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Hi all, I don't want to derail the current discussion, but today's news about the new priorities the UK Government have set the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) - who distribute research funding within UK Universities - does seem rather pertinent to many on the list. For those of you who haven't heard, the AHRC have been asked to commit substantial research funds into studying the Conservative-Liberal-Democrat Government's flagship policy idea, "The Big Society", in exchange for the ring-fencing of the AHRC budget. The Observer report on this story here: http://v.gd/haldane "The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) will spend a "significant" amount of its funding on the prime minister's vision for the country, after a government "clarification" of the Haldane principle - a convention that for 90 years has protected the right of academics to decide where research funds should be spent. Under the revised principle, research bodies must work to the government's national objectives [...] It is claimed the AHRC was told that research into the "big society" was non-negotiable if it wished to maintain its funding at £100m a year." The erosion of the Haldane principle has stark implications for everyone who is involved in, or effected by, University research. If the Observer report is accurate, this is, in my view, transparently chilling, and it is no surprise that several commentators, and academics, have started darkly murmuring: "Who controls the past", ran the Party slogan, "controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." As many of you are in academia in the UK, and some of you are in receipt of AHRC funding, I wonder what your reaction to this is? Have your universities informed you of this news? Have their been any internal briefings? I'd be very curios to know. With all best wishes, Honor Harger PS. On a lighter note, there's some lovely, playful deconstructions of this very disturbing development, on Twitter right now. For those of you who have Twitter accounts, you might be interested in following this hashtag: #bigsocietyresearchproposals Here's some of the recent gems: '"A depraved taste for equality", de Tocqueville and the founding principles of the Big Society' "Big Society of the Spectacle: Guy Debord's influence on policymakers, politicians, and the public." "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: The Tragedy of Uncontrolled Immigration in Fantasy Fiction "The Notorious B.I.G. Society: the influence of East Coast hip-hop culture on Conservative policy (1992-2011)" -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . honor harger present location: brighton, .uk email: [log in to unmask] sms: +44 7765834272 -> w o r k director of lighthouse: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk -> b l o g particle decelerator: http://decelerator.blogspot.com/ - > b l a g twitter: http://twitter.com/honorharger -> l i s t e n radio astronomy: http://www.radio-astronomy.net -> w e b bio: http://www.radioqualia.net/honor