Thank you for reading this newsletter.
However, I now feel it is time to move on, so I will no longer be producing these regular updates.
If I feel particularly inspired I might insert some single new entries up now and then.
Best wishes
Ruth
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Ruth Rikowski's 57th News Update
Well, we seem to
have reached the end of a long line of something or other. I am nearly back to something
like myself after a long bout of illness (never really felt so ill before, but there you go).
Next, we had to get
a new computer with more memory to handle all the latest software. However, the
upshot of all that was that I lost all my groups for sending out this
newsletter (over 400 subscribers)! Dear oh dear! Oh well – such is life!
So, I have decided
to simply insert my newsletter on this blog. For the foreseeable future, I will
be writing this 3 times a year – end April, end August and end December. So, if
you are interested in reading about some of the latest of what the Rikowski’s
have been up to, do check out this blog at around these times. The entries will
also be simpler and more succinct.
So, here goes with
the first of this variety.
* Glenn Rikowski is now a Visiting Scholar in the Department for
Education at Anglia Ruskin University
* Glenn Rikowski is giving 2 talks on ‘Education and Crisis’ over
the next couple of months - one at Anglia Ruskin University on 21st
May 2014 and the other at the International Conference on Critical Education,
held in Thessaloniki, Greece on 23rd-26th June 2014.
* Haralambos and Holborn et al continue to give coverage to Glenn’s
work in ‘Sociology: themes and perspectives’ (8th ed, 2013).
Well, better than that – they are saying that the evidence (which they give) is
pointing decidedly towards Rikowski being right over Hatcher. Not that we want
to be right about these things; we wish that the commercialisation and
privatisation agenda did not continue to gather pace, but this is the stark
reality and don’t want to be having the ‘wool pulled over our eyes’ and all
that.
* Glenn has now put lots of his articles up on ‘Academia’.
See: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski
* We
have a new and improved version of our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website. See: www.flowideas.co.uk
* We
are both now members of the Marx Memorial Library
* The London Radical Book Fair is on at the Bishopsgate
Institute on 10th May 2014. Last year it was held at
Conway Hall and we really enjoyed it, so plan to go again. There will be lots
of stalls from radical booksellers and publishers, artists and activists and 2
book prizes: Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing and the Little Rebels
Children’s Book Award.
* There are 2 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous
Moments’ blog - http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/: ‘New Left Book Club: Call for Papers’ and ‘Education, Marxism and Society’
Sunday, 29 December 2013
Ruth Rikowski's 56th News Update
Education Crisis
This newsletter is short. My health is still suffering, following on from the fracture of my wrist in the summer. Unfortunately, the injury has had various knock-on effects on other parts of my body, which I am still trying to recover from. Hopefully, will get there in the end! A shortened version of this newsletter will now be distributed 3 times a year. Meanwhile, here a few short news items.1. ‘POSTMODERN DERELICTION IN THE FACE OF NEOLIBERAL EDUCATION POLICY’ BY GLENN RIKOWKS REPUBLISHED IN HEATHWOOD PRESS WEBSITE
The Heathwood Institute & Press has re-published Glenn’s Postmodern Dereliction in the Face of Neoliberal Education Policy, as advertised previously at ‘All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski’: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2013/09/11/postmodern-dereliction-in-the-face-of-neoliberal-education-policy/
The original Heathwood link is: http://www.heathwoodpress.com/postmodern-dereliction-face-neoliberal-education-policy/ - where you can also read some other interesting articles posted to Heathwood: http://www.heathwoodpress.com
2. SCHOOL OF SUCCESS REPRODUCING SOME OF GLENN RIKOWSKI’S MATERIAL The School of Success website has reproduced some of Glenn’s articles. For more details see: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/school-of-success/
3. VANESSA'S WEBSITE - 'JUST VANESSA' A friend of mine, told me recently about her lovely artistic website ‘Just Vanessa’. Some of Vanessa’s material is also available for sale. See: http://www.justvanessa.com/
4. ELSEVIER ACQUIRED WOODHEAD PUBLISHING LTD, INCLUDING THE CHANDOS IMPRINT IN AUGUST 2013 There have been more changes afoot for Chandos Publishing, with Elsevier acquiring both Woodhead and Chandos. See: http://store.elsevier.com/Chandos-Publishing/IMP_207/?mckv=sIA7ikQYv_dc&pcrid=37935166152&plid=&kword=chandos%20publishing&match=b&gclid=COKF07O407sCFTHLtAodikoAzw
My next newsletter will be distributed at the end of April 2014. Happy New Year. Best wishes, Ruth
Monday, 30 September 2013
Ruth Rikowski's 55th News Update
My husband, Dr Glenn
Rikowksi, has resigned from his position as ‘Senior Lecturer in Education
Studies’ at the University
of Northampton
So, there is much change afoot and I will not be sending out
my usual newsletter this quarter (other than the item below about the new
additions to my ‘Serendipitous Moments’
blog).
All being well, I will send out my next newsletter, as
usual, on 31st December 2013.
I hope you all had a good summer.
3 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog
I have inserted 3 new items up on
my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog. These are: ‘Andy Murray Wins Wimbledon ’, ‘4
Ramadan’ and ‘ 4 years later’.
Best wishes
Ruth
NB: At the end of August we went on holiday, and within the
hour of arriving at our destination Ruth fractured the radius bone in her left
arm on Stiffkey Marshes, north Norfolk .
She has suffered a lot of pain and it has been very debilitating. Her arm is still in plaster, and will take
several more weeks yet. Therefore, I am sending this Newsletter out on her
behalf.
Glenn Rikowski
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.comMonday, 1 July 2013
Ruth Rikowski's 54th News Update
'Memento Mori' by Neil Whitehead
Below is some of the latest from me.
1. GLENN RIKOWSKI WRITING A FOREWORD FOR DAVE HILL’S SINGLE-AUTHORED BOOK ‘MARXIST ESSAYS ON NEOLIBERALISM, CLASS, ‘RACE’, CAPITALISM AND EDUCATION, BRIGHTON, THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES, 2013
Glenn Rikowski is writing a Foreword for his writing colleague and friend, Dave Hill, for his forthcoming single-authored book on ‘Marxist essays on neoliberalism, class, ‘race’, capitalism and education’. The book will comprise a selection of Dave’s essays and articles on these topics.
2. GLENN RIKOWSKI ENDORSING FAITH AGOSTINONE WILSON’S FORTHCOMING ‘DIALECTICAL RESEARCH METHODS IN THE CLASSICAL MARXIST TRADITION (Critical Qualitative Research)’, PETER LANG PUBLISHING INC., 2013
ISBN: 10 1433117134; 13 978 1433117138
Glenn has endorsed Faith Agostinone Wilson’s forthcoming book, ’Dialectical Research Methods in the Classical Marxist Tradition’. Faith is an Associate Professor of Education at Aurora University, USA.
Glenn thought the book was fantastic, and breaks through many barriers. This is how his endorsement reads:
“In the last several decades, Marxist educational theorists and researchers have pinpointed particular deficiencies and shortcomings in mainstream educational and social research and its postmodern pretenders. However, until now, there has never been a systematic and sustained critique of capitalist realism, pragmatism, and postmodernism as limiting and constraining forces for educational researchers. Faith Agostinone-Wilson has produced such a book, and furthermore offers an alternative vision for education research that challenges the legitimacy, efficacy, ethical validity, and sustainability of capitalist society and capitalist forms of education and education research.”
We wish Faith Wilson every success with her new book.
3. ‘CAPITORG: EDUCATION AND THE CONDITION OF THE HUMAN IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY’ – BY GLENN RIKOWSKI, REPUBLISHED WITH HEATHCOTE PRESS.
Robert C. Smith of Heathwood Press asked Glenn if he could republish his article on the ‘Capitorg: education and the condition of the human in contemporary society’ and he very happily agreed.
The republished article can be found at:
http://www.heathwoodpress.com/capitorg-education-and-the-constitution-of-the-human-in-contemporary-society/
4. HEATHWOOD PRESS’S NEW WEBSITE
http://www.heathwoodpress.com/
Heathwood Press (who originally contacted us, saying that they would like to re-publish one of Glenn’s articles) has just launched their new website. Heathwood Press is an ‘independent organisation for social progress’.
Its ambition is “… to break down the barriers separating critical theoretical discourse and ‘the everyday practise of social and individual life’ “
One of the new features on the new website includes the organisations GlobalVoice project. This acts as centralised hub or platform for the publication of non-profit research and reports. There is also a new on-site comments system, for the purpose of generating fruitful discussion.
In addition, they are developing a series of critical theory eGuides, ranging on subjects from alternative education and epistemology to alternative economics and ideology critique.
Furthermore, they are also working towards publishing a range of infographics, interactive media, videos and datablogs to further support their present research activity and public engagement campaigns. There are also several new publications in the pipeline.
We wish Heathwood Press every success with their new website, and with their enterprise, with its sound goals and principles in general.
5. ALLISON LITTLEJOHN AND CHRIS PEGLER’S BOOK ‘PREPARNG FOR BLENDED E-LEARNING: understanding blended and online learning (connecting with e-learning) NOW IN ARABIC:
We were delighted when our friend Chris Pegler made contact with us, informing us that one of her books, ‘Preparing for blended e-learning’ (that includes a page about Glenn Rikowski and social networking) had been translated into Arabic. She gave us a copy of the book. The book, as it is in Arabic, reads from back to front and from right to left of course.
The ISBN of the book in Arabic is ISBN – 978 9960 55 948 3 and the website for the publisher is www.ksu.edu.sa
Glenn’s page is about an advertisement that he put on his MySpace page. Glenn was chosen as he was an academic that was very much at the forefront, at the time, when it came to using social networking tools. The page in the book shows Glenn advertising one of the seminars that he organised on ‘Marxism and Education’ at the Institute of Education, University of London. It was ‘Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues: IX’ and was advertised on MySpace September 2006 for a One Day Seminar at the Institute of Education, held on 25th October 2006
We hope that Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler’s book sells well in the Arabic countries, and we wish them all the very best with it.
6. ISC NEW WEBSITE - http://libr.org/isc/
Information for Social Change has migrated its website to Word Press and now has a new Open Access Policy – see http://libr.org/isc/information-for-social-change-new-open-access-policy/
Hopefully, this will provide new and exciting opportunities for ISC.
7. BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION (ISKO UK), 8th – 9th JULY 2013. TO BE HELD AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
http://www.iskouk.org/conf2013/index.htm
Bob Bater, who I have known for many years now (he was one of my book reviewers for ‘Managing Information’ and he contributed a chapter to my Knowledge Management book with Chandos Publishing) informed me about this very interesting conference that he is involved with organising.
This is the Biennial Conference of the International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO UK) that is to be held on 8th – 9th July 2013 at University College London.
This will be the 3rd biennial conference of ISKO UK.
As it says on the website:
“ISKO is a not-for-profit scientific/professional association with the objective of promoting research and communication in the domain of knowledge organization, within the broad field of information science and related disciplines. The emphasis in our UK Chapter is to build bridges between the research and practitioner communities….”
The following themes will be included in the conference:
1. The dividing line between research and practical implementation and how to achieve better synergy
2. Language boundaries in knowledge organization schemes
3. The power of metadata to bring networked resources together
The papers submitted will be peer-reviewed and published electronically.
Past and future events can be found at http://www.iskouk.org/events.htm
The conference is a packed 2-day programme with many interesting speakers on a variety of themes. Sessions include (amongst others): ‘Ontologies combine with other tools’, ‘Overcoming boundaries in Knowledge Organization Development’ and ‘Boundary Objects and Philosophies’
I was particularly delighted to see Danny Budzak on the programme talking on ‘The Knowledge Organization of Organizational Knowledge’. Danny is an ex-colleague of mine (when we both worked in Newham Libraries) and politically-speaking we are very like-minded.
8. THE SKINTS
Victor Rikowski discovered that some of his school mates from Woodbridge High School that formed a band a few years ago are now very successful and have recently been on tour. They are called ‘The Skints’. Victor saw them live in London and was very excited about it all.
Here are links to a couple of their songs on YouTube:
‘Rub-a-Dub’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtN0CKtX9-s
and
‘Rise Up’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NgOTFQHh8s
Here is some information about them on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skints
9. NEIL’S WHITEHEAD’S PHOTO EXHIBIT - 'MEMENTO MORI'
My second cousin, Neil Whitehead, who also designed our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website, is currently completing his degree in Photography at Southampton University. The work of the 3rd years was exhibited recently at PrintSpace, London, E2 and we went along to the exhibition and met up with Neil and his family.
Neil’s photograph was entitled ‘Memento Mori’ and it is, indeed, a highly original and creative piece of work.
It was a very eventful and memorable day. If you would like to know more about Neil’s work, then do get in touch.
10. 9 NEW ITEMS UP ON MY SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS BLOG
There are 9 new items up on my Serendipitous Moments blog. These are: ‘Glenda Jackson’s speech on Margaret Thatcher’, ‘The Grieving Process, Thatcher and All That’, ‘The Never Ending Story’ (also now on our website), ‘Radical Book Fair, Conway Hall, London’, ’Memento Mori exhibit by Neil Whitehead at PrintSpace, London’, ‘’May Day Manifesto Relaunch Seminar at Marx Memorial Library’, ‘Thinking Through Spinoza’, ‘Art Tank’ and ‘Ayn Rand’.
Best wishes,
Ruth
N.B. Many thanks to Chris Pegler and Bob Bater for providing information for items for 5 and 7 respectively.
30th June 2013
Friday, 29 March 2013
Ruth Rikowski's 53rd News Update
A selection of news items from me are listed below.
1. GLENN RIKOWSKI TALKING and PARTICIPATING IN A DEBATE ON ‘EDUCATION FOR SALE UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
FEB 2013
Glenn took part in a debate on the privatisation of education, which was held at the University of East London , Cass School
The debate was on the theme ‘Education for Sale
The Panellists were:
Dr Glenn Rikowski (University of Northampton
Professor John Schostak (Manchester Metropolitan University
Professor James Tooley (University of Newcastle
Dr Patricia Walker (University of East London
It was Chaired by Claire Fox, Director, Institute of Ideas
Glenn argued that:
“As long as capitalist society exists, representatives of capital will try to ‘find a way’ to capitalise educational institutions. It’s a never-ending struggle in capitalism.”
It proved to be a very successful event. There were some 90 people there and there was a good discussion. The event was recorded and photos were taken.
The event was also reported in the ‘Time Higher Education Supplement’, by David Matthews, on 19th February 2013. The piece was entitled: ‘Beware the student employability agenda, debate hears’ and Glenn was quoted in it. Here is the link:
2. GLENN RIKOWSKI AND HIS RE-INVIGORATION OF ‘MARXISM AND EDUCATION’ REVISITED
This has been a topic in some previous newsletters of mine. I want to continue the theme here and highlight some of the other ways in which Glenn Rikowski has really helped to put ‘Marxism and Education’ on the map, and indeed, changed the landscape for ever in various ways and made it all far more respectable. Many people are now proud to hold their heads up high and call themselves ‘Marxist Educators’ ; there is now a firmly established network and much really valuable material out there now on the subject.
So, what were some of the other things that Glenn Rikowski did then, to help to put Marxist Educators on the map in this way?
So, what were some of the other things that Glenn Rikowski did then, to help to put Marxist Educators on the map in this way?
Well, it was whilst he was working as a Researcher at Birmingham University (1994-1999) that he built up a large Marxist Educators network. Glenn built this up through his hard work, enthusiasm, determination and willingness to take the necessary risks.
The network continues to grow and there must now be a few hundred people around the globe. These include, for example, Sarah Amsler, Joyce Canann, Sarah Carpenter, Mike Cole, Helen Colley, David Harvie, Dave Hill, Peter McLaren, Greg Martin, Alpesh Maisuria, Curry Malott, Peter Mayo, Shahrzad Mojab, Mike Neary, Helen Raduntz, Spyros Themilis … to name but a very small handful.
Leading on from this, Glenn helped Dave Hill in the early stages to set up his free ejournal, ‘Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies’, http://www.jceps.com/ back in March 2003, as many of the people from the Marxist Educators network went on to go on the Editorial Board of Dave’s journal. So, he has been very much at the forefront here, when it comes to Open Access. And of course, this is the direction that the academic writing world is going anyway; with the government now stipulating that all academic publications must be freely and openly available online.
Glenn also had a big influence on Peter McLaren’s thinking and helped to bring Peter back from Postmoderism to Marxism in the mid to late 1990s.
Glenn also personally helped some left/Marxist people to get Professorships;
this included Shahrzad Mojab and Peter Mayo. Also through his contact
with Paula Allman, Sarah Carpenter, Helen Colley, Rachel Gorman and
Shahrzad Mojab he played some small part in assisting with the Marxist
Feminist cause.
Indeed, it was wonderful to see that many people on the left in
Education in general, as well as Marxist Educators specifically,
went on to get Professorships. These people include: Dave Hill,
Mike Cole, Pat Ainley, Joyce Canaan and Richard Hatcher, to
name but a few. In fact, virtually all the members of the Hilcole
Group (the group of radical left eductors) now have Professorships.
However, since the death of his father (in early 2009) Glenn has not been
able to work much in this area. But he is still playing a part in helping to
keep things moving through his ‘All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski’ blog –
see http://rikowski.wordpress.com.
see http://rikowski.wordpress.com.
Glenn has also been very much about developing Marxist Educational theory
and indeed, he will be developing this further in future years.
3. ‘GENDER AND EMPLOYMENT IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS’ – EDITED BY DIONYSIOS GOUVIAS
An important issue on the topic of ‘Gender and Employment in Times of Economic Crisis’ (with a theoretical and empirical perspective) edited by Dionysios Gouvias was published in the Journal of Critical Studies in Business and Society (http://journal.euc.ac.cy./) in 2012 (Vol 3, No 1). ISSN 1986 1575.
The journal is published by the European University of Cyprus
The issue considered the impact of the global economic crisis, which started in the USA Greece
“…a critical view of certain ‘orthodoxies’, in the sense that they are taken for granted and are ‘naturalised’ in public discourses in such a way as to start becoming a ‘non ideological common sense’ “.
Dionysios Gouvias, at the University of the Aegean, Greece
It is good to see that the issue is now out and includes a variety of very interesting articles. These are listed below:
Introduction by Dionysios Gouvias
The Crisis and Women’s Economic Independence: some Warnings from Greece
Women, Rights and the Crisis in Greece
Female Unemployment in Greece , in times of crisis - the case of Rhodes and the subsidised placement schemes for unemployed women by Dionysios Gouvias and Eleftherios Michail
Horizontal and Vertical Gender Segregation in the ICT sector: a Greek Case Study by Ilias Efthymiou, Chryssi Vitsilakis and Dimitrios Gakis
Gender, social inequalities and the transition of graduates to the labour market under crisis conditions by Eleni Sianou-Kyrgiou
Gender Pay Equity Reviews in Australian and Swedish Universities
4. ‘HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONAL RESEARCH: demonstrating new practices and metaphors’ – edited by GARY BELL, JON WARWICK AND PETER GALBRAITH. SENSE PUBLISHERS: Rotterdam , The Netherlands
ISBN: 978 94 6091 974 9 (pbk); 978 94 6091 975 6 (hdbk).
Part of Series: Educational Futures:
Rethinking Theory and Practice, Vol 55
Another colleague of mine, Gary Bell, that I got to know at a one-day conference at London South Bank University a few years ago has recently now got his first book published. This all emanated from a conversation we had at the conference, after I saw Gary
The result of all of this was that he got a contract with Sense Publishing and the book (edited with 2 other academics, Jon Warwick and Peter Galbraith), ‘Higher Education Management and Operational Research’ was published last year.
As it says on the flyer for the book:
“The book aims to explore ‘new perspectives’ in HE management thinking and to describe and illustrate the use of OR methodologies, methods and techniques in helping HE managers to make informed management decisions.”
The books is divided into 4 parts: Part 1: Introduction; Part 2: The Context of the Evolving Higher Education Environment; Part 3: Managing Student Learning and Support and Part 4: Managing the Business of Higher Education.
I wish Gary, Jon and Peter all the very best with their book.
5. CURRENT STUDY SITUATION FOR GREGORY AND ALEXANDER RIKOWSKI
Gregory is now getting along well in his degree at the University of East Anglia. This has really been helped by the inclusion of some Philosophy in his degree, which he is really loving. He is currently studying a module on the ‘Enlightenment period’. So the Philosophy will give some depth to his Film Studies degree and will help to provide a more holistic picture.
So, once again, where would we be without Philosophy: the bedrock, the grounding, the solid basis?
Also, UEA are being very supportive in general, and we are very appreciative of this.
Whereas, on the other hand, Alexander decided that Law definitely was not for him, so he has withdrawn from the course and will now be thinking again!
6. 4 NEW ITEMS UP ON MY ‘SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS’ BLOG
There are 4 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog. These are:
‘Emotional Geology‘, ‘Education for Sale
Happy Easter and Best Wishes from,
Ruth
28th March 2013
Monday, 31 December 2012
Ruth Rikowski's 52nd News Update
Hope you all had a good Christmas and here’s wishing you all the best for the New Year, and with some of the latest from me below.
1. LAUNCH OF ‘I LOVE TRANSCONTINENTAL’
My second cousin Neil, who also designed our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website has
launched an exciting new project, with his girlfriend. See:
http://ihearttranscontinental.blogspot.co.uk/
As it says on the front page ‘l Love Transcontinental’ is
“…a protest against corporate banality, mass-produced goods, human exploitation and vulgarity.”
The T-Shirts they design are individually mixed, free trade and organic. There are a range of designs or you can choose your own design and they can all be ordered online.
2. REVIEW OF ‘DIGITISATION PERSPECTIVES’ EDITED BY RUTH RIKOWSKI (2011), in ‘ALEXANDRIA’, 22 (2/3), 2011 – BY BECCY SHIPMAN
I was pleased to receive a review of my ‘Digitisation Perspectives’ book in the
journal, ‘Alexandria: the journal of national and international library and
information issues’ (Issue 22, 2/3, 2011, pp.75-6), which is edited by Monica
Blake. The reviewer Beccy Shipman (Digital Content and Copyright Coordinator
Brotherton Library, University of Leeds) summarises the book and concludes
saying:
“If you are interested in a wide-ranging discussion of digital content and the
impact of recent technologies with much thought-provoking commentary, this
may be the book for you.”
3. ‘DIGITISATION PERSPECTIVES’ – WHAT NEXT?
I had grand plans for this ‘Digitisation Perspectives’ book when I was working on it and editing it. But ‘life’ took over; suddenly other things got in the way and seemed far more important. So, for now, it has all been put on the ‘back-burner’; whether this will prove to be temporary or permanent only time will tell. One of the plans was to hold a seminar on the topic at London South Bank University. But 2 of the contributors (who were both academics at South Bank) have now left South Bank, so this seminar has now been cancelled. Similarly, the lunch-time sessions and related networking at University College London did not take off either. Still, I have commissioned 2 people from UCL and one person from King’s College London, to write books for Chandos Publishing this year. I am managing and editing all of these projects. So that is very positive and hopefully in time, the best future direction will become clearer.
4. LATEST ISSUE OF ISC NOW OUT
The latest issue of ‘Information for Social Change’s is now out. It is available at:
http://www.libr.org/isc/issues/ISC32/ISC32.pdf
The theme is: ‘Library Activist Resources and Alternative Information Networks’, and is edited by Martyn Lowe.
Issue No. 32, Summer/Autumn 2012.
In addition, John Pateman, one of the members of the ISC Editorial Board, has recently emigrated to Canada, taking up a position as Chief Librarian, Thunder Bay Public Library, Canada
5. GREGORY RIKOWSKI GOING BACK TO UEA IN THE NEW YEAR
Our youngest son, Gregory Rikowski, is returning to the University of East Anglia in the New Year, to complete his degree in ‘Film and Television Studies’, after a period of intercalation. During this period he has been thinking and reflecting and gaining work experience in a warehouse and a library. He will be returning with a more confident and critical mind-set.
6. 11 NEW ITEMS UP ON MY ‘SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS’ BLOG
There are no less than 11 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog this quarter.
http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/
These are:
‘D.H. Lawrence: a Journey’
‘I Love Transcontinental’
‘Janet Daniels’ Garden in Saga Magazine’
‘Samphire Coast’ by Robert Greenfield’ (book review)
‘Ian Parker and his Revolution in Psychology’
‘The People speak: voices that changed Britain’ by Anthony Arnove, Colin Firth and David Horspool (book)
‘Consciousness and Revolt’ and Transformative Art, Work and Practices’ (book review)
‘Marxism and Feminism: Past and Present’ (seminar)
‘Cuddling up to a Kindle?’
‘Greenwich Leisure Ltd and Wandsworth Libraries’
‘Stranger in a borrowed land: Lotte Moos and her writing’ (book review)
My review of ‘Samphire Coast’ is also now up on Amazon (at the authors request – he was very pleased with the review). See:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3MIFN69SMUONL/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1843869179&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
Happy New Year.
Best wishes,
Ruth
31st December 2012
Monday, 1 October 2012
Ruth Rikowski's 51st News Update
I hope you all had a good summer. Ours was really, really lovely, but unfortunately, ended all too quickly. Now, the academic year, with all the ‘hussle and bussle’ starts once again.
There are a variety of news items in this update; including an exciting new contact we have made with Robert C. Smith of the Heathwood Institute.
1. ROBERT C. SMITH OF THE HEATHWOOD INSTITUTE REPUBLISHING GLENN RIKOWSKI’S ARTICLE ‘CRITCAL PEDAGOGY AND THE CONSTITUTION OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY’
We had a lovely email this summer, completely ‘out of the blue’, from Robert C. Smith of the Heathwood Institute, a new radical academic organisation and press.
Robert contacted us saying how mush he valued our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website, and that much of our work is very close to his own.
Robert said that he would like to republish an article of Glenn’s that is on our website, entitled Critical Pedagogy and the Constitution of Capitalist Society (see http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=242&slink=yes)
He requested permission to republish it for the September issue of their online publication - this would form part of their guest article series. He thought it would provide an insightful analysis for their readers. Glenn delightedly agreed.
The article is now on the Heathwood Press website – see
http://www.heathwoodpress.com/monthly-guest-article-august-critical-pedagogy-and-the-constitution-of-capitalist-society-by-glenn-rikowski/
This article from our website was previously published in Turkish – one of 10 of Glenn’s articles that were taken from our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website and published in a book in Turkish with Kalkedon Publishers, Istanbul, 2011. The title of the book is
Marksist Eðitim Kurami ve Radikal Pedagoji (‘Marxist Educational Theory and Radical Pedagogy’).
However, whilst it was lovely to see Glenn’s work being translated into Turkish (that it was valued in that way), permission had not been obtained from Glenn - see my previous news item about this in my 43rd newsletter, item 5, dated 30th October 2010 – now on my ‘Ruth Rikowski News Updates Progression’ blog – see http://ruthrikowskiupdates.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=turkish+book+by+glenn+rikowski. So this has been a serious issue for us (and not one what we would want repeated). This is why it has not been included as a news item in this newsletter before.
However, given how things are now working out it seems that a news item is now needed, so a short one is below (item 2). A fuller, more comprehensive outline and analysis might be given at a future date, but we will have to see what transpires on this and other related fronts.
Robert Smith is also a writer and researcher in the fields of philosophy and (post-Adornian) critical theory; with special interests in existential-phenomenology, psychology, systems theory, education and literary theory and author of the Consciousness and Revolt series and of ‘Experiential Coherence: further thoughts on the origin of Reconcililation’.
The Heathwood Press website can be found at:
www.heathwoodpress.com/authors/r-c-smith.
2. ‘MARKSIST EĞITIM KURAMI VE RADIKAL PEDEGOJI’ (‘MARXIST EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND RADICAL PEDAGOGY’) BY GLENN RIKOWSKI, IN TURKISH, PUBLISHED BY KALKEDON PUBLICATIONS, TURKEY, FEB 2011, ISBN – 9786055679798 (with a Foreword by Peter McLaren)
http://www.ilknokta.com/kitap/117557/Marksist-Egitim-Kurami-ve-Radikal-Pedagoji.html
On doing a random google search last year, in 2011, Glenn was most surprised to discover this book, ‘Marxist Educational Theory and Radical Pedagogy’ by him, on the internet.
Now, as already stated, this was a book proposal that I referred to in my 43rd newsletter (item 5), dated 30th October 2010. The news item is about a Turkish publisher that wanted to take a dozen or so articles of Glenn’s from our ‘Flow of Ideas’ website, translate them into Turkish, and publish them in a book.
When the publisher first contacted Glenn about this, Glenn found the idea very interesting but he also made it clear to Kalkedon Publications, that he only wanted the book published in a certain structured way as he wanted “…to make sure that readers appreciate the nature, purpose and origins of what I write.”. For this reason, Glenn proposed writing a new, additional chapter which would serve as an introduction; also that he would want a Foreword and an index. Furthermore, that he needed to retain copyright. The publisher did not reply to this and Glenn heard nothing further from them.
However, we have now discovered that they ignored all this (and the related copyright issues) and they published it anyway (without an introduction and an index), but in the way that they wanted to, in February 2011. They did not tell Glenn anything about it at all either. Heavens! They did not even send him a copy of the book.
It is nice that Glenn’s work has now been published in Turkish, meaning that his work will be read by a wider audience, and that these Turks were that keen on it that they were prepared to do the necessary work to translate it. However, they are also making some money out of it presumably (none of which, incidentally, is coming our way!). Also, if it had been translated into another language, such as in Spanish and with Peter’s help, then Glenn’s work might have been read by a wider audience. But the main thing is that Glenn wanted it published in a certain way.
Anyway, let’s move on. The book is now out and is there for people to read and hopefully in time, it will find a nice niche amongst Glenn’s publications. And Robert Smith, who was very courteous, sought permission and republished one of these articles, should certainly help in this regard.
3. PETER MCLAREN BACK AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA)
We were surprised to discover that Peter McLaren is now back working at UCLA, in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies – see http://gseis.ucla.edu/people/mclareHis stay at New Zealand proved to be of a very short duration (although technically he still works there part-time). There has, it seems, been much ‘water under the bridge’. Anyway, one of the many things that he is now doing leading on from this includes co-editing a book series on ‘Education and Struggle’ with Michael Peters, published with Peter Lang.
4. COMMISSIONING LESLEY PITMAN AND PAUL VETCH TO WRITE BOOKS FOR CHANDOS PUBLISHING
I am delighted to say that I have commissioned 2 more people to
write books for Chandos Publishing (www.chandospublishing.com)
Lesley Pitman and Paul Vetch.
The tentative titles for their books are
‘Supporting research in area studies: a guide for academic libraries’ by Lesley Pitman
‘Digital Collections Management and Curatorial Practice’ by Paul Vetch
Lesley Pitman is Librarian and Director of Information Services, University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Lesley is responsible for the largest open access collection in the UK on Russian and East European Studies. She also coordinates the Research Support Strategy for UCL Library Services, Chairs the Digitisation Steering Group and takes the lead for UCL in some major digitisation projects.
Paul Vetch is Head of Research Development and Delivery in the Digital Humanities Division at King’s College, London, with responsibility for developing opportunities for new research collaborations and the management of the Research and Development team. He is also a Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities and a King’s Business Innovation Fellow.
Lesley’s book “will provide a guide for library staff who find themselves required to support academicsresearching in the ill-defined field of ‘area studies’. This can encompass an enormous range of disciplines in a single department or centre, from literature and film studies to economics and business, and is usually made more challenging by the fact that most of the source material will be in languages other than English.”
Paul’s book will explore “the practical impact and changing influence of digital collections management infrastructure on the way in which museums function, focusing in particular on the implications for curatorial staff – those directly involved with the interpretation and presentation of heritage materials to the general public.”
I wish Lesley and Paul all the very best with their Chandos book projects.
5. DAVID KAGOTHO-NDERITU INVITED ON SKY TV AND HIS ARTICLE ‘DANGEROUSLY LIVING’ NOW ON OUR WEBSITE
Several years ago now, Glenn and I got talking to someone in our local photocopy shop (‘CopyCats’), and amazingly found we had things in common. This person was David Kagotho-Nderitu. At the time we were photocopying our House of Lords globalisation papers; we started an interesting conversation between ourselves and discovered that we agreed about various issues around globalisation. Leading on from all of this David started doing some writing and at our suggestion some of his material was then published in ‘Information for Social Change’. Other material went in the Contributions section of our website.
This summer we had a surprise email (yes, another one!) from Joanna, the producer from the ‘Chrissy B. Show’ – a new show on Sky TV. The Chrissy B. show is a TV talk show based in London which covers ‘Real issues for real people, and better yet, you can get involved.’
David has an article on our website entitled ‘Multicultural Britain – what does it mean to be Black people?’ (http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=401&slink=yes) and this was what interested Joanna as she was organising a show on ‘Multicultural Britain’ for around the end July/beginning August 2012.
Joanne wanted to interview David and include him on her programme. She also planned to have 2 other studio guests – Maghan Peterson Fenn, author of ‘Bringing up Brits’ and Sundar Katwala, Director of British Future.
David was very interested in going on the show, but now he lives in Kenya. They were hoping to get a Skype connection but unfortunately were not able to in the end, so he was not able to participate.
Still, once again, it shows the power of our website does it not and hopefully will all lead on to even bigger and better things in time.
Leading on from all of this, David then wrote another piece, and asked if we could also include this in the Contributions section of our website, which we happily did. This article is entitled ‘Dangerously Living’, is about the financial crisis, and can be found at:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=406
6. DISSERTATION ON COMMODIFICATION OF CHILDRENS SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES
We received an interesting email on our Flow of Ideas website, from Sean Hayes, who recently studied for an MA in the Ethics of Social Welfare at Keele University and wrote a dissertation (2011) on ‘the commodification of Children within Social Welfare Markets as a consequence of the Privatisation of Childrens Social Welfare Services’. Sean is now planning to develop all this further by studying for a Doctorate on the subject.
I read the dissertation with interest. As a working practitioner in the field, I thought Sean’s knowledge and understanding should prove to be very valuable. It was an interesting dissertation.
On reflecting, I made the point to him that we are witnessing the commodification of Childrens Social Welfare Services rather than the commodification of children themselves (the latter would only apply if we lived in a Slave society). I also made it clear to him that we think that a thorough understanding and analysis of all of this can only be done through a Marxist approach and looking at the commodification process itself in detail. Whilst in his dissertation Sean focused on the philosophers Bentham, Kant and Mill.
Anyway, it is great that some people are looking at these important areas, and also from a philosophical position, and we wish Sean the very best of luck with his Doctorate. Hopefully, it can help in some small way, and will alert some people to the dangers of what clearly lies ahead.
7. CAMPAIGN AGAINST CUTS IN BRENT LIBRARIES
This summer 2012 we went to a couple of interesting talks at Conway Hall in London. The ethos of Conway Hall is very near and dear to our hearts. Conway Hall is run by the South Place Ethical Society, which is an educational charity, deriving from a radical religious congregation founded in London in 1793. It is now a secular and humanist organisation and is “one of the oldest freethought communities in existence”.
The talks we went to were part of the Sunday lecture series. They were:
‘Schopenhauer and Character-Determinism’ by Tom Rubens
‘Don’t get fooled again’ by Richard Wilson
‘Infinity and Immortality’ by Adrian Moore
We also went to some of the events of the ‘Festival of Film and Philosophy’ week in the summer that were held there.
At a discussion on ‘Will’ following on from the Schopenhaeur talk (who of course influenced Nietzsche and Lawrence), I got talking to a lady that happened to be a librarian involved in fighting some of the library cuts. One of these campaigns was fighting cuts in Brent Libraries. She then put me in touch with Charles Rudd, who is heavily involved with this campaign and who provided me with some additional information. I said that I would happily insert this information in my next newsletter – so here it is – see below:
“Campaigners in [London Borough of] Brent have been fighting the Council’s decision to close six of its twelve libraries. In 2011 a legal challenge went all the way to the Supreme Court, which however refused us permission to appeal against the lower courts’ judgment that Brent’s action, and the consultation which preceded it, were not unjustified. Since then, “pop-up” libraries have been set up at Barham Park, Preston and Cricklewood (at least), and moves are afoot to set up community libraries in some areas, which would be run by volunteers. For details, see www.brentlibraries.wordpress.com
Charles Rudd - sawadarudd@waitrose.com "
I hope this information is helpful to those out there that are currently actively involved in campaigns to try to save and protect various London libraries.
8. ALEXANDER RIKOWSKI OBTAINING A PLACE TO STUDY LAW PART-TIME AT BIRKBECK COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Our eldest son, Alexander, has obtained a place to study for a Qualifying Law Degree (LLM) part-time at Birkbeck College, University of London. This means that he will be very busy indeed, as he will continue to work full-time at New Hunts House Library, King’s College London, but it should prove to be rewarding for him, long-term.
9. 3 NEW ITEMS ON MY ‘SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS’ BLOG
http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/
There are 3 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog. These are: ‘Women in Love’ by D.H. Lawrence, ‘Sustaining Alternative Universities’ and ‘Life in the Higher Sausage Factory’ – the paper
Best wishes,
Ruth
30th September 2012
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Ruth Rikowski's 50th News Update
1. ALEXANDER RIKOWSKI OBTAINS PERMANENT POSITION AT MAUGHAN LIBRARY, KING’S COLLEGE LONDON
Leading on from my last newsletter, I am delighted to say that our eldest
son, Alexander Rikowski, now has a permanent position, working as an
‘Information Assistant’, at the Maughan Library, King’s College
London. It is a wonderful atmosphere there in a very beautiful building,
of course, and he is very much enjoying it all.
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/london/121b.html
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kotomi-jewelry/6899255675/
He is also back working in the library that he used when he was a
Philosophy student there, so has easy access to all those lovely Philosophy
books again! What could be better!
2. VICTOR RIKOWSKI ON FRONT PAGE OF JUNE 2012 ISSUE OF ‘CILIP UPDATE’
I was very surprised and delighted to discover that our middle son, Victor Rikowski, is on the front cover of the June 2012 issue of ‘CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professioanls Update’, taking Rhyme Time with children at the Idea Store, Chrisp Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. See
http://www.cilip.org.uk/publications/update-magazine/Pages/default.aspx
To be honest, I initially took the magazine out of its wrapping and left it on the table for several days without looking at it. When I finally got to have a read through it, I did not even notice the front cover at first. I flicked through ‘Update’ and then, low and behold I spotted an article by Kate Pitman, Idea Store Development Manager and member of the Strategy Group of the London Libraries Consortium. She was writing about the 10 year celebration of Idea Stores in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is where Victor works, of course. So, I started paying attention!
The article is entitled ‘A roaring trade in ideas’ (pp. 32-34). I then casually wondered whether Victor might possibly get a mention, as he has been working very hard and has been very pro-active there, taking Rhyme Time sessions, book clubs and creative writing workshops etc. I then spotted him in one of the small pictures in the article (on p. 34). I showed this to Glenn. He then pointed out to me that Victor was also actually on the front cover. Wow – amazing! The cover is entitled: ‘Fun times and learning at Idea Store, Chrisp Street’.
As part of its 10-year birthday celebration, Idea Stores also had a Short Story Competition, and Victor ran some Creative Writing workshops for anyone that wanted extra help with writing for the competition. The story had to cover a 10-year period. Our youngest son, Gregory Rikowski, went to one of the sessions and actually entered the competition (although did not win!). Anyway, we decided to insert his short story on our website, so here is the link:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=404
Leading on from all of this, I contacted the Managing Editor at ‘CILIP Update’, Rachel Middleton. Rachel explained that the cover picture was chosen from a number of different pictures that Idea Stores sent to them and said that she would gladly send Victor a copy. I told her something about our background, and the fact that Victor first wrote for the library and information world when he was just 14 years old – see http://www.libr.org/isc/articles/14-Victor_Rikowski.html.
I also mentioned the fact that the then editor of CILIP Update, Elpseth Hyams, came to the book launch for my digitisation book at UCL in 2011.
I explained that although I am not currently writing non-fiction material, I might make an exception for ‘Update’, if that would be useful and help to fill in some of the missing gaps.
3. COMMISSIONING JAMIE O’BRIEN AND CHRIS WALKER TO WRITE BOOKS FOR CHANDOS PUBLISHING
I am delighted to say that I have commissioned 2 new people to write
books for Chandos Publishing: these are Jamie O’Brien and Chris
Walker.
Dr Jamie O’Brien is a Research Manager at University College
London Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisation, a multi-
disciplinary research and training centre. Jamie came to the book
launch for my digitisation book, which was held at UCL last year.
Whilst, Dr Chris Walker wrote an excellent review of my digitisation
book for ‘CILIP Update’, January 2012 (see my newsletter No. 49, item
13). Chris is a part-time lecturer at Leeds Metropolitan University and a
Law Librarian at the College of Law in York.
The tentative titles for their books are:
‘Spatiializing Knowledge’ by Jamie O’Brien
‘Qualitative Research and Grounded Theory for LIS Professionals and Students’ by Chris Walker
I wish James and Chris all the very best with the writing of their Chandos books.
4. BOOK LAUNCH FOR ‘1839: THE CHARTIST INSURRECTION’ BY DAVID BLAKE AND CHRIS FORD
Friends and comrades of ours, Dave Black and Chris Ford have a new book just out about the Chartist Movement. The book is entitled:
‘1839: The Chartist Insurrection’ by David Black and Chris Ford, Unkant Publishing: London, 2012 ISBN 978 0 9568176 7 9 (pbk).
Glenn went along to the book launch at the Workers Education Association, in East London, and it proved to be an interesting and enjoyable event.
http://www.unkant.com/2012/05/amm4-booklaunch-7th-jun-blake-and.html
He also purchased a copy of the book and proceeded to read it very quickly!
The book is very thorough and detailed and really paints a very full and clear picture of the whole event, providing accurate information and filling in many of the missing gaps. It makes it very clear just how significant the whole Chartist movement was, and that it was not just something that can be ‘swept under the carpet’. Interestingly, when I spoke to my sons about this, none of them had heard of the Chartist Movement. ‘Did you not study it as part of your basic history at school?”, I asked. ‘No’, they replied. Well, that just about says it all and helps to explain why Dave and Chris thought it was so necessary to write this book. It will, I am sure, prove to be an invaluable resource as well as a guide for future struggles. Dave and Chris thank various librarians for helping them to gather the historical material together. The book was a lot of work and took them many years to research and write.
There is a valuable endorsement of the book on the back cover by Ben Watson, who says:
“In retrieving the suppressed history of the Chartist insurrection, David Black and Chris Ford have written a revolutionary handbook. Without romanticism or condescension, they track the difficulties of unifying local revolts without selling out to the ‘representative politics’ favoured in the parliamentary charade. As today’s anti-capitalism faces the problem of anger without organisation, the lessons of the Chartists become crucial. Dialectics is not something to be derived from pure philosophy: by looking at the political problems of an insurgent working class. Black and Ford resurrect the true One-to-Many dialectic.”
For further information about the book see:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/1839-the-chartist-insurrection/
And a promotional video was shown at the book launch - see:
http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/promotional-film-for-1839-the-chartist-insurrection-by-david-black-and-chris-ford/
Dave also spoke at the book launch for my globalisation book, which was held at London South Bank University, in 2005. Dave’s talk was very good and he had lots of wise words to say about ‘value’, in particular.
We wish Dave and Chris every success with their book.
5. 6 NEW ENTRIES ON MY ‘SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS’ BLOG
There are 6 news entries up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog:
2 entries about library privatisation threats and cutbacks (demonstrating that the predictions that I first made in 2001 are very much now coming to pass); 1 entry about critical pedagogy and 3 focusing on the classics.
These are: ‘The Creative University and Paulo Freire’, ‘Strike: Greenwich Libraries Staff to Strike over GLL Takeover’, ‘Walk and Rally for Greenwich Public Libraries’, ‘Jane Austen and Douglas Kennedy’, ‘Let Other Pens Dwell on Guilt and Misery’ and ‘Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy’.
See: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/
The ‘Jane Austen and Douglas Kennedy’ piece is now also available on our website – see
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=405&slink=yes
6. VISIT OF CANADIAN RELATIVES – MADE CONTACT FOLLOWING ON FROM MY BLOG
A second cousin of mine from Canada made contact with me in 2009, following on from a news item in one of my newsletters (the 27th) about my great grandparents. Here is the link:
http://ruthrikowskiupdates1-27.blogspot.co.uk/
The newsletter was written in March 2009, and it is the 2nd news item.
My great grandparents ran schools in Essex and Cornwall at the end of the 19th century. They were both qualified teachers, and of course this is something that I am very proud of. And clearly, it has all had quite some influence on me, in one way or another (with my love of books and learning etc).
This second cousin contacted me, saying that we had the same great grandparents. Wow! My great grandfather emigrated to Canada and one of his children went with him and decided to stay. She then went on to have 6 children. And these relations are descendants from that line, of course.
Anyway, another Canadian second cousin recently contacted me and came to the UK and we were fortunate enough to be able to meet up with him and exchange family information, genealogy, thoughts and ideas. Once again, it was surprising and interesting to find what we all had in common, and helped to give us a better sense of who we are and where we come from. Several of us spent a lovely afternoon together. It helped us all to piece together some more pieces of the jigsaw. Perhaps, one day I will get to write something more substantial about our family history. We will have to wait and see.
Here’s sending all good wishes to my cousins across the oceans.
7. ‘COLD HANDS & QUARTER MOON' ALBUM REMIXED AND FOR SALE
Victor Rikowski has now remixed his ‘Cold Hands & Quarter Moon’ CD. He went to Bangor recently, and distributed copies to his friends. An earlier remix of one of the tracks (‘Human Herbs’) can be found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
If anyone would like a copy (£5.00 + p.& p.), then please do get in touch.
Hope you have a good summer!
Best wishes
Ruth
N.B. Many thanks to Tina Besley for providing information about the ‘Creative University and Paulo Freire’ (an entry on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog in item 5 above), and to David Marzella for providing information about the Strike in Greenwich Libraries (2 entries on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog in item 5 above).
30th June 2012
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