm
(Free)
One day conference organised by the
Media
School (
Bournemouth
University ) in partnership with
Dorset Police
Executive
Business Centre, Lansdowne Campus,
Bournemouth

The
oxygen of publicity or the right to a platform?

How
are different forms of extremism covered in our national media, and does
this serve to marginalise or legitimise extremist groups?

What
are the media strategies of these groups, and what potential does social
media have to change their prospects?

What
are or should be the relations between media professionals and police and
security services, community organisations and other stakeholders?

How
will the media influence the success or otherwise of the soon to be
revised PREVENT strategy?
These
and other questions will be discussed at this one-day
conference, which is supported by
Dorset
Police.
It will bring together academics, journalists and others
professionally involved in responding to violent or potentially violent
extremisms. Confirmed speakers so far
include:

Professor
Nigel Copsey
( Teesside
University ) on the
BNP

Professor
Jonathan Githens-Mazer
( University
of Exeter ) on
jihadism

Professor
Andrew Hoskins
( University of
Glasgow ) and Dr
Ben O’Loughlin
( Royal
Holloway
University ) on how extremist
messages are presented in mainstream media

Assistant
Chief Constable Mike Glanville
(Dorset
Police)
on
the ACPO perspective

Inspector
Alan Jenkins
(Dorset Police) on a case study in media impact

Paul
Mott
(Home Office) on counter-terrorism and the media

Valentina
Soria
(Royal United Services Institute) about Wikileaks

Mark
Gill
(Woodnewton Associates) reviewing relevant public opinion data

Jamie
Bartlett
(DEMOS)
on the EDL

Stephen
Jukes
(Dean of the
Media
School , former Reuters Head of
Global News)

Gavin
Rees
(European Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma) on
perspectives from journalism.
The
conference is linked to the development of a web-based resource for people
working in this area, the Containing
Extremism Research Briefing
(CERB).
How
to book:
The
conference is free to attend, but registration is essential - please
complete our booking
form. Refreshments and lunch will be
provided.
This email is
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University , Fern Barrow, Talbot Campus, Poole,
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