Saturday, December 12, 2015

Forest Voices Choir



FOREST VOICES CHOIR
Singing ‘Line-Up’ in Forest Gate

Forest Voices Choir that Ruth Rikowski is a member of sang 3 songs for the turning on of the Christmas lights event. The lights were turned on by Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham, on 5th December 2015. Two of the songs were Christmas Carols and the other was a lovely song advocating peace throughout the world. It is called 'Line-Up' (by Helen Yeomans).

Here are the words for 'Line-Up':

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peaceable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh.

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peacable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh.

Line up, line up
Wo oh
For your place in the peacable kingdom
Yeh, yeh, yeh

Bring your songs of freedom for a brave new world

Let me hear you
Sing, sing now.

Line up!

The rich and the poor
The weak and the strong
The humble and the proud
Won't you sing out loud
The merciful of heart
The sinner and the saint
The forgiven and the wrong
Find your voice in song
No differentiation between black and white
Let the Arab man stand by the Israelite
There ain't no creed, there ain't no colour
But the blood that flow thru your sister and brother.

*Repeat lines up to 'Line Up'.

Ruth has loaded the video of the Forest Voices Choir singing 'Line-Up'  on to YouTube.
This is the first item that she has ever loaded anything on to YouTube! Hopefully, more will follow!


Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Sunday, December 6, 2015

CRISES? WHAT CRISES?



CRISES? WHAT CRISES?

Call for Papers for a Session on:
Crises? What Crises?
Society for Socialist Studies (SSS)
Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 2016
University of Calgary
May 31 – June 3, 2016

Economists aren't sure the world economy ever got over the 2008/9 crisis but already warn of new financial and sovereign debt crises. Secular stagnation has become common parlance in economic circles.
Only environmentalists, pointing at climate change, the decline of biodiversity, water shortages and concomitant desertification, paint an even gloomier picture of the state and future of the world.
Not surprisingly, political scientists register a crisis of legitimation but also various crises of representation making it difficult for the discontented to articulate their concerns and mount movements for social and ecological change.
For the most parts, the left with its tradition of seeing itself as socialist heir of capitalist crises can't capitalize on the overabundance of such crises. The crisis of the left, one might think, is even deeper than the various crises of capitalism.
·         The session "Crises? What Crises?" invites papers discussing any of the following questions:
·         Which kinds of crises is capitalism facing these days? Crises of the economy, ecology, legitimation, representation and/or hegemony?
·         Do these crises affect only subsystems of capitalism or do they add up to an organic or general crisis of capitalism?
·         Are these crises structural or conjunctural?
·         What role could the left play in overcoming capitalist crises?
·         Is the left in crisis, too? If so, what kind of crisis is that and how might it be overcome?
Session organizer:
Ingo Schmidt, ingos@athabascau.ca

Paper titles and abstracts (maximum of 100 words) should be submitted by Friday, January 29, 2016.



Work on Crisis (and Education) by Glenn Rikowski:

Rikowski, G. (2014) Crises in Education, Crises of Education, A paper prepared for the Philosophy of Education Seminars at the University of London Institute of Education 2014-15 Programme, 22nd October 2014. Available at Academia: http://www.academia.edu/8953489/Crises_in_Education_Crises_of_Education

Rikowski, G. (2015) Crises, Commodities and Education: Disruptions, Eruptions, Interruptions and Ruptions, a paper prepared for the Research in Critical Education Studies (RiCES) Seminar, School of Education, University of Lincoln, 19th November 2105 (Revised 2nd December, 2015). Available at Academia: http://www.academia.edu/18511424/Crises_Commodities_and_Education_Disruptions_Eruptions_Interruptions_and_Ruptions

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com


Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Forest Roots: Venue Change - Now at The Forest Gate Hotel!


The Forest Gate Hotel

FOREST ROOTS: VENUE CHANGE – NOW AT THE FOREST GATE HOTEL!

Change of Venue: THE FOREST GATE HOTEL (Function Room)
Change of Start Time: Now starts at 8.00pm

Dear Forest Roots Folk

Thanks to everyone who turned up last month to see the amazing Acoustica. It was a great night and a real pleasure to see so many familiar faces.
This month we welcome back The Hot Strings Review featuring Martin Wheatley on guitar and ukulele and Mike Piggott www.mikepiggott.com on fiddle. They are both incredible musicians and gave us a fantastic evening last time they were at Forest Roots. If you saw them last time you will remember Martin's mesmerizing performance of The Dambusters on the ukulele (check him out on YouTube) and Mike’s amazing jazz fiddle playing. These two are definitely not to be missed.
The Flats Family Band will be there as well as surprise guests and local performers. These include the Forest Voices Choir.
If you'd like to be one of them email us @ forestroots@googlemail.com.
So that's The Hot Strings Review at Forest Roots, The Forest Gate Hotel. Godwin Road, Forest Gate, London E7 0LW
Friday 27th November.

Starts 8.00pm sharp – due to the number of performers, Forest Roots will now start at 8.00pm!

Transport: Bus – 86, 25, 330, 58, 308; Overground – Forest Gate (TfL Rail) and Wanstead Park

Stay forever young
Jenny and Caroline
Forest Root: Country, Folk, Blues and Beyond

NOTE: Victor Rikowski will be one of the performers. Ruth Rikowski will be singing with Forest Voices.

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Crises, Commodities and Education: Disruptions, Eruptions, Interruptions and Ruptions


Dr. Glenn Rikowski

CRISES, COMMODITIES AND EDUCATION: DISRUPTIONS, ERUPTIONS, INTERRUPTIONS AND RUPTIONS

Glenn Rikowski

This is my first writing in over a year.
It is paper prepared for the ‘Research in Critical Education Studies’ (RiCES) Seminar that I will be speaking to tomorrow in the School of Education, University of Lincoln.

CONTENTS:

Introduction


PART I

1. Preliminary Investigations
Marxism, Fragility and Crisis – John Holloway
Crisis
Crisis – and Janet Roitman

2 Two Theories of Education Crisis
The Classical Theory of Education Crisis – Crises in Education
Critique of the Classical Theory of Education Crisis
The Autogenous Theory of Education Crisis


PART II

3. Social Forms, Commodities and Capitalist Education
Social Forms
Commodity Forms and Education
       
4. Crises in Labour Power Production
Primitive Socialisation
Crises of Labour-Power Production in Education As Crises for Capital

5. Crises in the Production of General Commodities in Education
Another Bundle of Commodities
Crises in the Production of General Commodities in Education

6. Interlude: Four Forms of Crisis Recognition
Disruption
Eruption
Interruption
Ruption (Rupture)
Mergation
       
7. Crises of Labour-power Production and Education (Revisited)
Disruption
Eruption
Interruption
Ruption (Rupture)

8. Crises of Production of General Commodities in Education (Revisited)
Disruption
Eruption
Interruption
Ruption (Rupture)

9. Comparative and Relative Moments
Comparative Moments
The Relative Moment

Conclusion

References


***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

Monday, November 2, 2015

Forest Roots - The Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel - 27th November


The Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel
Leytonstone
FOREST ROOTS – THE SIR ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOTEL – 27th NOVEMBER

Dear Forest Roots Folk

Thanks to everyone who turned up last month to see the amazing Acoustica. It was a great night and a real pleasure to see so many familiar faces.
This month we welcome back The Hot Strings Review featuring Martin Wheatley on guitar and ukulele and Mike Piggott www.mikepiggott.com on fiddle. They are both incredible musicians and gave us a fantastic evening last time they were at Forest Roots. If you saw them last time you will remember Martin's mesmerizing performance of The Dambusters on the ukulele (check him out on YouTube) and Mike’s amazing jazz fiddle playing. These two are definitely not to be missed.
The Flats Family Band will be there as well as surprise guests and local performers.
If you'd like to be one of them email us @ forestroots@googlemail.com.
So that's The Hot Strings Review at Forest Roots, The Sir Alfred Hitchcock, 147 Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone, London E11 1NP on Friday 27th November.
Starts 8.30pm sharp

Transport: Bus (257); underground Central Line, Leytonstone

Stay forever young
Jenny and Caroline
Forest Root: Country, Folk, Blues and Beyond


***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com


Friday, October 30, 2015

Mass Meeting: JEREMY CORBYN FOR PRIME MINISTER



MASS MEETING: JEREMY CORBYN FOR PM

Labour Representation Committee (LRC)
Waltham Forest Branch
Wednesday 25th November, 7.00pm
St. Barnabas, Foster Hall
St. Barnabas Road
Walthamstowe
London, E17 8JZ

Speakers:
John McDonnell MP – The People’s Chancellor
Matt Wrack – Fire Brigades Union, General Secretary
Maria Exall – Communication Workers Union
Steve White – National Union of Teachers
Councillor Shabana Dhedhi – Labour Party, Forest Branch


Jeremy Corbyn
***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

John McDonnell

Voter Registration in the UK



VOTER REGISTRATION IN THE UK
Don’t lose your Right to Vote!
Get on the Voters Registration by 1st December 2015!

From 1st December 2015, in the UK, all household members must register individually or face being removed from the Voters Register.

Many could be disenfranchised – make sure you are not one of them!
Anyone who has not individually registered by 1 December 2015 will be removed from the register.

Originally, the deadline was December 2016 but the Tories have brought it forward by one year. This means that potentially over one million voters could lose the chance to vote in next May's local elections. 

Until 2009, one person in each household completed the registration for every resident eligible to vote, but now all that has changed. Each person who is eligible to vote now has to do this individually.

So, make sure you do not lose your right and opportunity to vote – something that has been fought so hard for by activists in history.

Also, see the film 'Suffragette' to emphasise the point for women!

So, get online and register to vote at: http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Suffragette (film trailer, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056FI2Pq9RY and Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUKjwIaTZ4Y

Further information:


***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Friday, October 16, 2015

All Saints Chorus & Orchestra



Beethoven

ALL SAINTS CHORUS & ORCHESTRA

The All Saints Chorus and Orchestra are celebrating their 20th anniversary concert season starting this year. Formed in 1994, the Chorus is a community choir. Membership is open to all and there are no auditions. The choir have a reputation for performing concerts of the highest standard in Newham, the area in which they rehearse and perform.
They have an extensive repertoire of music ranging from the 15th century to today. Included are the great works of composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, and Verdi. The chorus enjoys a good social life outside the rehearsal room and the annual weekend away provides the perfect opportunity to rehearse, socialise and relax.
The All Saints Orchestra is a mix of seasoned professional players featuring instrumentalists from many of the major London orchestras. Together with the Chorus and our dedicated group of acclaimed soloists they give a wide audience the chance to experience great music in the historic setting of West Ham Parish Church.

Next Event: West Ham Parish Church (All Saints), Church Street, E15 3HU
Saturday 21 November 2015
7.30pm
Vaughan Williams: Towards the Unknown Region, and Antiphon: Let All the World
Beethoven: Symphony No.7
Brahms: A German Requium

Margaret Feuvoir Soprano
Stephen Alder – Bass
All Saints Chorus
All Saints Orchestra
Jon Cullen – Conductor

Tickets: Adults £17; Concessions £10. On the door or in advance – Telephone: 07513 414665

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Monday, October 5, 2015

Back to the Future: Launching the Left Book Club



BACK TO THE FUTURE: LAUNCHING THE LEFT BOOK CLUB

November 17th
Conway Hall
25 Red Lion Square
London, WC1R 4RL
7.00pm

With: Ken Livingstone, Kevin Ovenden, Natalie Bennett, Kate Osamor MP and others
Suggested donations, £5, concessions £3
To book your place email: admin@leftbookclub.com

The original Left Book Club was founded in 1936 as a means of promoting radical debate in Britain. It swiftly became a phenomenon, distributing over 2 million books and forming 1,200 reading and discussion groups across the country. It engaged in political activity, including solidarity work (e.g. with Spain), political agitation and much else. The LBC is considered a factor in the creation of the Welfare State and in Labour’s landslide election victory of 1945. It closed in 1948.

Today we face a similar crisis to that of the 1930s, with capitalism breeding inequality, suffering and violence around the world. As then, however, the global left remains mobilised and committed to the creation of a fairer society, free of the repression and austerity that has defined the modern era.

The re-launch of the Left Book Club will help us rise to the challenge posed by the global crisis. The LBC will publish four books a year covering a range of progressive traditions, perspectives and ideas focused on the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

Our aim is for these books to form the basis of a wide network of reading circles, discussion groups and other educational and cultural activities relevant to constructing the conditions for progressive social change in the interests of working people.

Jeremy Corbyn:
The relaunch of the Left Book Club is a terrific and timely idea, and will give intellectual ballast to the wave of political change sweeping Britain and beyond, encouraging informed and compassionate debate.
The work will open minds and inspire. I have a large collection of Left Book Club publications collected by my parents and me.
I support the LBC wholeheartedly.

The Left Book Club: http://www.leftbookclub.com/

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski

Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/


Friday, September 11, 2015

Crises, Commodities and Education: Disruptions,Eruptions, Interruptions and Ruptures

Glenn Rikowski

CRISES, COMMODITIES AND EDUCATION: DISRUPTIONS, ERUPTIONS, INTERRUPTIONS AND RUPTURES
Dr. Glenn Rikowski
RESEARCH IN CRITICAL EDUCATION STUDIES (RiCES) SEMINAR
RiCES @LincsCritEd
University of Lincoln
School of Education
Brayford Pool, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK
LN6 7TS
Thursday November 19th 1.30-4.00pm in room BH1201:
Dr Glenn Rikowski, Independent Scholar
Crises, Commodities and Education: Disruptions, Eruptions, Interruptions and Ruptures
ABSTRACT
After a brief analysis of the concept of crisis (drawing on the work of Roitman, 2014) and following an outline and critique of some previous work (Rikowski, 2014) – on the Classical Theory of Education Crisis (in the light of Sarup, 1982) and philosophical perspectives on education crises – Rikowski explores the notion of crisis in relation to phenomena pertaining to the social forms of capitalist education. Starting out from Marx’s analysis of the ‘two great classes of commodities’ (following Adam Smith), Rikowski charts what ‘crisis’ might mean, and could be, in terms of the two commodity forms pertaining to educational processes in capitalist society. The final part of the paper explores actual and possible empirical manifestations of these crises of the commodity form in terms of the notions of disruption, eruption, interruption and rupture. It is argued that last two of these forms of crisis pose particular problems for the continuance and development of capitalism in general and the national capital and capitalist education in particular.

Note: A paper will be produced prior to the event and posted to Academia. Meanwhile, it would be useful for those interested in coming to the seminar, or for those reading the paper on Academia, to read in advance the following paper (which is on Academia). This is because Rikowski’s paper prepared for the RiCES Seminar builds on and goes beyond this paper:

Rikowski, G. (2014) Crises in Education, Crises of Education, A paper prepared for the Philosophy of Education Seminars at UCL Institute of Education, 2014-15 Programme, 22nd October 2014, 20 Bedford Way, London, online at Academia: http://www.academia.edu/8953489/Crises_in_Education_Crises_of_Education 

For further information contact Dr. Cassie Earl at: CEarl@lincoln.ac.uk
Research in Critical Education Studies (RiCES) blog: http://criticaleducation.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 
Ruth Rikowski @ Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski
Ruth Rikowski at Serendipitous Moments: http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/



Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Ruth Rikowski @ Academia

Ruth Rikowski

RUTH RIKOWSKI @ ACADEMIA

Ruth Rikowski is now a member of Academia and a collection of her published papers and articles can now be found there.

Ruth Rikowski at Academia: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski  

Ruth Rikowski is a Visiting Lecturer in the Business School at London South Bank University, UK. She is also a Freelance Editor for Chandos Publishing, Oxford, UK.  Ruth is an Associate of the Higher Education Academy (AHEA) and a Chartered Librarian. Ruth Rikowski is the author of Globalisation, Information and Libraries (Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2005) and editor of Knowledge Management: Social, cultural and theoretical perspectives (Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2007) and Digitisation Perspectives (Sense Publishers, 2010). She has written numerous articles in journals such as Business Information Review, Policy Futures in Education, Information for Social Change and Managing Information and given many talks and presentations, focusing in particular on globalisation, knowledge management, information technology, Marxism and feminism. She is currently engaged in writing a series of novels.


The Rikowski website, ‘The Flow of Ideas’ can be found at http://www.flowideas.co.uk  and Ruth’s blog, ‘Serendipitous Moments’ is at http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.co.uk/.


Sunday, September 6, 2015

Discussion on the Education White Paper for England and Extensions of the Commodification Process in Libraries and Schools

Ruth Rikowski

DISCUSSION ON THE EDUCATION WHITE PAPER FOR ENGLAND AND EXTENSIONS OF THE COMMODIFICATION PROCESS IN LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS

This, rather long title, pertains to the only paper / article written by us (Ruth and Glenn Rikowski) jointly. It appeared in the winter 2005/06 edition of Information for Social Change, Issue 22. We were both mightily concerned with processes and policies relating to the commodification of public services at the time, with Ruth focusing on libraries and Glenn on schools in England.

Furthermore, at the time, both of us were interested in the international dimension to the commodification of public services. Specifically, we were concerned with the likely impact of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This joint interest brought us together in a practical political sense too, when we became members of Attac London in 2000 and along with others organised a conference on the commodification of state services.

Of course, these topics have gained renewed importance with the current development of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Maybe the halting of significant advances in the WTO’s GATS process since Seattle 1999 in some way precipitated this development.

It is a shame that we have not written more together, and this is something that we aim to rectify in the future.

Meanwhile, this ‘Discussion’ piece can now be found at Academia:


For Ruth, it is at:

Glenn Rikowski’s papers and articles at Academia can be viewed at: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Ruth Rikowski’s papers and articles at Academia can be viewed at: http://lsbu.academia.edu/RuthRikowski


Ruth and Glenn Rikowski
London

September 2015

Monday, August 17, 2015

ASHBRITTLE

ASHBRITTLE
Ruth Rikowski traces her Vickery family roots in her latest blog, ‘Ashbrittle’.
We visited Ashbrittle, Somerset, on Friday 17th July 2015. This is where Ruth’s great grandfather – Charles Palmer Vickery – was born, in 1853. Ruth gives a detailed account of our visit and the aftermath
Ruth’s blog includes pictures of me (Glenn) and herself and of course many pictures of Ashbrittle itself – with a blog commentary.

***END***
‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Marx, Capital, and Education: Towards a Critical Pedagogy of Becoming


MARX, CAPITAL, AND EDUCATION: TOWARDS A CRITICAL PEDAGOGY OF BECOMING
A new book by Curry Stephenson Malott and Derek R. Ford
Published by Peter Lang: New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2015. XX, 165 pp.
Education and Struggle: Narrative, Dialogue and the Political Production of Meaning. Vol. 5
General Editors: Michael Peters and Peter McLaren
Print: ISBN 978-1-4331-3111-0 pb. (Softcover)
Print: ISBN 978-1-4331-3112-7 hb. (Hardcover)
eBook: ISBN 978-1-4539-1602-5

Outline
With the contradictions of capitalism heightening and intensifying, and with new social movements spreading across the globe, revolutionary transformation is once again on the agenda. For radicals, the most pressing question is: How can we transform ourselves and our world into something else, something just? In Marx, Capital, and Education, Curry Stephenson Malott and Derek R. Ford develop a «critical pedagogy of becoming» that is concerned with precisely this question. The authors boldly investigate the movement toward communism and the essential role that critical pedagogy can play in this transition. Performing a novel and educational reading of Karl Marx and radical theorists and activists, Malott and Ford present a critical understanding of the past and present, of the underlying logics and (often opaque) forces that determine the world-historical moment. Yet Malott and Ford are equally concerned with examining the specific ways in which we can teach, learn, study, and struggle ourselves beyond capitalism; how we can ultimately overthrow the existing order and institute a new mode of production and set of social relations. This incisive and timely book, penned by two militant teachers, organizers, and academics, reconfigures pedagogy and politics.
Educators and organizers alike will find that it provides new ammunition in the struggle for the world that we deserve.

Contents
Contents: Becoming through Negation: Revisiting Marx’s Humanism – From Revolution to Counterrevolution and Back Again? The Global Class War and Becoming Communist – Becoming Communist in the Global Class War: Centering the Critique of the Gotha Programme – The «Cynical Recklessness» of Capital: Machinery, Becoming, and Revolutionary Marxist Social Studies Education – Teaching Ferguson, Teaching Capital: Slavery and the «Terrorist Energy» of Capital – Connecting «Economic Bondage« to «Personified Capital»: Another Step toward a Critical Pedagogy of Becoming.

About the Authors
Curry Stephenson Malott (PhD in curriculum and instruction, New Mexico State University) is Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations in the Department of Professional and Secondary Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Malott is a regular contributor to the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies.
Derek R. Ford’s (PhD candidate in cultural foundations of education, Syracuse University) professional writing has appeared in Educational Philosophy and Theory; Critical Studies in Education; Policy Futures in Education; and Studies in Philosophy and Education. He currently teaches in the Social Justice Studies Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Praise for Marx, Capital, and Education
“In Marx, Capital, and Education, Malott and Ford advance one of the boldest and [most] unmitigated analyses of education in the history of the field. Their unflinching and scholarly critique of the relationship between capitalism and compulsory education helps to reground the field of critical pedagogy, framing a renewed ‘revolutionary Marxist pedagogy.’ Their careful undertaking of Marx and contemporary scholars of Marx situate this text as a must-read across multiple disciplines including philosophy, political science, government, and education – a true classic in the making.” (Sandy Grande, Associate Professor and Chair, Education Department, Connecticut College)
“This is an essential text for all of those interested in the continuing potential of Marxism as an analytic tool and as a political movement, with implications for critical pedagogy and a truly liberatory education. It traces the history of the use of Marxist theory in education in ways that are insightful, and it provides a key set of categories for reading and using Marx in a ‘postmodern’ age. A rare achievement in educational scholarship.” (Dennis Carlson, Full Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University)
“This book boldly interrogates the internal contradictions of capital with the aim of galvanizing a critical pedagogy of becoming, a pedagogy capable of providing the conceptual and analytic resources necessary to locate and pry open spaces in education from which to push those contradictions to their breaking point so as to transform capitalism into communism. The authors patiently explain the dialectical logic of capital’s internal contradictions that incline capital towards self-negation, paying particular attention to capital’s compulsive quest for surplus value; they deepen this explanation with an exploration of Marx’s appropriation of dialectics from Hegel. Setting these explanations in motion and keeping capital’s thirst for surplus value firmly in view, Malott and Ford confront and intervene in some of the main debates related to education under capital, including the relation between educational labor and the reproduction of capitalist social relations, and the relation between race and class. This book propels forward the revolutionary struggle for liberation from class society.” (Deborah P. Kelsh, Professor of Teacher Education, The College of Saint Rose)
“Malott and Ford point to the horizon of possibilities that open up when Marx is put back into Marxism. Their bold advocacy of critical pedagogy as a self-conscious movement towards communism is a welcome antidote to the bourgeois fluff that has come to pass as ‘critical’ in education for too long. Marx, Capital, and Education is written by revolutionary educators for revolutionary educators.” (Grant Banfield, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law, Flinders University, South Australia)
“Malott and Ford present a rigorous theoretical framework grounded in the actual practice of communist movement(s). Their approach to educational pedagogy is a must-read for anyone with a radical consciousness seriously concerned with not just interpreting, but changing the world.” (Eugene Puryear, author of Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America; Organizer with the ANSWER Coalition)
“Malott and Ford in this exceptional work place capitalism ‘squarely within the crosshairs.’ Vague talk concerning issues of social justice is replaced with concrete explorations of our present historical moment within the horizon of communism and educators’ place in moving toward that horizon within a process of a critical pedagogy of becoming. This book will move critical thinkers toward the horizon. It is about time.” (William M. Reynolds, Associate Professor of Curriculum, Foundations, andReading, Georgia Southern University)
“Twenty-five years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, world ‘leaders’ continue to directly and indirectly promote anticommunist disinformation and propaganda. Today one is casually and smugly dismissed as passé or out of touch if they are still ‘gullible’ enough to fight for communism. Opposing this relentless capital-centered offensive which depoliticizes people and intensifies anticonsciousness, Malott and Ford have boldly put communism on the agenda. With courage, conviction, and serious analysis they show how and why existing political-economic arrangements can and must be replaced by a human-centered society and economic system, a world free of exploitation, alienated relations, and the division between mental and manual labor. To this end, the authors skillfully sketch the organic connections between critical pedagogy, transformation, and Marxist and Hegelian dialectics in order to advance ‘a pedagogy of becoming.’ Here the future lies within the present and negation is affirmation. But Malott and Ford remind us at every turn that this does not mean that phenomena unfold deterministically.” (Shawgi Tell, Associate Professor of Education, Department of Social and Psychological Foundations of Education, Nazareth College)
“This book is a weapon to be used not merely against capital, but in the revolutionary struggle to overthrow capitalism and realize a communist future that enables the becoming of humanity. In an era in which Marxist educational theorizing is making a comeback, Malott and Ford represent the best of a new generation of revolutionary thinkers who do not settle for merely interesting academic inquiry, but rather illustrate how deep intellectual inquiry can inform answers to questions about how we can teach, learn, and take action in the construction of a proletarian offensive in the global class war. Malott and Ford unapologetically embrace the goal of creating a new set of social relations that enable the absolute movement of becoming, that is communism. They put capitalism in the crosshairs and refuse to take cover under the empty shells that democracy, social justice, or domesticated critical pedagogy have become. Instead they return to Marx, offering crystal clear theoretical and practical responses to questions at the heart of conversations about how we can create not only new pedagogies, but a new world, free from the scourge of capitalism.” (E. Wayne Ross, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia)
“This is a hugely important and impressive book by…two increasingly influential revolutionary Marxist theorists/activists. They assert and closely argue that ‘in order for education to contribute to the generation of a counterpower it has to place capital squarely in its crosshairs.’ They open up the field of possibilities for revolutionary education, enabling the imagination of ‘a world without the exploitation and oppression that characterizes capital.’ This book is hard-hitting and uncompromising. It is scholarly. It is activist. It is a remarkable addition to contemporary critical education and Marxist theory.” (Dave Hill, Professor of Education Research, Anglia Ruskin University, England; Chief Editor of the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies; Co-founder and Co-organizer of the annual International Conference on Critical Education).
Derek R. Ford
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‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs
Posted here by Glenn Rikowski
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 

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Curry Malott