Response to my sister

My sister just sent me this message:


An interesting article by Paul Gray in the Australian today. I like his point about the need for grounding in metaphysical and historical awareness to interpret the signs of the times.


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My response:

Dear L,

Whilst i agree that middle class intellectual culture is somewhat empty, I don't believe that the ABC has much bias in that way, and if anything, is an antidote to that. (Think Geraldine Doogue and Father Bob, and the excellent content on Radio National).

I think it is dangerous to be passive or to endorse the agenda by Howard and News Limited etc to water down the critical content of our media. I think the most important programs that the ABC airs are those that encourage thought outside the box, especially those programs that expose Australian government policy, when it is causing injustice.

There is a strong tradition within journalism, especially investigative journalism, to side with the underdog and to encourage empathy within the general public for the cause of oppressed people. Think about the journalists who were murdered in East Timor, for their heroic work in alerting the Australian people to the injustices of the Indonesian military, that Australia was complicit in, by training soldiers and giving political support to Indonesia and to the US.

If there is no critical thinking in this area, where will it be?

-In the history lessons? Oh no- that's a 'black armband view of history'.

-In English lessons? Oh no - that's the 'postmodern menace'.

-Through universities and student protests? Oh no- student organisations have lost most of their funding, because they use
student funds to campaign against government policy, and pull down fences at Woomera Detention Centre.

-In Non-Government Organisations such as Greenpeace? Oh no- due to recent legislation, they get their 'charity status' revoked if they are 'political' and disagree with the government.

-In other media outlets? Oh no the cross media ownership laws will further concentrate Australia's media ownership (it is already the most concentrated in the world). See Friends of the ABC submission to the cross media ownership Inquiry.

If you don't usually notice the agenda by Howard and Co to remove the critical infrastructure of Australian society, then you will not understand the urgency with which I approach life, and the grave responsibility of our generation to take action.

Can we win against global warming if we have an uncritical media like FOX/ Murdoch that is favourable to the agendas of oil companies?

Can we free the refugees from indefinite detention on Lombok, Manus Island, Christmas Island, etc when our ABC is silenced?

Can we revoke the Work Choices legislation if the media is a cheerleader for it?

x,
A.

Spectator culture and the internet

I think we all need to give up our addictions to the internet.

Until around eight years ago, I successfully resisted all aspects of 'spectator culture': I never watched TV (and campaigned against my siblings watching TV); I rarely went to sports games or theatre: I prefered to spend my time participating rather than watching. The internet has changed this.

The internet is 'interactive' to a small degree, however I believe it is overwhelmingly passive.

Since I gained my first hotmail address in 1998, I have been glued to the computer screen. Early on, I subscribed myself to email lists that sent voluminous tracts of mail to my slow computer, occupying me sometimes for eight hours at a time. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator List was the worst, sending many threads exploring idiosyncratic commonalities between us INFP's, spread across continents and mainly in North America. Since then, being on many different activist lists has sometimes felt like I was taking action, when in reality I wasn't doing much.

In its most recent issue, The Ecologist explores this phenomenon, describing the gadgets that surround us as "Electric Cabaret", allowing easy access for marketers to make their presence known in our spare time, and enabling us to take refuge from the problems of everyday life. The author writes of the role of Cabaret in Weimar Germany, when 'Cabarets provided refuge from social ills fomenting in the streets, at home and at work, where the bourgeoisie could escape the apocalyptic horsemen on the horizon.'

Such is the state of denial in our world today. (to be continued)

A PALESTINIAN VIEW OF JIMMY CARTER'S BOOK
Ali Abunimah, The Wall Street Journal, 26 December 2006

here (electronic intifada)


Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and
author of "One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the
Israeli-Palestinian Impasse" (Metropolitan Books, 2006).

George Monbiot and air travel

In response to the vicious comments slamming George Monbiot for his air travel:

In these times, the cynical couch commentator has arisen to claim his place as the premier judge of right and wrong.

HYPOCRITE!!! is his gleeful cry, slamming yet another person who advocates principles and holds people accountable to them.

Such people take great pleasure in trampling 'tall poppies', especially those who state inconvenient facts, making people uncomfortable.

Yet a hypocrite is hardly the worst thing you can be.

If you dare to have ANY principles in this world, you are a hypocrite, since as citizens, we are all complicit through our insufficient action, in massive, unprecedented injustice.

(hence, the equation goes, you should not publicly advocate any principles if you don't want to be a hypocrite).

Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm for 20 years

From The Guardian::

Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday December 8, 2006
The Guardian

A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years while investigating cancer risks in the industry, the Guardian can reveal.

Sir Richard Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist who established that smoking causes lung cancer, was receiving a consultancy fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from Monsanto, then a major chemical company and now better known for its GM crops business.

While he was being paid by Monsanto, Sir Richard wrote to a royal Australian commission investigating the potential cancer-causing properties of Agent Orange, made by Monsanto and used by the US in the Vietnam war. Sir Richard said there was no evidence that the chemical caused cancer.
continued....

zinc mine

.

So, are we trading the Rainbow Serpent Dreaming for sunscreen?

Well, a zinc mine to be more specific...

Seems so, in relation to the expansion of the McArthur River zinc and lead mine in the NT, operated by Xstrata, one of the biggest mining companies in the world, based in Switzerland.

My task at the moment, is to tell the story of the Traditional Owners and to motivate you to act to stop such environmentally preposterous decisions.

The mine violates the Traditional Owners wishes, destroying sites and ecosystems that are sacred. The Native title situation is as follows:

While Traditional Owners have a Native Title claim over the mine site, they still have no formal veto rights over the new project. On meeting with many of the traditional owners in Borroloola it was clear that there were many concerns about the possible impacts of the project. In 2003, Harry Lansen, a senior traditional owner for the mine site opposed the expansion on ABC television's Stateline program saying "It is no good. I will be sick if they cut the place, because my spirit is there. All my songs are across the river.I don't want to see that thing happen in the McArthur River." (Environment Centre Northern Territory website).

Here is a picture of locals who travelled 1000 km to Darwin, to take their protest to NT's parliament:

.

.

And here is a map showing where the site is in relation to Darwin:

I remember looking at that region on Google Earth last year (when i was overseas), and marvelling at the beautiful winding rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria- you should look!!.

As the open-cut pit will be located at the current site of the river bed, there are big problems for the functioning of the watercourse. Here is a diagram of the proposed location of the mine:

One of the reasons why this crazy expansion decision was approved, was that John Howard put pressure on Claire Martin (the NT chief minister) in a letter that was leaked to Lateline (I think- i need to find more about this).

So, go to the Environment Centre NT's website, and take action, OR if there is an Xstrata office near you, take your complaints directly to them.

from Joseph Toscano, whose Anarchist Age is sometimes interesting:


STOP PRESS

OVERFISHED

It is hard to believe that Australian fisheries are in danger of
being wiped out. How can a country with the third largest
fishing zone in the world, covering nearly 9 million square
kilometres, extending 200 kilometres from the coastline, find
itself in such a parlous situation? Australia has currently
allocated 1200 commercial fishing licenses. They catch about
72,000 tonnes of fish a year to generate a $500 million income.
Things have become so bad, commercial fishing licenses will be
decreased from 1,200 to 600 during the next 12 moths, through
license buy back schemes that will cost about $150 million.

It seems that both Federal and State governments have taken
little notice of the lessons of the past. Within a decade of
the beginning of white colonisation, Australia's abundant seal
supplies disappeared. Commercial whaling had the same effect on
the country's whaling stock. The problem is not just a local
problem; it is a world wide problem. The world's fisheries
have come under sustained attack from commercial interests over
the past few decades. Larger ships that are able to stay out
longer and refrigerate larger catches have depleted the world's
fisheries stocks.

The tragedy about the coastal fishing industry is that the
situation has arisen because governments have done little to
ensure that fishing stocks are rested. Resting coastal
fisheries and allowing the fish to breed, can overcome the
severe pressure many find themselves in today. Like any
renewable resource, management is the key to maintaining
adequate supplies of fish. Water, the forests and now
fisheries find themselves in this situation because State
governments have over allocated licenses, believing there is no
tomorrow.

The fate of the country's fisheries in an indictment on an
economic system that forces people to stay in jobs that do
damage to the environment because their livelihood is tied up
in that industry. It makes little sense to continue to pursue
economic initiatives that have caused so much irreparable damage
in such a short time.



Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers For A Self-Managed Society.

I've been thinking about middle-class angst, what makes it middle class, whether it is socially useful, etc.

I was talking to Rachel (i forget her last name) today in the food coop about how 'existential crisis' is a sign of privilege, of the fact that you actually have options with your life (rather than working class people who feel like they don't have many options.

Also, i notice how many privileged people have 'issues'.


Middle Class Angst/ existential crisis:

WHAT IS IT RELATED TO?
lack of social solidarity, competitive environments, urban alienation, productive alienation (cannot see tangible results from work), overwork, underwork, narcissism, 'the figure of the artist', peer groups, high expectations, a lack of 'meaning', a lack of a narrative structure (such as a struggle for survival) giving order to ones' life, the inability to express freedom in meaningful ways.


anyways- something to think about...

Here is a short film on You Tube about the Anvil Hill campaign to stop an open cut coal mine near Wybong in the Upper Hunter Valley.

Christine Phelps, an amazing community advocate, is featured in the film. I was lucky enough to meet her and interview her for my thesis- she spoke to me about the efforts she has made over the years to try to keep coal companies accountable to local people.

Also, today, Kevin Rudd was elected as leader of the opposition. I'm actually really excited about this. He recently gave an excellent speech critiquing Hayek's neoliberal ideas at that bastion of neoliberal thought, the Centre for Independent Studies.

My grandma (my mum's mum) died this morning. We just got back from the Nursing home, where we said a few decades of the Rosary (Hail Marys) around the bed. She was clutching her wooden rosary beads. It was also my parents' 35th wedding anniversary, and my youngest brother (John)'s birthday.

G20

I actually missed the G20 protests, but came to the Melbourne Social Forum.

By the time i got to melbourne by the slow train on Saturday night, (i had missed my plane due to a slow trackwork train the day before), i got there in time to greet everyone hanging out and dancing to music outside the parliament on Spring Street.

Tired faces, who had obviously been through euphoria and trauma in the day, greeted me.

The next day, media outcry and repetition of a few images of cracked police windscreens prevailed. Some guy from Monash, was able to fit the (now prevalent) media archetype of a crazed protester, to become the face of the protest.

Again The Age, Australia's most reputable newspaper, and the Herald Sun stooped to the low levels of claiming that protesters threw urine at police. Same lie that they told six years ago. Their only source was treasurer Peter Costello. -just goes to show how newspapers bend the truth a lot when they feel they have to.

There is a good discussion on Melbourne Indymedia about the G20 protest, and the media representation of it.

And for the record, I have a real problem with the arrogance of the arterial bloc callout that said:

'We have no time for violent macho fantasy or delusions about Ghandi (sic).

It goes on. The problem i have with it is that i am not convinced that there were not violent macho fantasies at play. I think the idolisation of the Italian tutti bianchi can be problematic if their tactics are transplanted to an entirely different context, in which they are not understood by others. In this case, the images are received as threatening by everyone except those who understand the leftist subcultural allusion. Protesters in this way were able to dehumanise themselves: the media did not have to make any effort to do this, this time around (in contrast to the protests at the World Economic Forum in 2000.

In addition, in relation to Gandhi, I actually think the far left has just as many delusions about Gandhi as liberals who idolise him. In general, I think both are problematic. Gandhi is poorly understood, and it would do us much good (in terms of strategy) if we understood Nonviolence (Ahisma) and the Truth-Force (Satyagraha) better.

Whilst the far left in general interprets Nonviolence as a moralistic discourse, the Environment movements throughout Australia, understand nonviolence in more practical terms, and I think we have a lot to learn from them.

Organising for social change: non-authoritarian institutions

Currently, I'm really interested in institutions, and how they facilitate participation and engagement with the world.

There is a problematic history of coercive, authoritarian and inadequate approaches to activist and citizen learning and political practice in Sydney, that is ingrained in many of our activist cultures.

You cannot really point the finger and make accusations, because it is actually very difficult to overcome the authoritarian cultural obstacles to useful and liberatory activism. There is a fine line between having an efficient operation, and excluding members from decisionmaking.

How can we distinguish non-authoritarian methodology? This question is connected to educational methodology, which is key in social change. Paulo Freire's analysis of the 'banking method of education' (oppressive) versus the 'problem-posing method of education' (liberatory) is relevant in this regard.

When I read pamphlets, or any textual artifact of the Left in Sydney, I often sense that the writer is coming from a rigid position, seeking to 'politicise' me, or 'implant knowledge' into me, rather than to enter into dialogue about the world together. Funnily enough, I notice a very different, more open-minded and reflective/reflexive writing style in Melbourne. (sorry i'll have to find examples- just give me some time- i'll update this post)

Politics in Sydney can be divided thus:

Authoritarian:
Most parts of the Liberal party, most parts of the Labor Party (including the former DLP), Marxist-Leninist groups, Stalinist groups (ex CPA groups), some Anarchist groups that have insular 'in group' tendencies, some top-down environmental groups, many NGO's, most unions.

Non-Authoritarian:
Most environmental groups, The Greens, small parts of the Labor and Liberal Parties, Aid/Watch, Medecins Sans Frontieres, some unions, some Anarchist groups.

Usually, to overcome an authoritarian culture requires that a support network is strong, and that it promotes a different, more inclusive culture than the mainstream.

The most famous social movements in Sydney: BUGAUP, Aboriginal reconciliation, and The Green Bans, were all non-authoritarian.

Unfortunately, non- authoritarianism is the best descriptor of these groups (rather than a positive descriptor such as left 'libertarian' or 'democratic') because they were usually unable to articulate a positive pro-active program for democratic social transformation.

When groups overcome authoritarianism, they are more likely to be successful, since a less coercive attitude encourages participants to realise their creative potentials. Yet overcoming authoritarianism is hard. It requires sharp analysis and good group process/ facilitation, that recognises the impact of inequality. Our society is inherently hierarchical, and different people have different levels of privilege, exerting power over others easily when they are stereotypically 'normal' people (ie anglo macho males). Yet the particular type of authoritarianism that Sydney-based activism suffocates from is particularly bad, because it promotes political relationships that derail EVEN those initiatives that ordinary people without any activist expertise can initiate. There are so many examples of keen, open-minded people with much organiser potential who I have seen ultimately turned away by the antics of the Sydney Left.

The collapse of the Sydney Walk Against the War Coalition is a prominent example of this.

This is related to our track record with coalitions. Last week, I sat in on the development of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition in Melbourne. I've been reflecting on coalitions in Australia. I actually think we suffer from a 'coalition deficiency'. There are very few examples of successful coalitions operating in Australia. Our political culture is affected by this.

Anyway. I remembered that many organisations in North America (even GRASPE McGill, which was a collective of students) begin from the assumption that they are coalitions, that must be bridges of difference, and hence begin by coming to consensus on principles of unity. We neglect this step. We assume that members are broadly 'left', and hence the basis of unity does not need to be explicit. I think this is a problem. In other words, in addition to the predominant representation of coalitions as platforms of unity, I believe that the most important aspect of coalitions is their ability to create political space for difference.

Journalistic commentary on political methodology?

Journalistic commentary on political methodology is sparse, and is usually limited to the ways that politicians market themselves to the populace. The predominant commentaries on politics in the Australian press and literature neglect activists as political agents. There are very few recent books or articles on the methodologies of the 'left' in Australia.

Apart from Amanda Lohrey's essay on the rise of the Greens in Australian politics (and even then, as far as I can remember, her analysis focuses on the parliamentary sphere, and the attempt to gain a majority, as the single type of political subjectivity that can be attained in politics).

Actually, I think the best book on political methodology in Australia is Meredith and Verity Burgmann's Green Bans, Red Union.

A few months ago, upon attending the launch of the magazine 'New Matilda', I expressed my frustration thus:

I think they (along with most australians) are a bit 'liberal' and politically naive, in that they believe that by launching an extensive policy platform in time for the federal election, they can change Australian politics, without the help of social movements (I see social movements as an enforcement mechanism). Yet there needs to be some discussion on the HOW (ie methodology- theories of social change) as well as the WHAT (policy debate... ) This is what I really like about many US-based left publications, in that they understand movement building and popular education. At the moment, the main political
agents in the current world view of New Matilda are the politicians and the policy writers, the politicians listen to the policy writers if they frame their ideas in the right way... a bit simplistic me thinks...

There is a worthy research project to be undertaken (maybe by me) to understand what methods of organising enabled mass-participatory social movements in australia despite prevailing authoritarian approaches to politics.


a.

ash

i've been away from (my sharehouse) home for over a week, so when i return, a fine dust of ash from the bushfires covers the bed. Ash is also in the tap water. Last night, the sliver of moon was red. it was beautiful.

Tonight i went to a local community group meeting on global warming. Mark Diesendorf was there, answering questions about the best forms of sustainable energy for NSW, which include biomass (from sugar and wheat crops), wind, hot dry rock geothermal, solar hot water systems. In the next few years, solar PhotoVoltaic panels will become more cost effective.

Australia- the country of lost children

My mum just took me and my sister Claire to coffee at this cute place at greenwich. it has some excellent second hand books there, and i always find myself discovering many gems - there are often books about iconography and symbolism in western and other cultures.

In this case, i found a very interesting book by Peter Pierce, called "The Country of Lost Children: an Australian Anxiety". I have only read about 15 pages, but so far i find it fascinating.

The stages of colonial anxiety are reflected in this motif in Australian art and literature. Early examples include Fredrick McCubbin's images of the lost child, and Picnic at Hanging Rock. These reflect the relationship between colonialists and the land, in particular, land tenure, and an anxiety about entitlement to the land. More modern examples in Australian popular culture include the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain.

The Stolen Generations are the corrollary of this. The dispossession of indigenous children in this way was the main vector of cultural destruction of Aboriginal nations in the 20th Century.

What I find interesting is the way that this motif continues to be played out, now with the unresolved disappearance of the toddler from an immigrant Muslim family in Campbelltown through the window/ flyscreen of her own home several months ago.

(and on that point - yesterday there was a 'peace train' from Bankstown to Cronulla organised by their local youth councils to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the racially-oriented disturbances there- I want to find out how it went!)

At the moment I am really excited to be reading books. I haven't been able to do this unhindered for a long long time. I finished George Monbiot's Heat a few days ago, and fully recommend it to everyone. I am hoping to read it over again, this time extracting useful information we can use in our campaigns to avert global warming.

Major General Jim Molan, from the Australian Army:

"Everyone else with troops in Iraq is making money. The Poles, the Ukranians, the Brits, the Dutch. Everyone except Australia. It's time we turned that around." - July 2006

Last night I went to an excellent information session about Australia's role in Iraq. I learnt more not only about the AWB (Australian Wheat Board) Scandal, but more broadly, about the role of Australian bureaucrats in the Iraqi Provisional Authority.

Molan is also the person who directed the military operation in Falluja, which was extremely brutal.

Redback spider

this was in our backyard...

Is this the image of hope for the Australian quarry economy?

This image was in a special coal promotion section of The Australian earlier this year, with the headline "hope of sustained growth" or something like that. This is slightly ironic, seeing that Australia's dependence on coal (our electricity is 90% coal powered), and our rapidly expanding coal exports represent our biggest contributions to climate change (and hence are the opposite of hope). The promotional images of mining always seem to be silhouettes against magnificent sunsets (created through all the particulates from the coal dust, that create so many health problems for locals).

What is hopeful is the growing movement to overcome coal dependency throughout the Hunter Region and beyond, most visible in the campaign to save Anvil Hill from an open-cut coal mine. The most recent indication of this is the vote by Newcastle City Council to oppose coal mining (or something along those lines). The locals involved in this campaign are so energetic and inspiring!!!

Dennis Shanahan, the political editor of The Australian has called anti-coal mine campaigners 'green jihadists', whilst harping on about the 'jobs versus the environment' false dichotomy ("Green jihad a disastrous idea", 10/11/06). This is despite the fact that his boss, Rupert Murdoch, has changed his position on climate change, seeing it as an important issue to confront.

emissions

The question of this era is:

"In what way can my energy best be spent over the next ten years in order to avoid global warming?"

Can I dedicate my life over the next ten years to averting this disaster?

We need to place all our human and economic resources at our disposal to this, and we need to do it justly, so those most affected have a prominent voice in it all.

This could be by campaigning for just transition out of coal dependence for affected communities; consulting to organisations to reduce their emissions, by setting up local taskforces to reduce emissions; by fundraising for local schools to get solar panels; by setting up solar cooperatives, by encouraging community supported agriculture.
Some ideas are here (Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle), or here (US Climate Emergency Council).

Or, can I devote a large chunk of my salary to supporting another person who has made this life choice?

Can I convince another person to devote their salaries to supporting such action?



I've been subscribed to Forests.org email lists since i was in high school. Occasionally there is something useful (whilst other times i disagree with it). Here is one useful post :

November 11, 2006
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Climate Ark

The journal Nature reports "Global carbon emissions are now
growing by 3.2% a year... That's four times higher than the
average annual growth of 0.8% from 1990-99... We are not on any
of the stabilization paths." We are well beyond
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections of
the emissions levels needed to prevent damaging climate change.
International negotiations are lagging. China currently
contributes some 16% to global emissions, but accounts for 40%
of the growth in world emissions. What in the hell is going on
here? Clearly humanity as a whole must start acting soon -- it's
urgent. It's beyond urgent. It is life threatening. The greatest
test of humanity ever. Without immediately placing all
intellectual, financial and societal resources at the disposal
of those studying climate change science, developing sufficient
policy responses, and those advocating for the necessary social
change; the Earth is going to burn. All countries must in
earnest participate in negotiations to set mandatory carbon
emission caps for each nation based upon many factors including
each country's wealth, past emissions, and potential to grow
uncontrollably. We need to start yesterday, and the U.S. and
Australia must end their criminal defense of fossil fuels.
g.b.

more: click here

************

Speech on economic democracy

I just uploaded a speech i gave at Students of Sustainability at Monash University, about economic democracy last year, if you are interested.

I had been trying to compress .wav files like this (from a digital dictaphone) for a long time into .mp3 format, and then downloaded a program and figured out how to do it. So here it is.

The geographies of conquest

Here is an excellent flash animation of empires in the Middle East throughout History.

It really surprised me to see how many empires have conquered the middle east from 3000 BCE to 2000 CE.

the usefulness of alarmism?

This picture is from the blog "Its Getting Hot in Here".


When I was in North America, I noticed that among climate activists in the US and Canada, the story of emergency (and impending doom) is more prominent than in Australia, (the doom bit being most prominent in Canada).

However, my friend Kristin (Super climate campaigner from the US) emphasises the importance of POSITIVE, happy stories.

Negative stories are only empowering if they are combined with awareness of how grassroots social change has occurred in the past, and drawing from that, a tangible, believable plan to take action (and to win).

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK has just released a report cautioning against alarmist language, arguing that such language moves the attitude of the public from apathy to despair, without stopping halfway (at action), as Al Gore says. If you want to read the report, you can download it here. They argue that in order to implement the Precautionary Principle effectively requires a calm and rational attitude to the challange of global warming. I think my dad would agree with this. The medical/ pharmaceutical professions, which have implemented the precautionary principle extensively in relation to clinical trials etc perhaps are good models to follow.

-------

On the other hand, here is an email from the Chesapeake (North Eastern US) Climate Action Network, an email list that i am still on. It raises an interesting point- that environmentalists and scientists have spoken of ecological disaster with an attitude of calmness that does not match the urgency of the need for change.

This, for me, suggests something about human communication in general- the importance of body language, and the way that our messages are embodied in a holistic way in the way we speak with other people, (something that Husserl's phenomenological theories taught me).


Grist: If Global Warming Is An “Emergency” Then Let’s Act
Like It’s An Emergency

Why I Helped Occupy the Entrance to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

By Mike Tidwell

uni

okay. now that i'm finished seven years of sydney uni, (i finished last thursday with my final presentation!) i can summarise all my favourite courses and recommend a few lecturers.

FAVOURITE COURSES
1. 3rd year philosophy: Kant (Jane Johnson- a lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science- she is AWESOME- you have to try to get in her courses)
2. 3rd year english: Metaphor and discourse (Antonina Harbus, who has now left for Macquarie Uni)
3. 3rd year geography: South East Asia Field School (Phil Hirsch, who is amazing)
4. 2nd year government: Consultation: Community, Business, Government (Lyn Carson)
5. Geography Honours, because i learnt a lot (Phil McManus- my supervisor)
6. 1st year political economy (Frank Stilwell, who if you are not from sydney uni, Frank is a veteran of the 1970's campaign to create an alternative economics department)

And of course, I loved studying one semester at McGill university in Quebec.

what have your favourite courses been?

an article on the SMH website:

"Homebodies raise the drawbridge to avoid an out-of-control world"

The study on the mood of the nation by Australia SCAN found scepticism about business and government, a gloomy economic outlook and constant erosion of time and energy are leading to a sense of a loss of control.

To offset this, people are spending more time eating at home, doing household chores and planning family activities than they were a year ago. The report's author, David Chalke, said people were saying: "The focus is home. It is the place where I'm more in control than anywhere else; it's where my friends and family are … it's the centre of my universe."

...You cannot dismiss the influence that money has at the moment. They are all worried about it. Clearly, it costs less to stay at home," Ms Dangar said.

Australia SCAN also found 70 per cent of homes had DVD players, up from 4 per cent six years ago. Watching DVDs was the second most popular leisure activity after television viewing.

You can view the original article here.

books!

okay, now, here is a booklist of excellent books i discovered in the course of doing my thesis (both unrelated and related to my topic) ...

John Bellamy Foster (2000): Marx's Ecology: materialism and nature
Nicholas Low and Brendan Gleeson (1998): Justice, Society and Nature: an exploration of political ecology
Greg Mallory (2005) : Unchartered Waters: Social Responsibility in Australian trade unions.
Walter F. Baber and Robert V. Bartlett (2005) : Deliberative Environmental Politics: Democracy and Ecological Rationality
J.K. Gibson-Graham (2006): A Postcapitalist Politics
Daniel Faber (ed) (1998) The Struggle for Ecological Democracy: Environmental Justice Movements in the United States.
John Bellamy Foster (2006) Naked Imperialism: The US Pursuit of Global Dominance
Peter Bachrach and Aryeh Botwinick (1992): Power and Empowerment: A radical theory of participatory democracy.
Michael Ross and Dale Miller (eds) (2002): The Justice Motive in Everyday Life
William Blum (2004) Killing Hope: US Military and CIA interventions since World War II
Richard Kazis and Richard L Grossman (1982) Fear at Work: Job Blackmail, Labor and the Environment

yeah so.
having been freed from the preoccupation of thesis land, i will now establish a regular presence on this blog. but learning from previous blogging efforts: some rules...

i must not be introspective, or else i will keep deleting past posts in embarrassment.

and maybe that's it.

a break in the writing of a thesis

The top picture is of the Mt Arthur coal Mine near Muswellbrook (courtesy of Greens MP Lee Rhiannon)
and the lower picture is of the (operational) Bluescope Steel Port Kembla steelworks in Wollongong. (taken by yours truly).

So I have been immersing my mind in coal dust and steelworks smog over the last few months, in order to complete my geography thesis.

It's called "Just transitions in the Hunter: Entitlement and Obligation in the BHP steelworks closure, and lessons for the future of the Hunter coal industry."

My questions really are about potentiality, and whether a successful model can be transplanted to a different set of political circumstances, in a similar industry in the same region (The Hunter Region).

These are my research questions:
1. What factors led to the achievement of a just transition during the closure of the steelworks in Newcastle?
2. To what extent can the “Pathways Project” and its associated policies be used as a model for future industry closures?
3. What lessons can be applied to coal industry restructuring and closures in the Hunter?

Hence there is a complex array of variables that I confront in asking this question, that in themselves are very interesting to think about.