 |
 |
Sorry for filling your inboxes again - Reminder of tomorrow's meeting, all welcome! ................................................. We are an emerging network for students and staff aiming to create an open space in which we can constructively work together to explore, foster and undertake research and action motivated by a participatory / activist ethic or approach. Our first meeting will be on Tuesday 26th June from 1-2.30pm in Room 113 Bedford Way and all are welcome. The immediate motivation for the formation of the network has been through frustration over our ability as researchers to have any significant participation in UCL management's plans to develop a new campus in Stratford at the site of the Carpenters Estate (see http://bloomsburyfightback.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/bloomsbury-students-and-carpenters-residents-urge-ucl-management-to-think-again/). As some of you may know, the university is entering into an already-tense situation between the residents of the Carpenters Estate and Newham Council, involving many years of delay, uncertainty and threat of eviction. Thus far, UCL's engagement with the residents has been minimal and far from transparent. However, this specific issue is connected with a broader concern about undertaking, fostering and making space for research based on a commitment to social change. There are numerous possibilities for developing a participatory research ethics that takes seriously the challenge of developing a relational politics of responsibility, working "with" and "for", rather than "on" and "about" social movements, networks of subaltern groups, oppressed groups, community groups, etc (e.g. Gillan and Pickerill, 2012, Social Movement Studies). In the UK, geography departments at Queen Mary, Leeds and Glasgow universities, for example, have made significant progress in teaching and research in these areas. We are working to build a network of interest and support at UCL, particularly but not exclusively within Geography and the Bartlett, in order to explore these issues here. As a starting point, we would like to call an initial meeting for all those interested in these issues in any capacity. The first meeting is on Tuesday 26 June, 1-2.30pm in Room 113, Bedford Way, UCL Geography, and will discuss what we would like to get from a Participatory, Activist and Research Network. All welcome, please pass on! Thanks, Pooya ([log in to unmask]) Myfanwy ([log in to unmask]) Sandra ([log in to unmask]) Sam ([log in to unmask])