Alternative Societies

Alternative Societies Third year sociology option L4090B University of Sussex Spring 2019 1 alternative society noun a society or social group that espouses values different from those of the established social order. alternative society noun A section of a society in which people adopt a lifestyle different from the mainstream, perceived as being unconventional, less materialistic, and often more natural. Sociologists have often analysed and criticised the world. The aim of this module is to look at alternative societies that their assessments and criticisms imply. We will look at utopianism, what it involves and what state it is in today. We will discuss alternatives like communism, co-ops, and participatory economies as well as alternatives types of living in communes or intentional communities. We will examine alternatives in phenomena like urban social centres, freeganism or skip diving and food counter-cultures. We will discuss what an alternative society that is green would have to look like and how we could have a society where we all work less. We will discuss the benefits or otherwise and possibilities of a world society with no borders which restrict our movement. We will discuss what alternative kinds of education could look like and how society and our lives could be slower. Topics 1. Utopianism 2. Communism 3. Participatory economies and co-ops 4. Counterculture in a hippy commune 5. Social centres, freeganism and food counter-culture 6. Green society 7. Society beyond paid work 8. Global society without borders 9. Alternative education 10. The slow society Two week vacation 11. Alternative routes to alternative societies 12. Reading week Lectures and seminars There will be a lecture every week followed by a two-hour seminar another day in the week. The seminars will be organised around themes from the reading for each week so it’s important to do the reading. You can use the outline and questions for each topic to guide your reading. If you have trouble getting a word in in seminars put your hand up and I’ll make sure you can speak. If anything you want to discuss doesn’t come up feel free to bring it up. Reading 2 Main reading will be starred each week. This is what I am recommending you read. If you’d rather read something else in any weeks that’s fine. Mainly for any V&E students, you don't have to do all the reading each week! Focus on the main reading and the rest is for essay writing or in case you want to go beyond the main reading. Main reading will be on Canvas and/or the library reading list system. There isn’t a general book for this module but the following are useful as general and background reading: M. Parker et al eds, The Dictionary of Alternatives, 2007 is good as an introduction to relevant ideas Matt Dawson, Social Theory for Alternative Societies, 2016, looks at how sociological theorists have discussed alternative societies M. Parker et al eds, The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organisation, 2013. Assessment The assessment is a 6000 word essay. For dates and times see Sussex Direct. You’re welcome to discuss essay ideas with me anytime during the term. You can use a title from the list of essay titles or make one up yourself as long as you run it by me first. See the essay advice section on Canvas. Assessment criteria and guidelines are posted on Canvas and at the end of this handbook. Make sure you know what plagiarism and collusion are and that you avoid doing them. Please note the following paragraph from the Assessment and Examinations handbook for students, on word length. As a department we do not want to deduct marks for work just over the limit, but there may be times when even less than 10% over the stated limit does give an advantage and we may invoke this rule. We therefore strongly suggest that you keep within the word limit set. Your references in the bibliography do not count towards your overall word count. 1. Failure to observe limits of length The maximum length for each assessment is publicised to students. The limits as stated include quotations in the text, but do not include the bibliography, footnotes/endnotes, appendices, abstracts, maps, illustrations, transcriptions of linguistic data, or tabulations of numerical or linguistic data and their captions. Any excess in length should not confer an advantage over other students who have adhered to the guidance. Students are requested to state the word count on submission. Where a student has marginally (within 10%) exceeded the word length the Marker should penalise the work where the student would gain an unfair advantage by exceeding the word limit. In excessive cases (>10%) the Marker need only consider work up to the designated word count, and discount any excessive word length beyond that to ensure equity across the cohort. Where an assessment is submitted and falls significantly short (>10%) of the word length, the Marker must consider in assigning a mark, if the argument has been sufficiently developed and is sufficiently supported and not assign the full marks allocation where this is not the case. Contact 3 The tutor and module convenor is Luke Martell. My email address is [email protected] and my office is Freeman G50. My office hour will be posted on my web profile. I’m part-time and work half days on Wednesday and Friday. I share an office so it’s worth coming to my office hours or making an appointment for other times so I can find a room for us to go to. I’ll send you any information about changes to classes, etc by email. Feedback You can get feedback on essay ideas or anything you're unclear about by meeting up with me or raising it at the classes. You can get written comments and see me for more feedback on your essays after they've been marked. We’ll have a short mid-term feedback session so you can suggest how to change things on the module. You can fill in an evaluation questionnaire on your modules after the module has ended to give us feedback. I really appreciate it if you do this as it helps me to improve the module for future years. Any feedback and suggestions are welcome at any time! 1. Utopianism Sociology (and a lot of other social science) has been a descriptive, analytical, and critical discipline about what society is like. In this topic we'll be looking at the idea of thinking about what society should be like - ie prescriptive and normative questions. We'll do this through looking at the idea (and examples) of utopia, of ideal societies. Utopias are things that have featured in both fiction and literature and also social science and actual practical attempts. Many parts of the rest of the module will cover types of utopianism. - what does 'utopian' mean? what is a utopia? - what are examples of utopias? what genres/types of utopianism are there? - how do utopias relate to place and time? - can there be utopias in the present day? - what are the functions of utopias? - what criticisms are there of utopias? - are utopias unrealistic or can they be viable? - how do you get to a utopia? - what does a libertarian utopia look like and what perspectives bring this up? - what does a feminist utopia look like? - what kind of non-racist utopias are there? - what has been the relationship between colonisation and utopias? - what kind of utopias are there beyond the west? - where does biology/science fit into utopias? - is it appropriate for sociology to ask what ought to be as well as what is? - are utopias dead? If so, why? If not, what utopias are there now? - is utopianism dangerous? - what is a dystopia? We won’t have time every week to discuss all the questions listed in the handbook, but use the questions to guide your reading and thinking about the seminar and topic. If there’s anything that doesn’t come up that you’d like to discuss do bring it up. 4 * R. Levitas, Introduction: The Elusive Idea of Utopia, History of the Human Sciences, 16, 1, 2003, discusses the different guises that utopia comes in. * K. Kumar, The Ends of Utopia, New Literary History, 41, 3, 2010, talks about kinds of utopias in pessimistic mode. These are recommended main readings but feel free in any weeks to choose other things to read. R. Levitas, The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society: why sociologists and others should take utopianism more seriously, 2005 lecture, surveys a number of utopia writers and themes K. Kumar, Utopianism, 1991 K. Kumar, Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times, 1987 R. Levitas, The Concept of Utopia, 1990, discusses sociological theories of utopia L.T. Sargent, Utopianism: a Very Short Introduction, 2010, includes discussion of nonwestern and post-colonial utopianism, and has a further reading section. R. Levitas, Sociology and Utopia, Sociology, 13, 1979, discusses different definitions of utopia and how they vary by social context L.T. Sargent, The Three Faces of Utopianism Revisited, Utopian Studies, 5, 1, 1994 Utopian Studies, in general this is a useful journal Lucy Sargisson, Fool’s Gold: Utopianism in the 21st Century, 2012 Lucy Sargisson, Contemporary Feminist Utopianism 1996. Also her Utopian Bodies and the Politics of Transgression, 2000. Z. Bauman, Utopia with no Topos, History of the Human Sciences, 16, 1, 2003 Zhang Longxi, The Utopian Vision, East and West, Utopian Studies, 13, 1, 2002 Barbara Goodwin, ed, The Philosophy of Utopia, 2001 B. Goodwin and K. Taylor, The Politics of Utopia, 1982 Hebert Marcuse, The End of Utopia, in Marcuse, Five lectures, 1970 Colin Ward, Utopia, 1974 Jay Winter, Dreams of Peace and Freedom: Utopian Moments in the 20th century, 2006 M. Parker et al eds, The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Organization, 2007 James Morris and Andrea Kross, The A to Z of Utopianism, 2009 Matt Dawson, Social Theory for Alternative Societies, especially ch 10 on sociology and utopia and chs 4 and 7 on feminist and anti-racist utopias. G. Claeys, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature, 2010 Davina Cooper, Everyday Utopias: The Conceptual Life of Promising Spaces, 2014 Angelika Bammer, Partial Visions: Feminism and utopianism in the 1970s, 1991 Philipe Couton and J.L. Lopez, Movement as Utopia, History of the Human Sciences, 22, 4, 2009 Susan Buck-Morss, Dream World and Catastrophe: the passing of mass utopias in East and West, 2002 F and F. Manuel, Utopian Thought in the Western World, 1979 R. Jacoby, Picture Imperfect: Utopian Thought for an Anti-Utopian Age, 2007 Sociological Review, 50, S1, May 2002, special issue on utopia and organization. M.D Gordin et al eds, Utopia/Dystopia, 2010 Journal of Political Ideologies, 12, 3, 2007, special issue on utopianism in western political ideology History of Human Sciences, 16, 1, 2003, edition on ‘Glimpses of Utopia’ Utopian Studies, journal of use in general for this and other topics Patricia Vieira and Michael Marder, eds, Existential Utopia: new perspectives on utopian thought, 2012 Jose Esteban Munoz, Cruising Utopia: the then and there of queer futurity, 2009 5 R. Paden, Marx's critique of the utopian socialists, Utopian Studies, 13, 2, 2013 Nick Crossley, Working Utopias and Social Movements: an investigation using case study materials from radical mental health movements in Britain, Sociology, 33, 4, 1999. K Villadsen, The settlement utopia: brotherly love, discipline, and social critique, Journal of Civil Society, 12, 2, 2016 There is a genre of feminist utopian fiction, see for instance, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Herland, 1911, Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time, 1976, amongst other things. See F. Bartowski, Feminist Utopias, 1989 and Sargisson, Bammer and Dawson above. Shulamith Firestone’s The Dialectic of Sex: the case for feminist revolution, 1970, is seen as a kind of utopian feminist social and political theory. See also Nancy Fraser, After the Family Wage: Gender Equity and the Welfare State, Political Theory, 22, 4, 1994 and Beatrice Halsaa, A Feminist Utopia, Scandinavian Political Studies, 11, 4, 1998 R.D.G. Kelley, Freedom Dreams: the Black Radical Imagination, 2002, on dreams of freedom from the African diaspora. Dora Ahmad, Landscapes of Hope: Anti-Colonial Utopianism in America, 2009 Edward Chan, Utopia and the Problem of Race, Utopian Studies, 17, 3, 2006 Jesse Rhines, Agency, Race and Utopia, Socialism and Democracy, 17, 2, 2003 There have been many fictional and literary utopias (and dystopias), by Thomas More, William Morris, H.G. Wells, and many others – see Canvas for some links. Social and political theorists who have written on utopia include Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia, Ernst Bloch The Principle of Hope, Bauman (see above and also Socialism: the active utopia), and more recently Erik Olin Wright in Envisioning Real Utopias, 2010. Right-wing alternatives have come from anti-state anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard, Max Stirner in The Ego and its Own, Ayn Rand, Robert Nozick (Anarchy, State and Utopia) and some supporters of open borders are right libertarians, like Huemer as we will see when we come to that topic. Libertarian utopias include Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and L. Neil Smith The Probability Broach. David Harvey is a neo-Marxist urban geographer who discusses the possibility of an urban utopia in his book Spaces of Hope, 2000, and in Can we Build an Urban Utopia? Times Higher Education, 14 February 2003. Essay Questions Does utopianism have a positive or negative function? Is utopianism dangerous? Critically assess utopia/s in a selected genre/perspective/theorist. Has utopianism died? Can utopias exist now and not just in the future? Can utopianism lead to social change or hinder it? Can utopianism help us to build alternative societies? 6 What would an alternative a gender-equal society look like? Can non-racist utopia lead to a non-racist society? Is the best sort of alternative society a society of individualism without society? 2. Communism Marx said he was against utopias yet he advocated a totally different kind of society to capitalism. He argued that his analysis of how to get there was scientific rather than utopian. He saw there being a statist transitional phase of socialism. But in the end he envisaged a society with no classes, no state, and based on communal ownership. John Stuart Mill expressed some sympathies with socialism but criticised Marx's revolutionary communism and suggested an experimental way of pursuing alternatives now more like those we will discuss in other parts of this module. - what was distinctive about Marx's ideas of socialism and communism - what would communism look like and could it work? - what were J.S. Mill's criticisms of revolutionary communism and what alternative kind of socialism did he propose? - can you have communism within capitalism? - why was Marx against utopianism? was he really against utopianism? - what was historical materialist about his idea of communism? - what did he see as the route to communism? - what is the difference between 'crude communism' and 'real communism'? - were 'actually existing socialisms' good examples of what is good or bad about communism? - what are right-wing criticisms of communism? - how does communism solve gender and race inequalities? - what about capitalism means it may collapse? * M. Dawson, Social Theory for Alternative Societies, 2016, ch 2 on Marx and Engels. * Dan Hancox, Spain’s Model Communist Village, The Observer, 20 October 2013 * J.S. Mill, Chapters on Socialism, 1879, section on the ‘difficulties of socialism’, criticises revolutionary communism in favour of a more experimental gradualism. M. Evans, Karl Marx, 1975, Pt III, sections 3, 4 & 5 pp 136-64 on revolution, transition and the communist society. M. Levin, Marx, Engels and Liberal Democracy, 1989, ch 6 on democracy in the transition to communist society and in communist society itself. Also pp 156-68 on actual communism and its relationship to Marx's thinking. More critical interpretation of Marx’s ideas than Evans. D. Held, Models of Democracy, 2006, ch 4, on direct democracy and the end of politics in communist society. Unlike Levin, interprets Marx’s vision as involving direct democracy S. Avineri, The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx, 1968, ch 8 on the new society R. Levitas, The Concept of Utopia, 1990, ch 2, discusses Marx’s communism in relation to utopian socialism Vincent Geoghegan, Utopianism and Marxism, 2008 E. Fromm, Marx’s Concept of Man, 1966, ch 6 on the concept of socialism A. Giddens, A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, 1981, ch 10 B. Ollman, Marx’s Vision of Communism: a reconstruction, Critique, 8, 1, 1971 7 C. Pierson, Marxist Theory and Democratic Politics, ch 1. K. Graham, The Battle of Democracy, chs 9 and 10. Discusses Marx and Lenin's views on democracy and socialism. M. Levin, John Stuart Mill: A Liberal Looks at Utopian Socialism in the Years of Revolution 1848-9, Utopian Studies, 14, 2, 2003, on Mill’s alternative idea of socialism R.N. Berki, Insight and Vision: The Problem of Communism in Marx's Thought R.N. Berki, Socialism chs 4 & 7 R. Paden, Marx's critique of the utopian socialists, Utopian Studies, 13, 2, 2013, discusses whether Marx was against utopianism Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 27, 2, 1997, Hudelson and Louw debate whether Marx was totalitarian. Peter Hudis, Marx’s Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism, 2012 M. Buber, Paths in Utopia, on utopian socialism, 1949 Richard Stites, Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution, 1989. A. J. Polan, Lenin and the End of Politics, 1984 and 1992, says that what happened in Communist societies followed from Lenin's Marxist theory. E.O. Wright, Envisioning Real Utopias, 2010, ch 4 C. Douzina and S. Zizek, eds, The Idea of Communism, 2010 Ernesto Screpanti, Libertarian Communism, 2007 David Lovell, Marx’s Utopian Legacy, The European Legacy, 9, 5, 2004 David Leopold, Socialism and the Rejection of Utopia, Journal of Political Ideologies, 12, 3, 2007 C. Douzinas and S, Zizek, eds, The Idea of Communism, 2010 L. Holmes, Communism: a very short introduction, 2009 N. Scott Arnold, Marx, Central Planning and Utopian Socialism, Social Philosophy and Policy, 6, 2, 1989, on central planning under communism I.L. Horowitz, Socialist Utopias and Scientific Socialists, Sociological Forum, 4, 1, 1989. K. Allen, Marx and the Alternative to Capitalism, 2011, a bit polemical but useful introduction Mark Sandle, Communism, 2011 Paul Mason has written a book Postcapitalism (2015) and there are article length versions of his thesis and critical discussions of it on Canvas and elsewhere online. More on Marinaleda the Spanish Communist village: Dan Hancox, The Village Against the World, 2013, on Marinaleda in Spain, an attempt to pursue a communist utopia in one village Samuel Grove, A Utopia Towards Peace? Notes on Marinaleda, New Left Project, 28 May 2013, online and on Canvas Karl Marx’s own writings on communism, all available online. The Civil War in France, which discusses the Paris Commune. The Communist Manifesto, which outlines his historical materialist view of communism and how his idea of communism compares with other versions of socialism. Critique of the Gotha Programme where he discusses his views on equality and the state. Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (also known as the ‘Paris Manuscripts’) especially the sections on communism. 8 Essay Questions What would a communist society look like? Can there be communism within capitalism? Must communism come after capitalism? Is historical materialism a better route to socialism than utopianism? Is gradualist experimental socialism preferable to revolutionary communism? Outline and assess Mill’s critique of revolutionary communism and his alternative approach to socialism. Can socialism be utopian? Is a society of individualism or egoism preferable to a communist society? Is more capitalism a better alternative to capitalism than communism is? Did communism fail because of the flaws in the idea of communism? Is communism totalitarian or free? Is communism inherently authoritarian? 3. Participatory economies and co-ops This week we will look at the idea of organising the economy and work on a participatory democracy basis, focusing on Michael Albert's 'Parecon' project and the idea of co-operatives. Participatory democracy is different to representative democracy and another key proposal is that democracy should be applied to the economy and not just the state and politics. Albert and Hahnel have suggestions about the distribution of income and the division of labour and how society more widely could be organized on a participatory basis. One kind of participatory economy is companies which are co-operatively owned, for instance by workers. There have been many attempts at co-operatives and key questions are whether they can survive and be successful within a capitalist market economy, and whether they can be the basis for more democratic participation and co-operative values in society as a whole, or not. - what are the main features of a participatory economy - 'parecon'? - how does Albert see self-management working? - on what basis is a decision made in parecon? - what principles for distributing income does Albert envisage? - how is work organised and rewarded in parecon? - how are goods and services distributed in parecon? - what criticisms have been made of parecon and Albert? - what do Joseph Kay and libcom disagree with parecon about? - how desirable and feasible is parecon and participatory democracy? - how is participatory democracy relevant to developing countries? - in what kind of context can participatory democracy work? - can we run societies or workplaces or schools by all the members having an equal vote? - what is a co-op, what are its principles and characteristics? - what might work or not work with co-ops? what are the limits of co-ops? - do workers co-ops lead to more co-operative and egalitarian attitudes? - does workplace participation ‘spillover’ into wider political participation? - do workers co-ops inevitably experience ‘degeneration’ into hierarchies under capitalism? 9 * Michael Albert, Summarizing Participatory Economics, Zcommunications.org, Dec 1st 2012, online and on Canvas * C. Cornforth, Patterns of Co-operative management: beyond the degeneration thesis, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 16, 1995 * Neil Carter, Political Participation and the Workplace: The Spillover Thesis Revisited, British Journal of International Relations and Political Science, 8, 2006 * A Participatory Economy or Libertarian Communism, 2009 debate between Mark Evans and Joseph Kay, at libcom.org More on parecon: Michael Albert and Chris Spannos, Parecon Today, interview, Zcommunications.org April 27 2006 Michael Albert, Realizing Hope: Life beyond Capitalism, 2006, ch 1 especially but other chapters relevant too. R. Hahnel and E.O. Wright, Alternatives to Capitalism: Proposals for a Democratic Economy, 2014 Robin Hahnel, Economic Justice and Democracy, from Competition to Co-operation, 2005, more substantial outline of a participatory economy C. Spannos, (ed), Real Utopia: participatory society for the 21st century, 2008 Michael Albert, Parecon: Life after Capitalism, 2003, sets out what parecon means and discusses criticisms Michael Albert, Realizing Hope: Life beyond Capitalism, 2006 discuses wider society beyond the economy within the parecon framework Robin Hahnel, Of the People, By the People: the Case for a participatory economy, 2012 M. Albert and R. Hahnel, In Defence of Participatory Economics, Science and Society, 66, 1, 2002. A. Weiss, A Comparison of Economic Democracy and Participatory Economics, heathwoodpress.com, Oct 2013, online and on Canvas More on co-ops: C. Masquelier, Beyond co-optation: revisiting the transformative function of ‘workers’ self-directed enterprises’, Socialism and Democracy, 31, 2, 2017, pre-publication version on Canvas C. Cornforth, Some Factors Affecting the Success or Failure of Worker Co-operatives, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 4, 1983 P. Bate and N. Carter, The Future for Producers’ Co-operatives, Industrial Relations Journal, 17, 1, 1986. D. Ozarow and R. Croucher, Workers’ Self-management, Recovered Companies and the Sociology of Work, Sociology, 48, 5, 2014 Mary Mellor et al, Worker Co-operatives in Theory and Practice, 1988 J. Shantz and J.B. MacDonald, eds, Beyond Capitalism: Building Democratic Alternatives for Today and the Future, 2013 R. Wolff, Democracy at Work, 2012 Joyce Rothschild and J. Allen Whitt, The Cooperative Workplace: Potentials and dilemmas of organizational democracy and participation, 1986 I. Ness and D. Azzelini, eds, Ours to Master and to Own: Workers Control from the Commune to the Present, 2011 T. Webb and G. Cheney, Worker-owned-and-governed co-operatives and the wider co-operative movement, in Parker et al, The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization, 2014 10 C. Cornforth et al, Developing Successful Worker Co-operatives, 1988 F. Lindenfeld and J. Rothschild-Whitt, eds, Workplace Democracy and Social Change, 1982 S. and V. Zamagni, Cooperative Enterprise, 2010 M. Atzeni, ed, Alternative Work Organizations, 2012 E. Greenberg, Workplace Democracy: the political effects of participation, 1988 Carole Pateman, Participation and Democratic Theory, 1970, a classic on participatory democracy, including in the workplace Pat Devine, Democracy and Economic Planning, 1988, sets out the case for a democratically planned economy in practical detail Robert Dahl, A Preface to Economic Democracy, 1985, liberal pluralist political theorist, Dahl advocates worker owned and controlled enterprises Edward Greenberg, Industrial Self-Management and Political Attitudes, American Political Science Review, 75, 1, 1981, say co-ops do not lead to more egalitarian and co-operative attitudes Edward Greenberg, Context and Co-operation: systematic variation in the political effects of workplace democracy, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 4, 1983, on whether co-ops lead to wider political changes in society Virginie Perotin, What do We Really Know about Worker Co-operatives? 2016, Cooperatives UK overview of research on co-ops Matt Dawson, Social Theory for Alternative Societies, ch 4, on education and co-ops as anti-racist alternatives B. Doherty and M. deGeus, Democracy and Green Political Thought, 1996, ch 3 on worker co-ops and green political theory B. Horvat et al eds, Self-Governing Socialism, 2 volumes, 1975 Ian MacPherson, One Path to Co-operative Studies, 2007 J. Le Grand and S. Estrin eds, Market Socialism, 1989, ch 7 by Estrin on workers co-ops John Restakis, Humanizing the Economy, 2010 John Street, Socialist Arguments for Industrial Democracy, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 4, 1983 Sharryn Kashmir, The Myth of Mondragon, 1996, critique of famous co-operative experiment Martin Parker, Alternative Business: Outlaws, Crime and Culture, 2012, on economic counter-culture More on alternative economies: Ethan Miller, Solidarity Economy, in Emily Kawano et al eds, Solidarity Economy I: Building Alternatives for People and Planet, 2010 Peter Utting et al, Social and Solidarity Economy, 2014 J.K. Gibson-Graham, A PostCapitalist Politics, 2006 As for all weeks, see more resources on Canvas. Essay Questions Critically evaluate Albert and Hahnel’s model for a participatory economy. Should democracy include economic democracy or is that a step too far? Can co-ops be alternatives within capitalism? Will co-ops be undermined by being within capitalism? What should determine how much people are paid? How should we distribute goods and services in society? 11 Can co-operative values in co-ops lead to more co-operative values in wider society? Can participation in co-ops lead to more democratic participation in wider society? Do co-ops inevitably lead away from co-operative structures? 4. Counter-culture in a hippy commune There have been many attempts to run communes or intentional communities that go against the dominant culture, often with very specific religious or political values. This week we'll look at Bennett M. Berger's sociological study of a 1970s hippy commune and how the communards tried to figure out what they were about and negotiated social relations and their ideology. Berger discusses how decisions, parenting, the status of children and relationships were managed. Warning that reading or discussion this week could potentially include the issue of child abuse. - what different kinds of communes are there? What characteristics do communes have? - what was distinctive about The Ranch as a commune? - how did The Ranch work? how were decisions made? How far did The Ranch manage to construct an alternative kind of culture? What kinds of clashes and contradictions did it face? - what was different about 'age-grading' and equality between children and adults? how did this fit into The Ranch's wider philosophy? What happened in terms of freedom for children, them having a say, and how children were viewed? - what did more communal child-rearing involve? - how were children treated in terms of drugs, arguments and sex? - was the treatment of children at The Ranch 'ideological', situational or self-serving? - how was schooling at The Ranch organised? What was alternative about it? - what was the difference between the new left and the rural communes? - what 'remedial ideological work' went on at The Ranch? - how did relationships, coupling and uncoupling, work differently? What was the attitude of The Ranch to coupling and wider communal relations? How did circumstances affect its approach in particular cases of coupling and uncoupling? - how did The Ranch's permissive approach differ from other communes which espoused either group marriage or a taboo on internal relations? And why did it end up different to them? - what was the approach to coupling or 'dyadic withdrawal'? (and where does Freud fit in here?) - how did uncoupling work? what was The Ranch's approach to uncoupling and jealousy? What was its attitude to relationships outside The Ranch? - how were work and gender relations different? How feminist was The Ranch? - how did the ranch compare with other types of communes? - is it possible to construct a counter-culture in the midst of a wider culture? - how do green communes or eco-villages work? - can communes be a basis for change to a different kind of society? * Bennett M. Berger, The Survival of a Counterculture: Ideological Work and Everyday Life Among Rural Communards, 1981, especially chs 3, 4 (esp sections on ideological work) and 5. 12 R.M. Kanter, Commitment and Community: communes and utopias in sociological perspective, 1972, especially parts I and III B.M. Berger and B.M. Hackett, On the Decline of Age Grading in Rural Hippie Communes, Journal of Social Issues, 30, 2, 1974, an earlier version of ch 3 of Berger’s book. Y. Goldman, Commune and Community: a socialist perspective, in Ben-Rafael, The Communal Idea in the Twenty-first century, 2012 Y. E. Ben-Rafael et al, eds, The Communal Idea in the Twenty-first Century, 2012 Barry Shenker, Intentional Communities: Ideology and Alienation in Communal Societies, 1986 D. Pitzer et al, Communes and Intentional Communities, in M. Parker et al, The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization, 2014 P. Abrams and A. McCulloch, Communes, Sociology and Society, 1976 Timothy Miller, The 60s Communes: Hippies and Beyond, 1999 Chris Coates, Utopia Britannica: v. 1: British Utopian Experiments: 1325-1945, 2001 Chris Coates, Communes Britannica: History of Communal Living in Britain 1939-2000, 2013 D. Pitzer, ed, America’s Communal Utopias, 1997 Tobias Jones, Utopian Dreams, 2008 Y. Oved, Globalization of Communes: 1950-2010, 2012 A. Rigby, Alternative Realities: A Study of Communes and Their Members, 1974 Thomas Shey, Why Communes Fail: A Comparative Analysis of the Viability of Danish and American Communes, Journal of Marriage and Family, 38, 3, 1977. A. Aidala and B. Zablocki, The Communes of the 1970s: Who Joined and Why?, Marriage and Family Review, 17, 1-2, 1991 Jonathan Dawson, Ecovillages: New Frontiers for Sustainability, 2006 L. Sargisson, Strange Places: Estrangement, Utopianism, and Intentional Communities, Utopian Studies, 18, 3, 2007 Paul Chatterton, Towards an Agenda for Post-carbon Cities: Lessons from Lilac, the UK’s First Ecological, Affordable Cohousing Community, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37, 5, September 2013 Christina Ergas, A Model of Sustainable Living: Collective Identity in an Urban Ecovillage, Organization and Environment, 23, 1, 2010 Morgan Shipley, Hippies and the Mystic Way: Dropping Out, Unitive Experiences, and Communal Utopianism, Utopian Studies, 24, 2, 2013. Theodor Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture: Reflections on the technocratic Society and its Youthful Opposition, 1969 James Ramey, Communes, Group Marriage, and the Upper-Middle Class, Journal of Marriage and Family, 34, 4, 1972 Patrick Conover, An Analysis of Communes and Intentional Communities with Particular Attention to Sexual and Genderal Relations, The Family Coordinator, 24, 4, 1975 David Pepper, Communes and The Green Vision: Counterculture, Lifestyle and the New Age, 1991, study of green communes in Britain. Malcolm Miles, Urban Utopias, the Built and Social Architectures of Alternative Settlements, 2008 R.M. Kanter, Commitment and Social Organization, American Sociological Review, 33, 4, 1968 Lucy Sargisson, Second Wave Co-housing, Utopian Studies, 23, 1, 2012 H. Gardner, The Children of Prosperity: thirteen modern American communes, 1978 13 William Smith, families and Communes, 1999. Benjamin Zablocki, Alienation and Charisma: a study of contemporary American communes, 1980 Essay Questions Outline and assess the attempt by communards at The Ranch to create an alternative culture. Is it possible to sustain an alternative culture within wider society? Can counter-culture survive within a culture it is against? Should community have precedence over the family? With reference to coupling and/or children, should alternative societies be based on freedom? Do intentional communities increase or decrease freedom? Can intentional communities be a channel for change in the future as well as an alternative here and now? 5. Social Centres, Freeganism and Food Counter-culture This week we'll look at (urban) social centres, freeganism and punk cuisine as examples of alternative societies and countercultures within contemporary capitalism. Other examples might include things like squatting, and the relation of social centres to squats is one interesting issue. To what extent do these phenomena provide alternative kinds of society within existing society? - what are social centres? What forms/s do they take? what characteristics do social centres have? how are they different to other forms of non/anti-capitalism activity? - who is involved in social centres? Are there inequalities and are they gendered? - what is the relationship of social centres to place and space? How are they local and urban? - what functions do social centres have? - what distinctive political identities are there in social centres? What does it mean to say they are impure, messy and slow? - what are social relations like in social centres? What is distinctive about the social and collective experience in them? - how are social centres organised and managed? What are their structures like? - what is distinctive about political strategies in social centres? - what challenges do social centres face? - how do social centres relate to the wider community? - what is the relationship of social centres to capitalism? What is distinctive about their anti-capitalism? Is it possible to be non-capitalist within capitalism? - how does it make a difference if a social centre is rented or squatted? - how utopian and counter-cultural are things like social centres and co-housing? - do freeganism and punk cuisine manage to create an anti-consumerism within capitalism? What are freegan and punk cuisine sub-cultures about? What are their values? - How is punk cuisine an alternative culture? What are the raw, cooked and rotten in punk cuisine? What is decommodified about punk cuisine? How does feminism fit in in punk cuisine? - what are Dumpster Diving and Food not Bombs? 14 - who is involved in freeganism and punk cuisine? How representative or equal is the social base? - who are the sub-groups of freeganism - purist co-op hippies, anarcho-punks, autonomistas, and forest ferals? - why do people get involved in freeganism? What does it mean for them? - what other outside capitalism activities does freegan philosophy relate to, and how? How does freeganism relate to DIY-punk and squatting? - what were the food ethics and dietary preferences of the freegans Edwards and Mercer looked at? - where do dumpster divers source their food from and why? - how do freegans and punk cuisine see themselves as 'other' to western consumerism and capitalism? - how is gleaning culture different from mainstream capitalist culture? - how are freegan groups organised? - how does freeganism relate to time and work? - How does it relate to space, the public and private, and other boundaries? Try to read Chatterton and one or both of the other two main readings. * P. Chatterton, So What Does It Mean to be Anti-capitalist? Conversations with Activists from Urban Social Centres, Urban Studies, 47, 6, 2010 * D. Clark, The Raw and the Rotten: Punk Cuisine, Ethnology, 43, 1, 2004 * F. Edwards and D. Mercer, Gleaning from Gluttony: an Australian youth subculture confronts the ethics of waste, Australian Geographer, 38, 3, 2007 More on food counter-culture: José e Johnston, Counter-Hegemony or Bourgeois Piggery? Food Politics and the Case of FoodShare, in Wright and Middenhorf, eds, The Fight Over Food: Producers, Consumers, and Activists Challenge the Global Food System, 2007. Alex Barnard, 'Waving the banana' at capitalism: Political theater and social movement strategy among New York's 'freegan' dumpster divers, Ethnography, 12,4, 2011 J. Paddock, Positioning Food Cultures: ‘Alternative’ Food as Distinctive Consumer Practice, Sociology, 50, 6, 2016. P. Chatterton and J. Pickerill, Everyday activism and transitions towards post-capitalist worlds, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35, 2010 M. Foden, Everyday consumption practices as a site for activism? Exploring the motivations of grassroots reuse groups, People, Place and Policy Online, 6, 3, 2012 J. Ferrell, Scrounging and Reclaiming, in Parker et al eds, The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization, 2014 J. Pratt and P. Luetchford, Food for Change, 2013 Liz Grauerholz and Nicole Owens, Alternative Food Movements, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2, 1, 2015 Wendy Miller, UK allotments and urban food initiatives: (limited?) potential for reducing inequalities, Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 20, 10, 2015 Roberta Sassatelli, The Political Morality of Food: discourses, contestation and alternative consumption, in M. Harvey et al (eds) Qualities of Food, 2004. P. Mudu and A. Marini, Radical Urban Horticulture for Food Autonomy: Beyond the Community Gardens Experience, Antipode, 2016 Scarlet Lindeman, Trash Eaters, Gastronomica, 12, 1, 2012 15 More on social centres and alternative spaces and communities: S. Hodkinson and P. Chatterton, Autonomy in the city? Reflections on the social centres movement in the UK, City, 10, 3, 2006 N. Montagna, The de-commodification of urban space and the occupied social centres in Italy, City, 10, 3, 2006 P. Mudu, Resisting and Challenging Neoliberalism: The Development of Italian Social Centers, Antipode, 2014 G. Piazza, Squatting Social Centres in a Sicilian City: Liberated Spaces and Urban Protest Actors, Antipode, 2016 A. Pusey, Social Centres and the New Cooperativism of the Common, Affinities, 4, 1, 2010 L. Yates, Everyday politics, social practices and movement networks: daily life in Barcelona’s social centres, British Journal of Sociology, 66, 2, 2015John Crossan et al, Contesting Urban neoliberalism in Glasgow’s Community Gardens: the Practice of DIY Citizenship, Antipode, 48, 4, 2016 Lucy Finchett-Maddock, An Anarchist’s Wetherspoons or Virtuous Resistance? Social Centres as MacIntyre’s Vision of Practice-based Communities, Philosophy of Management, 7, 1, 2008 Saskia Poldervaart, Utopian Aspects of Social Movements in Postmodern Times: Some Examples of DIY Politics in the Netherlands, Utopian Studies, 12, 2, 2001 Lucy Sargisson, Second-Wave Cohousing: A Modern Utopia?, Utopian Studies, 23, 1, 2012 Various, Stories from Radical Social Centres in the UK and Ireland, no date, online and on Canvas H. Thorn et al (eds), Space for Urban Alternatives? Christiania 1971–2011, 2011 Lynn Owens, Cracking Under Pressure: Narrating the Decline of the Amsterdam Squatters’ Movement, 2009 Anita Lacey, Networked Communities: social centres and activist spaces in contemporary Britain, Space and Culture, 8, 3, 2005 Lucy Finchett-Maddock, Observations of the Social Centre Scene: How a Law is Performed through Archiving the Memory of the Commons, Birkbeck College PhD thesis. Lucy Finchett-Maddock, Finding Space for Resistance through Legal Pluralism: the hidden legality of the UK social centre movement, Journal of Legal Pluralism, 61, 2010 Squatting Europe Kollective (eds), Squatting in Europe: Radical Spaces, Urban Struggles, 2013 The Trapese Collective (eds), Do It Yourself: A Handbook for Changing our World, 2007 H. Thorn et al, Space for Urban Alternatives: Christiana 1971-2011, 2011 J. Kingsley and M. Townsend, Dig In to Social Capital: community gardens as mechanisms for growing urban social connectedness, Urban Policy and Research, 24, 4, 2006. Essay questions Using one or more examples assess the extent to which it’s possible to live an alternative to capitalism within capitalism? Is it possible to be non-capitalist within capitalism? Can social centres provide an alternative to capitalism within capitalism? 16 What challenges do social centres/freeganism/punk cuisine/DIY (choose one or two examples) face and do they manage to overcome them and provide a counterculture within capitalism? How radical are social centres? Do food subcultures provide an alternative to mainstream culture and economy? Does food counter-culture provide a challenge to wider society? Is food counter-culture about middle-class identity rather than social change? 6. Green society This week we'll be looking at what kind of alternative society you need to achieve ecological sustainability. For many this involves not just economic and technological innovation but also social, political and cultural change. Some argue that sustainability can be achieved within capitalism or industrialism, even by more capitalism. Others say it needs low growth or de-growth and the end of markets, profit and private ownership. If we are to have low or no growth then this also means a change to consumerist culture, to pursuing happiness through acquisition and materialism, and having a society based on other forms of satisfaction. There are debates over whether solutions need to be via the state or communities (like ecovillages), global or local, and there are libertarian concerns about green solutions. Some argue for bioregionalism or even spiritual approaches, and different philosophies of what we value. For some greens an important issue is whether ecology needs to be anarchist, feminist or socialist. Does ecology mean we have to have a society that is not human centred? And if we are to achieve a green society through which social groups and political means can we get there? - what kinds of society can be green? - Do we need more capitalism, socialism, decentralised local communities, authoritarian centralism, bioregionalism, or just lower growth and consumption. - what would a less consumerist and productivist society look like? Would structural change or a new kind of consciousness be needed to underpin this? - what kinds of cultural and social change are needed for sustainability? - does a green society need to be small and local or global and top-down? - what is bioregionalism all about? - is there a green kind of political system? - what kind of economy is needed for sustainability? - does a sustainable society have to be socialist? - are conservatism or liberalism the most green approaches? - is feminism more green? - does sustainability require us to give up anthropocentrism and instrumental values and take on ecocentrism and intrinsic value? - who are the agents and what are the political means for green change? - what implications does greater sustainability in rich countries have for developing countries? - what criticisms/concerns are there about green solutions? *A. Dobson, The Green Reader, 1991, sections on The Green Society and Green Economics, but other parts relevant too. Extracts on ideas for a more green society. *A. Dobson, Green Political Thought, 2007, chapter on The Sustainable Society, but other chapters relevant too. 17 S. Latouche, Farewell to Growth, 2009 T. Jackson, Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet, 2009, based on a Sustainable Development Commission report with same title and date G. D’Alisa et al, De-growth: a vocabulary for a new era, 2014 R. Dietz and D. O'Neill, Enough is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources, 2013 H. Rosa and C. Henning, eds, The Good Life Beyond Growth: new perspectives, 2018 D. Pepper, Modern Environmentalism, 1996, pp 56-97, on property rights, community, capitalism, markets and technology as possible bases for sustainability The Ecologist, A Blueprint for Survival, a classic, advocates decentralization, 1972, online and on Canvas, extract in Dobson’s Green Reader EF Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, 1973, another classic, discusses the problem of production and advocates appropriate scale, green economics and appropriate technology. Extracts in Dobson’s Green Reader and Allaby Thinking Green. M. Parker et al eds, The Routledge Companion to Alternative Organization, 2014, chs 15 and 16 Diane Coyle, The Economics of Enough: How to run the economy as if the future matters, 2011 Robert and Edward Skidelsky, How Much is Enough? Money and the Good Life, 2013 R. Goodin, Green Political Theory, 1992, advocates a global approach and criticises more decentralist and lifestyle proposals R. Eckersley, Environmentalism and Political Theory, 1992, discusses what kind of political theories fit with environmentalism the best P. Saunders, Capitalism: a social audit, 1995, ch 3 argues that capitalism is the solution to environmental problems Jonathan Dawson, Ecovillages: New Frontiers for Sustainability, 2006 Paul Chatterton, Towards an Agenda for Post-carbon Cities: Lessons from Lilac, the UK’s First Ecological, Affordable Cohousing Community, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37, 5, September 2013 Christina Ergas, A Model of Sustainable Living: Collective Identity in an Urban Ecovillage, Organization and Environment, 23, 1, 2010 D. Pepper, Communes and The Green Vision: counterculture, lifestyle and the new age, 1991, study of UK green communes L. Leonard and J. Barry, (eds) The Transition to Sustainable Living and Practice, 2009, on green alternatives D. Pirages (ed) The Sustainable Society, 1977, esp chs 1, 5 and 7 M. Jacobs, The Green Economy, 1992, on the economics of sustainability S. Irvine and A. Ponton, A Green Manifesto, 1988, strong polemical assertion of radical green proposals B. Frankel, The Post-industrial Utopians, 1987, criticizes some of the more anti-statist and decentralist approaches M. Allaby, ed, Thinking Green, 1989, pp 69-78, 181-93, 231-44, collection of ecological writings R. Garner, Environmental Politics, 2000, pp 29-41, looks briefly at proposals for changed growth, technological developments and decentralization K. Sale, Mother of All: an introduction to bioregionalism, 1983 Schumacher lecture, online and on Canvas K. Sale, Dwellers in the Land: the bioregional vision, 2000 J. Porritt, Seeing Green: the politics of ecology explained, 1984, pt 3 B. Tokar, The Green Alternative: creating an ecological future, 1992, chs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 18 W. and D. Schwarz, Breaking Through: theory and practice of holistic living, 1987, esp chs 3-6 and 9-12 T. Trainer, Abandon Affluence, 1985, ch 12, advocates decentralisation and frugality and answers critics of such approaches P. Ekins, The Living Economy, 1986, Pt 1, Pt 2 chs 1 and 6, Pt 3 chs 8, 10 and 12 H. Daly, (ed) Towards a Steady State Economy, 1973, esp intro and pieces by Daly and Boulding, extract in Allaby Thinking Green Arne Naess, Ecology, Community and Lifestyle, 1989, deep green perspective Catriona Sandilands, Lesbian Separatist Communities and the Experience of Nature, Organization and Environment, 15, 2, 2002 Robert Hall, The ecovillage experience as an evidence base for national wellbeing strategies, Intellectual Economics, 9, 2015 S. Hong and H. Vicdan, Re-imagining the utopian: Transformation of a sustainable lifestyle in ecovillages, Journal of Business Research, 69, 2016 Mark Beeson, The Coming of Environmental Authoritarianism, Environmental Politics, 19, 2, 2010 Bruce Gilley, Authoritarian environmentalism and China’s response to climate change, Environmental Politics, 21, 2, 2012 T. Anderson and D. Leal, Free Market Environmentalism, 1991 http://www.perc.org/ Property and Environment Research Centre website, promotes free market environmentalism Jan Narveson, The Case for Free Market Environmentalism, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 8, 2, 1995. Tony Smith, The Case Against Free Market Environmentalism, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 8, 2, 1995. Robyn Eckersley, Free Market Environmentalism: Friend or Foe? Environmental Politics, 2, 1, 1993 Essay titles Does a sustainable society have to be a decentralised society? Can we abandon growth to achieve a green society? Is de-growth a viable approach? Is more capitalism, not less, the solution to environmental problems? Is authoritarianism the only way to solve environmental problems? Does ecology need feminism? Does a green society have to be a socialist society? Is environmentalism compatible with liberalism? Is there a social base for change to a green society? 7. Society beyond paid work Do we put too much emphasis in society on work as a form of fulfillment and a route out of poverty and for equality? Is a society based on radically reduced paid work time possible? Gorz argued that we can redistribute working time so all work but all work less. He, Marx and Keynes suggested that technology allows us to work less in paid work and have more time for creative, autonomous work of our own and social and political activities, friends and families. Some argue for a universal basic income that would allow us to escape from paid work. Are these ideas viable or desirable? How could they be achieved? What would the obstacles be? Who would support it? 19 - why should we work less? What’s the problem with work? - how would a society where we work less be possible? - what value and behavior changes would be needed for, or follow from, a society with less paid work? - through what practical means could we achieve less paid work? - does a low work society actually mean less work? - what would be the benefits of a low work society? What wider social problems would less work help us solve? - would a low work society be better for women? - how does less paid work relate to unemployment and retirement? - how practical is a society with less work? How could it be achieved? - what is a universal basic income and how would that help? Could it really work? - is less work appropriate for austerity or developing societies? - what are the obstacles to or problems of a low work society? Is it really viable? - what are right, liberal and left concerns about reductions in work? - who will support transition to a society with less paid work? Which social groups or political ideologies? * New Economics Foundation, 21 hours: Why a shorter working week can help us all to flourish in the 21st century, 2010, argues for a 21 hour working week David Spencer, The Case for Working Less, The Conversation or Pieria, 2014, good short summary of key points A. Coote and J. Franklin, (eds) Time on Our Side: why we all need a shorter working week, 2013, another NEF publication A. Gorz, Paths to Paradise: on the liberation from work, 1985 A. Gorz, A Critique of Economic Reason, 2011 A. Gorz, Reclaiming Work: beyond the age-based society, 1999 A. Gorz, Farewell to the Working Class: an essay in post-industrial socialism, 1982 K. Weeks, The Problem with Work: feminism, Marxism, antiwork politics and postwork imaginaries, 2011 N. Srnieke and A. Williams, Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World without Work, 2015 P. Lafargue, The Right to be Lazy, 1883, online and on Canvas B. Russell, In Praise of Idleness, 1935, online and on Canvas Tracey Warren, Work–life balance/imbalance: the dominance of the middle class and the neglect of the working class, British Journal of Sociology, 66, 4, 2015, class perspective on work-life issues J. Boulin et al (eds), Decent Working Time: new trends, new issues, 2006, ILO report R. and E. Skidelsky, How Much is Enough? Money and the Good Life, 2013, touches on some of the themes of this week and last week. A. Hayden, Sharing the Work, Sparing the Planet: Work Time, Consumption, and Ecology, 1999. Nancy Fraser, After the Family Wage: gender equity and the welfare state, Political Theory, 22, 4, 1994, about work and care in amore gender-equal society Kristian Nimietz, When Paternalism meets Bogus Economics: the New Economics Foundations 21 Hours Report, 2010, critique of NEF’s 21 hours report from right-wing perspective C. Berry and M. Kenny, André Gorz: Freedom, Time and Work in the Post-Industrial Economy, New Political Economy, 13, 4, 2008 20 J. Kay, Wrong to Work? Two perspectives on the abolition of work’, libcom.org, 3 Jan 2013, looks at technology and gender dimensions S. Jaffe, Opting for Free Time: Something’s missing from the work/life balance debate, inthesetimes.com, 12 August 2013, discusses less work as a feminist issue Peter Frase, Four Futures: Life After Capitalism, 2016 Jeremy Rifkin, The End of Work, 1997 On basic income: Anthony Painter and Chris Thoung, Creative Citizen, Creative State: the principled and pragmatic case for a Universal Basic Income, RSA, 2015, report from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley, Universal Basic Income: an idea whose time has come?, 2016, report from Compass pressure group More on basic income on Canvas. Essay questions We should all work less. Discuss. Would a society with less paid work, work? Is less paid work a feminist issue? Is a society with less paid work unviable? Do we need to go beyond capitalism to work less? How can we get to a society with less paid work? Who will support a society with less paid work? 8. Global Society without Borders We live in what is said to be a globalised world, where money moves across boundaries easily and culture has become more interpenetrated globally. But we put heavy restrictions on the globalisation of what must be the most important thing people. We complain if people are not allowed to leave their country, as in so-called communist countries, but put controls on people entering countries. Human rights and freedom are stressed in western countries, but the right and freedom to move does not seem to be one that is very much held to. We seem to believe that we should help our own first and have less obligations to those beyond our borders. But how problematic is migration? What would happen if we took away border controls and let people move completely freely? What are the philosophical arguments for doing this? What would be the economic, political and social consequences? What would it be like if we had an alternative global society without borders? - what kinds of alternative global society are possible? - should human rights include the freedom to move? Should migration be a right like other rights? How does migration link to other rights? - should cosmopolitan ideas of international obligations come before communitarian ideas of obligations to our own community? - what are right-wing, left and liberal arguments for open borders (or against them)? - in what way can open borders be a kind of non-racism in alternative societies? - what are the negative effects and benefits of migration? - would open borders lead to mass movements and chaos? 21 - are problems of free movement more cultural and anthropological than economic or political? - would open borders be disastrous for developing countries? - myths about migration - does migration cause the problems that people say it does? - does immigration take jobs, reduce wages and lead to a drain on welfare and public services? - are open borders feasible and desirable? - do immigration controls work? - what is the best basis on which to argue for open borders? - who in society will support open borders? - what would a global borderless society be like? * T. Hayter, Open Borders: the case against immigration controls, 2004, especially chapter 5 ‘re-open the borders’. More polemical than academic but brings together some key issues. * No-one is Illegal group, No-one is Illegal Manifesto, September 2003, noii.org.uk * Phillip Cole, The Ethics of Open Borders, 2012 lecture, political philosopher makes the ethical/philosophical issues accessible, on Canvas and also on his academia.edu site. As usual feel free to look at readings other than the main ones if you would like to. Jonathon Moses, International Migration: Globalization’s Last Frontier, 2006, argues for free international migration Philippe Legrain, Immigrants: your country needs them, 2009, argues for freer migration. Legrain has a website at philippelegrain.com Nigel Harris, Thinking the Unthinkable, The Immigration Myth Exposed, 2002, argues that migration is beneficial and should be allowed openly Class, Why Immigration is Good For All of Us, 2014, classonline.org.uk, short pamphlet of key arguments A. Pecoud and P. de Guchteneire, eds, Migration Without Borders: Essays on the Free Movement of People: An Investigation into the Free Movement of People, 2007 Open Borders website openborders.info has material making the case for (and against) open borders. P. Cole, Taking Moral Equality Seriously: Egalitarianism and Immigration Controls, Journal of International Political Theory, 81, 2, 2012, political philosopher says that if we treat all people equally then immigration controls can’t be justified. P. Cole, Towards a Right to International Movement, 2011 conference paper, on Canvas and on his academia.edu site. Says that people should have a positive right to move to have agency in the face of power. C.H. Wellman and P. Cole, Debating the Ethics of Immigration: Is There a Right to Exclude? 2011, two political philosophers debate both sides M. Huemer, Is there a Right to Immigrate? Social Theory and Practice, 36, 3, 2010, anarcho-capitalist political philosopher answers yes. M. Huemer, Citizenism and Open Borders, at openborders.info, online and on Canvas, moral case for immigration D. Miller, Immigration: the Case for Limits, in Cohen and Heath Wellman eds, Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics, 2005, political theorist argues for restrictions on migration J.H. Carens, Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders, The Review of Politics, 49, 2, 1987 22 Kieran Obermann, Can Brain Drain Justify Immigration Restrictions? Ethics, 123, 3, 2013, on brain drain effects of migration, especially in developing countries D. Kapur and J. McHale, Should a Cosmopolitan Worry about the "Brain Drain"? Ethics and International Affairs, 20, 3, 2006. Roger Nett, The Civil Right we are not Ready for: the right of free movement of people on the face of the earth, Ethics, 81, 3, 1971 Mathias Risse, Immigration, Ethics and the Capabilities Approach, UNDP 2009 S. Parekh, Beyond the ethics of admission: Stateless people, refugee camps and moral obligations, Philosophy and Social Criticism, 40, 7, 2013 T. Hayter, No Borders: The Case against Immigration Controls, Feminist Review, 73, 2003 B. Anderson et al, Editorial: why no borders?, Refuge, 26, 2 P. Sturgis et al, Ethnic diversity, segregation and the social cohesion of neighbourhoods in London, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37, 8, 2014. On diversity and community. K. Schmid et al, Neighborhood Ethnic Diversity and Trust: The Role of Intergroup Contact and Perceived Threat, Psychological Science, 25, 3, 2014. On diversity and trust. There are a lot of things on Canvas, here are some of them, but look there for others: M. Lafsky, The Case for Open Immigration: A Q&A With Philippe Legrain, freakonomics.com, October 2007 M. Clemens, A World without Borders makes Economic Sense, The Guardian, 5 September 2007 S. Bowman, Time to reject false choices and fears about immigration, New Statesman, 17 September 2012, example of pro-migration argument from the right P. Legrain, Don't believe this claptrap. Migrants are no threat to us, The Guardian, 15 January 2007 B. Powell, An Economic case for Immigration, Library of Economics and Liberty, June 7 2010 O. Neville, Six facts you need to know to have an honest debate on immigration, thebackbencher.co.uk, Nov 4 2013 IRIN, Migration Myths Debunked, irinnews.org, 21 Nov 2013. Essay Questions Should people be free to move? Would the consequences of open borders make it unviable? Are rights or equality or community or obligations the reason we should have open borders? (Or choose one or two of these bases and write an essay on that) Should we argue for open borders on philosophical or economic and social grounds? Is public opinion too anti-immigration for open borders to be possible? Why should we be against open borders? Why should we be for open borders? Should we support no borders rather than open borders? 9. Alternative Education Alternative visions of education are based on freedom and democracy in education, student-led education with the authority of the teacher diminished, and education 23 outside the school and formal institutions. A.S. Neill was the founder and head of the famous alternative school Summerhill, and there are many other alternative schools that exist. Neill was influenced by Freud and thought the school should fit around the happiness of the child. Lessons are not compulsory at Summerhill and the school is run by a school meeting of students and staff. Paulo Freire advocated a pedagogy of the oppressed based on critical consciousness, beyond a ‘banking’ concept of education to one based more on problem posing, dialogical relations and developing generative themes in education. Illich proposed deschooling society and education beyond formal institutions and the certificated. He said learning is not the same as teaching and should be about conviviality in networks. There have also been interesting experiments in developing co-operative free universities, in part in response to the marketisation of higher education. - how does Summerhill work? What is free, equal and democratic about it? - what were AS Neill's main principles and why did he believe in them? What were the aims of education for Neill? What was less important to him? - what did Neill think children are like? Where did Neill think goodness and aggression come from? - why are lessons not compulsory? How does that work? What is the structure of the day at Summerhill? - how are decisions made? How do the school meetings work? - are the pupils 'do as you like' kids? What is the place of rules at Summerhill? - what is the role of independence and dependency in Neill's approach? What did Neill see as the role of parents? - what does 'freedom not licence' mean? - what is the quality of education like? What was Neill's attitude to classroom pedagogy, education and learning? What did he think of books? What was his view of practical activities and play? - What did Neill think of intellect and feeling? What did Neill think of charismatic teaching? - What criticisms have been made of Summerhill? - are there gendered and class-divided aspects to Summerhill? - what is the 'pedagogy of the oppressed' and what's the alternative? - what’s the difference between education as banking and Freire’s approach to education? - what’s involved in problem-posing education, dialogics and generative themes in education? - what does 'deschooling society' involve? Why is Illich critical of institutional education? How does education happen beyond the school? - how does Illich see us gaining access to educational resources beyond the school? Try to read from one or two of the main readings. * A.S. Neill, Summerhill, 1960, foreword by Fromm and introduction and ch. 1 by Neill * Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1971, ch 2 and pp 87-96 (first half) of ch 3 * Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society, 1971, ch 6 on learning webs most relevant but other parts relevant too. On Illich, Freire and critical pedagogy: M. Hern, ed, Everywhere, All the Time: a new deschooling reader, 2008 24 Ivan Illich, After Deschooling, What?, 1973 Ian Lister (ed), Deschooling: a reader, 1974 J. I. Zalidvar, Revisiting the Critiques of Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Society, International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 1, 1, 2011 Ian Hart, Deschooling and the Web: Ivan Illich 30 years on, Education Media International, 38, 2-3, 2001 Rose-Bruno Jofre and J.I Zaldivar, Ivan Illich’s Late Critique of Deschooling Society’ Educational Theory, 62, 5, 2012 Dave Whittington and Alan McLean, Vocational Learning Outside Institutions: online pedagogy and deschooling, Studies in Continuing Education, 23, 2, 2001. James Blackburn, Understanding Paolo Freire, Community Development Journal, 35, 1, 2000 Lesley Bartlett, Dialogue, Knowledge, and Teacher-Student Relations: Freirean Pedagogy in Theory and Practice, Comparative Education Review, 49, 3, 2005 Wayne Au, Epistemology of the Oppressed: The Dialectics of Paulo Freire's Theory of Knowledge, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 5, 2, 2007 Andres Mejia, The Problem of Knowledge Imposition: Paulo Freire and Critical Systems Thinking, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 21, 2004 R.D. Glass, On Paulo Freire's Philosophy of Praxis and the Foundations of Liberation Education, Educational Researcher, 30, 2, 2001 Robin Barrow, Radical Education: a critique of freeschooling and deschooling, 1978. E. Reimer, School is Dead: an essay on alternatives in education, 1971J.I. Zaldivar, Deschooling for all? The thought of Ivan Illich in the era of education (and learning) for all, Foro de Education, 13, 18, 2015 D. Whittington and A. McLean, Vocational Learning Outside Institutions: Online pedagogy and deschooling, Studies in Continuing Education, 23, 2, 2001 Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner, Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich: technology, politics and the reconstruction of education, Policy Futures in Education, 5, 4, 2007 Richard Kahn, Critical Pedagogy Taking the Illich Turn, International Journal of Illich Studies, 1, 1, 2009 N. Bauer, Deschooling Society, Uncovering Illich, Kappa Delta Pi Record, 9, 1, 1972 International Journal of Illich Studies, in general R.H. Haworth, ed, Anarchist Pedagogies, 2012 P. McLaren and C. Lankshear, eds, Politics of Liberation: Paths from Freire, 1994 P. McLaren and P. Leonard, eds, Paulo Freire: a Critical Encounter, 1993 Henry Giroux, Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich, Truthout, 23 November 2010, online Henry Giroux, Pedagogy and the Politics of Hope, 1997 Peter McLaren, A Pedagogy of Possibility: Reflecting upon Paulo Freire's Politics of Education, Educational Researcher, 28, 2, 1999 Jared Gibbs, ‘For Tomorrow will worry about itself’: Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Society and the Rediscovery of Hope’, Western New England Law Review, 34, 2012 Global Education Magazine, Critical Pedagogy Against Capitalist Schooling: Towards a Socialist Alternative. An Interview with Peter McLaren, April 2013, explains how his own critical pedagogy differs from that of others S. Ledwith, Lessons in liberation: pedagogy of the oppressed, Counterfire, 30 September 2012, on Freire Radical Education Forum, Radical Education Workbook, 2010, on Canvas Alana Jelinek, Deschooling Society, Journal of Visual Culture, 11, 1, 2012 M.P. Hederman, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, The Crane Bag, 6, 2, 1982 25 David Hicks, Radical Education, in S. Ward, ed, Education Studies: A Student Guide, 2004 Henry Giroux, On Critical Pedagogy, 2011 Mike Cole, Schooling for Capitalism or Education for Twenty-First Century Socialism?, Cultural Logic: Marxist Theory & Practice, 2013 Peter McLaren, Revolutionary Pedagogy in Post-revolutionary Times, Educational Theory, 48, 4, 1998 On Summerhill and alternative schooling: Summerhill website, at summerhillschool.co.uk, includes outline of its approach and suggested further reading A.S. Darling, A. S. Neill on Democratic Authority: a lesson from Summerhill? Oxford Review of Education, 18, 1, 1992 H. Hart, ed, Summerhill: for and against, 1970, collection of commentaries on Summerhill Emmanuel Bernstein, Summerhill: A Follow-up Study of its Students, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 8, 2, 1968 Richard Bailey, A. S. Neill, 2013, on Neill’s theory. M. Vaughan et al (eds), Summerhill and A.S.Neill, 2006, includes updates by Zoe Redhead and on government inspections R. Hemmings, Fifty Years of Freedom: a study of the development of the ideas of A.S.Neill, 1972 H. Lucas, After Summerhill: what happened to the pupils of Britain’s most radical school?, 2011 Bryn Purdy, A.S. Neill: Bringing Happiness to Some Few Children, 1997, by a former Sumerhill teacher Danë Goodsman, Summerhill: theory and practice, University of East Anglia, PhD thesis, 1991, available via British Library. David Gribble, Real Education: Varieties of Freedom, 1998, on alternative schools globally. Jessica Shepherd, So, kids, anyone for double physics? (But no worries if you don't fancy it), The Guardian, 1 December 2007 Angela Neustatter, Summerhill school and the do-as-yer-like kids, The Guardian, 19 August 2011 D. Sabia, Democratic/Utopian Education, Utopian Studies, 23, 2, 2012 M. Coté et al, eds, Utopian pedagogy: radical experiments against neoliberal globalization, 2007 M. Fielding and P. Moss, Radical Education and the Common School: a democratic alternative, 2011 J. Fortune-Wood, Doing it Their Way: home-based education and autonomous learning, 2000, on home education Richard Barrett, Freedom, License and A.S. Neill, Oxford Review of Education, 7, 2, 1981 Shulasmith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex, 1970, section on Summerhill in ch. 10 D. Cooper, Opening Up Ownership: Community Belonging, Belongings, and the Productive Life of Property, Law and Social Inquiry, 32, 3, 2007, version in her book Everyday Utopias ch 7 Anne Cassebaum, Revisiting Summerhill, The Phi Delta Kappan, 84, 8, 2003 A.S. Neill, Freedom not Licence, 1978, Neill on how much freedom children should have 26 M.A.F. Wilson, Radical democratic schooling on the ground: pedagogical ideals and realities in a Sudbury school, Ethnography and Education, 10, 2, 2015 Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, online journal useful for this topic Other Education: the journal of educational alternatives, online journal On Canvas there are more resources including links on free universities. Essay Questions Outline and defend one approach to alternative education (eg Freire or Illich or Summerhill or co-operative university etc) Critically assess Neil/Freire/Illich’s approach to education. Should education be run democratically? Should education be free? Should students not teachers lead education? Should there be alternative education or no education? Can we have education without schools? Should we deschool society? 10. The Slow Society People like Carl Honoré say that the problem with modern societies is that everything’s too fast and we need to slow down and take more time for things. A slow movement has developed that encompasses slow food, slow fashion, slow science, reading and academia, the dangers of IT and social media, slow media, slow parenting, work/life balance, slow democracy and justice, and emphasises quality of life issues. One useful book is Honoré's In Praise of Slowness. Slowing down sounds nice. And going too fast sounds stressful. But what’s slow really about and when people talk about slow is slow really the problem? - what’s too fast about society? - Is fast to do with the market, or work, or the internet and social media, or personal choice? - what do people mean when they talk about slow? What does slow include? - what sort of things can you do slowly? - how can people slow down? - what conditions are needed for slow? - how equal is slow? - is slow a conservative idea? - are fast internet and social media regressive? - who can go slow? Is slow a choice? - how does slow relate to inequality? - can slow be an individual choice or is structural change needed? - is slow compatible with capitalism? - is slow about slow? - when people talk about slow, is speed really what the problem is? 27 * Carl Honoré, In Praise of Slowness: challenging the cult of speed, 2004, introduction and conclusion, but other parts too, free e-book. Advocacy of slow in a non-academic way by a slow guru. Carl Honoré, The Slow Fix, 2013, more of a practical manual on doing slow Carl Honoré, Under Pressure: Putting the Child Back In Childhood, 2009 on slow parenting Carl Honoré's website carlhonore.com includes blog posts by him on different aspects of slow Rebecca Solnit, Diary, London Review of Books, 35, 16, 29 August 2013, discusses the information society, media and fast/slow Harry R. Lewis, Slow Down: Getting more out of Harvard by doing less, letter from the Dean of Harvard College to new students, 2004, advising them to go slow, on Canvas and online D. Pels, Unhastening Science: autonomy and reflexivity in the social theory of knowledge, 2003, contribution to the slow science argument G. Andrews, The Slow Food Story: politics and pleasure, 2008 W. Parkins, Out of Time: Fast Subjects and Slow Living, Time and Society, 13, 2/3, 2004 Y. Hartman and S. Darab, A Call for Slow Scholarship: A Case Study on the Intensification of Academic Life, and Its Implications for Pedagogy, Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 34, 2012 Heather Mendick, Social Class, Gender and the Pace of Academic Life: What Kind of Solution is Slow? Forum Qualitative Social Research, 15, 3, 2014 Heather Mendick, Is Slow Academia Conservative? Celebyouth.org, 5 December 2013, questions slow F. Vostal, Should academics adopt an ethic of slowness or ninja-like productivity? In search of scholarly time, LSE Impact of Social Sciences blog, Nov 20th 2013, says the real issue is not slow but autonomy Alison Mountz et al, For Slow Scholarship: A Feminist Politics of Resistance through Collective Action in the Neoliberal University, ACME, 14, 4, 2015 L. Simonetti, The Ideology of Slow Food, Journal of European Studies, 42, 2, 2012 Slow Media Manifesto, en.slow-media.net/manifesto Eric Hsu, The slow food movement and time shortage: Beyond the dichotomy of fast or slow, Journal of Sociology, 51, 3, 2015 Sarah Pink, Urban Social Movements and Small Places: Slow Cities as sites of activism, City, 13, 4, 2009 F. Vostal, Academic life in the fast lane: The experience of time and speed in British academia, Time and Society, 2014 M. O’Neill, The Slow University: Work, Time and Well-Being, Forum Qualitative Social Research, 15, 3, 2014 J. Carter, In Praise of Slow Justice, Action Institute, December 12th 2013, identifies slow with conservative politics J. Miedema, Slow Reading, 2009 S. Heritage, Slow TV: the Norwegian movement with universal appeal, The Guardian, 4 October 2013 S. O'Reilly, Life in slow motion, The Guardian, 19 May 2008, on slow work H. Dotan, Carlo Petrini's Slow Food, A Review, October 3st 2008, Green Prophet, makes some critical points about slow food S. Clark and W. Teachout, Slow Democracy, Open Democracy, 20 November 2013 See Canvas for more. 28 Essay Questions Outline and assess slow, using selected examples. Is slow what the slow movement is really about? Is slow only a choice for the better off? Is slow too individualistic? Is slow a class issue? How can society be more slow? Two week vacation 11. Alternative Routes to Alternative Societies This week we'll look at getting 'from here to there'. This will be about how to get to an alternative society and we'll be looking at alternative ways of doing so, ie types of politics beyond conventional politics, such as occupy, protest, social movements, etc. And we'll look at them not just as routes to alternative societies but how they become types of alternative society in themselves. Holloway has said that rather than trying to overthrow capitalism via the state we should pursue alternatives in the cracks within it. Recent years have thrown up the occupy and protest movements (not least at Sussex!) which have not only taken alternative routes to alternative societies but some argue have prefigured what an alternative society could be like in their own organisation and processes. Mason talks about the global and horizontal nature of protests and the role of social media. He also discusses who the agents are behind the politics of trying to achieve alternative societies. - do we need alternative routes for getting to alternative societies? - are party politics the way to pursue alternative societies? - is politics outside parties, parliaments and the state the way to get to alternative societies? - should routes to alternative societies be localist or globalist? - do movements like occupy offer new types of politics for achieving alternative societies? - are the graduate without a future and the precariat the new agents for change to alternatives? - what is the gender balance and social composition of alternative politics? - do the internet and social media change the ways through which we can get to alternative societies? - does change to alternatives need to be revolutionary or gradual? - are alternative societies the means to change as much as the end? - are alternative politics relevant in developing countries? * P. Mason, Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere, BBC News Idle Scrawl blog, 5 February 2011 * J. Holloway, Crack capitalism: We Want to Break, Roarmag.org, December 4th 2012 P. Mason, Why it's Kicking off Everywhere: the new global revolutions, 2012 29 J. Holloway, Crack Capitalism, 2010, says change will happen in the cracks in capitalism, rather than via the state or its overthrowal J. Holloway, 12 theses on changing the world without taking power, libcom.org, December 16th, 2005. P. Mason, Why it's Still Kicking off Everywhere, New Left Project, 26 April 2013 P. Mason, Where will it kick off next, The Guardian, 27 December 2013 G. Standing, Who will be a voice for the emerging precariat?, The Guardian, 1 June 2011, theorist of the precariat looks at its political dimensions A. Lunghi et al, Occupy Everything: reflections on why it's kicking off everywhere, 2011. G. Standing, The Precariat: the new dangerous class, on the precariat, its political dimensions and the need for a basic income, 2011 Trapese Collective, Do it Youself, a handbook for changing our world, 2007 J. Holloway, Change the World without Taking Power: the meaning of revolution today, 2002 IIRE, Change the World without taking power … or … take power to change the world, pamphlet collecting articles debating about/with Holloway Alex Snowden, Crack Capitalism, John Holloway, Counterfire, critical review of Crack Capitalism, 15 July 2010 I. Cader and M. Pal, Occupy Sussex: a new wind blowing through student politics?, Anti-Capitalist Initiative, 19 February 2013 Jeffrey Weber, 'Silent Grinding, Bit by Bit': in the Occupation at the University of Sussex, interview with Maia Pal, Socialist Resistance, March 3rd 2013 G. Pleyers, Alter-Globalization: becoming actors in the global age, 2010 Donatella della Porta, Social Movements in Times of Austerity, 2015 A. Dobson, The Green Reader, 1991, section on green political strategies, discusses different possibilities, relevant beyond environmentalism A. Dobson, Green Political Thought, 2007, chapter on strategies for green change, also outlines diverse approaches that are more generally relevant to this topic As usual, see also Canvas where there are more pieces on Mason, Holloway and Occupy, etc. Essay Questions Do recent protests signal new types of social movements? Should alternative societies be pursued outside the state and within capitalism rather than via the state and against capitalism? Who are the agents for changing to alternative societies? Is Mason right that it’s kicking off everywhere? Can change to an alternative society happen in the cracks? Are the precariat the social base for a different society? Is the graduate with no future the agent for an alternative society? With new technology do movements for change no longer need leaders? Is protest politically ineffective? Week 12 Reading/essay writing week 30 Assessment Criteria 0-19 A mark in this range is indicative that the work is far below the standard required at the current level of your degree programme. It indicates that the work is extremely weak and seriously inadequate. This will be because either the work is far too short, is badly jumbled and incoherent in content, or fails to address the essay title or question asked. It will show very little evidence of knowledge or understanding of the relevant module material and may exhibit very weak writing and/or analytical skills. 20-39 A mark in this range is indicative that the work is below, but at the upper end is approaching, the standard required at the current level of your degree programme. It indicates weak work of an inadequate standard. This will be because either the work is too short, is very poorly organized, or is poorly directed at the essay title or question asked. It will show very limited knowledge or understanding of the relevant module material and display weak writing and/or analytical skills. Essay work will exhibit no clear argument, may have very weak spelling and grammar, very inadequate or absent references and/or bibliography and may contain major factual errors. Quantitative work will contain significant errors and incorrect conclusions. 40-49 A mark in this range is indicative that the work is of an acceptable standard at the current the level of your degree programme. Work of this type will show limited knowledge and understanding of relevant module material. It will show evidence of some reading and comprehension, but the essay or answer may be weakly structured, cover only a limited range of the relevant material or have a weakly developed or incomplete argument. The work will exhibit weak essay writing or analytical skills. It may be poorly-presented without properly laid out footnotes and/or a bibliography, or in the case of quantitative work, it may not be possible to follow the several steps in the logic and reasoning leading to the results obtained and the conclusions reached. 50-59 A mark in this range is indicative that the work is of a satisfactory to very satisfactory standard at the current level of your degree programme. Work of this quality will show clear knowledge and understanding of relevant module material. It will focus on the essay title or question posed and show evidence that relevant basic works of reference have been read and understood. The work will exhibit sound essay writing and/or analytical skills. It will be reasonably well structured and coherently presented. Essay work should exhibit satisfactory use of footnotes and/or a bibliography and in more quantitative work it should be possible to follow the logical steps leading to the answer obtained and the conclusions reached. Arguments and issues should be discussed and illustrated by reference to examples, but these may not fully documented or detailed. 60-69 A mark in this range is indicative of that the work is of a good to very good standard for the current level of your degree programme. Work of this quality shows a good level of knowledge and understanding of relevant module material. It will show evidence of reading a wide diversity of material and of being able to use ideas gleaned from this reading to support and develop arguments. Essay work will exhibit good writing skills with well organized, accurate footnotes and/or a bibliography that follows the accepted ‘style’ of the subject. Arguments and issues will 31 be illustrated by reference to well documented, detailed and relevant examples. There should be clear evidence of critical engagement with the objects, issues or topics being analyzed. Any quantitative work will be clearly presented, the results should be correct and any conclusions clearly and accurately expressed. 70 – 84 A mark in this range is indicative that the work is of an excellent standard for the current level of your degree programme. The work will exhibit excellent levels of knowledge and understanding comprising all the qualities of good work stated above, with additional elements of originality and flair. The work will demonstrate a range of critical reading that goes well beyond that provided on reading lists. Answers or essays will be fluently-written and include independent argument that demonstrate an awareness of the nuances and assumptions of the question or title. Essays will make excellent use of appropriate, fully referenced, detailed examples. 85 - 100 A mark in this range is indicative of outstanding work. Marks in this range will be awarded for work that exhibits all the attributes of excellent work but has very substantial elements of originality and flair. Marks at the upper end of the range will indicate that the work has the potential to be publishable. Plagiarism Be careful to avoid plagiarism. It is a type of misconduct and will be penalised, even if done accidentally. Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgement, of the intellectual work of other people, the act of representing the ideas or discoveries of another as one’s own in written work submitted for assessment. To copy sentences, phrases or even striking expressions without acknowledgement of the source (either by inadequate citation or failure to indicate verbatim quotations), is plagiarism; to paraphrase without acknowledgement is likewise plagiarism. Where such copying or paraphrasing has occurred the mere mention of the source in the bibliography shall not be deemed sufficient acknowledgement; each such instance must be referred specifically to its source. Verbatim quotations must be either in inverted commas, or indented, and directly acknowledged. See also definitions of other types of misconduct in the examinations and assessment regulations handbook. These include collusion, personation, misconduct in exams, and fabrication of results. *************** Hope you enjoyed the module! 32