Political theorist Peter Hallward is giving a talk on the above topic in Dublin.
"In this talk Peter Hallward will try to clarify and defend the once-familiar notion of a democratic political will, understood as a rational practice of inclusive and egalitarian self-determination. As conceived by thinkers ranging from Rousseau to Fanon, exercise of an autonomous 'will of the people' involves a process of collective self-emancipation. It requires a capacity for association, deliberation, and prescription, as well as the power to implement political decisions in the face of whatever resistance they encounter. In the past, it was the militant assertion of such a popular will, for instance in the French, Haitian and Russian revolutions, that posed the most far-reaching challenges to the existing order of things; unsurprisingly, today's reactionary political establishment (along with a good deal of contemporary philosophy and critical theory) is largely organised around its exclusion or disruption. But the struggle continues!"
Further details here.
Sunday 30 January 2011
Thursday 27 January 2011
For the state-oriented...
Details of a conference on February 5th "New political possibilities in Ireland for all left-wing parties in partnership with civil society" have just been posted. May be of interest to those who hold out hopes for electoralism, the revival of social partnership or "policy" as the way forward (or who identify the left with political parties, unions with their leadership and social change with the state).
Registration 9am—10am
Session 1 10am-1pm
Tea/Coffee 11.15 am (15 mins)
'The future of the Irish Left: Policies, Political Strategies and Future Possibilities'.
Speakers:
Cllr. Dermot Looney- Labour Party
Cllr. Cian O'Callaghan-Labour Party
Aengus O'Snodaigh TD- Sinn Féin
Eoin O'Broin- Sinn Fein (election candidate)
Joe Higgins MEP- United Left Alliance
Cllr. Richard Boyd Barrett- United Left Alliance
Mick Finnegan- Workers Party President
Dr.Ben Nutty- Fis Nua (election candidate).
Lunch 1pm—2pm
Session 2 2pm to 4.15pm
'Building Alliances in our Common Interest: Unions and Communities Working Together'.
Speakers:
Ursula Barry– Head of Women’s Studies– UCD
Anne Costello- Community Platform
Dr Mary Murphy–Sociologist, NUI Maynooth
Jack O'Connor-SIPTU Leader
Jimmy Kelly-UNITE Leader
Ailbhe Smyth– Feminist Open Forum
Session 3 4.15pm-6.30pm
New Left Policies for Economic, Social and Political Regeneration
Speakers:
Michael Taft- UNITE
Kathleen Lynch-Prof of Equality Studies, UCD
Michael Burke- Economist and TASC Economist's Network
Tom O'Connor- CIT Economist and TASC
Niall Crowley– Reclaiming Our Future
Dr. Kieran Allen - Economic Sociologist, UCD
This conference will allow left wing parties across the spectrum to compare policies and discuss the prospects for left wing unity. Representatives of communities, equality, rights and women’s groups will also outline their vision for a new Ireland and the prospects for closer co-operation with like minded political parties. The conference will also include a discussion of economic, political and social policies for a new Ireland from a range of left wing thinkers and writers in academia, unions and elsewhere. Union leaders will also present their vision for a new Ireland
Registration 9am—10am
Session 1 10am-1pm
Tea/Coffee 11.15 am (15 mins)
'The future of the Irish Left: Policies, Political Strategies and Future Possibilities'.
Speakers:
Cllr. Dermot Looney- Labour Party
Cllr. Cian O'Callaghan-Labour Party
Aengus O'Snodaigh TD- Sinn Féin
Eoin O'Broin- Sinn Fein (election candidate)
Joe Higgins MEP- United Left Alliance
Cllr. Richard Boyd Barrett- United Left Alliance
Mick Finnegan- Workers Party President
Dr.Ben Nutty- Fis Nua (election candidate).
Lunch 1pm—2pm
Session 2 2pm to 4.15pm
'Building Alliances in our Common Interest: Unions and Communities Working Together'.
Speakers:
Ursula Barry– Head of Women’s Studies– UCD
Anne Costello- Community Platform
Dr Mary Murphy–Sociologist, NUI Maynooth
Jack O'Connor-SIPTU Leader
Jimmy Kelly-UNITE Leader
Ailbhe Smyth– Feminist Open Forum
Session 3 4.15pm-6.30pm
New Left Policies for Economic, Social and Political Regeneration
Speakers:
Michael Taft- UNITE
Kathleen Lynch-Prof of Equality Studies, UCD
Michael Burke- Economist and TASC Economist's Network
Tom O'Connor- CIT Economist and TASC
Niall Crowley– Reclaiming Our Future
Dr. Kieran Allen - Economic Sociologist, UCD
This conference will allow left wing parties across the spectrum to compare policies and discuss the prospects for left wing unity. Representatives of communities, equality, rights and women’s groups will also outline their vision for a new Ireland and the prospects for closer co-operation with like minded political parties. The conference will also include a discussion of economic, political and social policies for a new Ireland from a range of left wing thinkers and writers in academia, unions and elsewhere. Union leaders will also present their vision for a new Ireland
Wednesday 19 January 2011
IMF bailout - what we can learn from the majority world
Bloom! are a network of migrant groups and development organisations working on global justice issues both in Ireland and the majority world. This meeting was planned for before Christmas but cancelled because of the weather.
Obviously the theme is really important - despite the flurry of movement-linked responses to the crisis, too many treat it as though this was a purely Irish issue, as if we could learn nothing from the rest of the world, where social movements have been facing off against IMF packages for several decades and increasingly - in Latin America - managing to gain ground rather than simply rearrange the deck chairs. Andy Storey's paper, or a version of it, has been released here and is well worth a look for starters.
A Justice Response to the EU-IMF Loans: Local and Global PerspectivesObviously the theme is really important - despite the flurry of movement-linked responses to the crisis, too many treat it as though this was a purely Irish issue, as if we could learn nothing from the rest of the world, where social movements have been facing off against IMF packages for several decades and increasingly - in Latin America - managing to gain ground rather than simply rearrange the deck chairs. Andy Storey's paper, or a version of it, has been released here and is well worth a look for starters.
Wed 26th January 2011, 7 pm
Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2
Organised by the Bloom Movement for Global Justice*. All welcome. Further information available by contacting Nessa Ni Chasaide, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, T: 01 6174835.
*Bloom is a movement of people working for radical change for a just world. Members of Bloom are Africa Centre, Comhlámh, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Latin America Solidarity Centre
Tuesday 18 January 2011
From Irish hobo to Burmese Buddhist: celebrating the centenary of U Dhammaloka's trial for sedition
'Dhammaloka Day', Saturday 19 February, 2.30-6pm
Boole Lecture Theatre, UCC, Cork:
All welcome, admission free
Dear friends,
Full details of "Dhammaloka Day" are now available on the UCC website at http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day/ with links to the draft programme, on-line registration (please register if you're hoping to come) and a short video introduction by Prof. Brian Bocking on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mUil5bVPsI.
'Dhammaloka Day' celebrates the centenary of "The Irish Buddhist's" 1911 trial for sedition in colonial Burma. It is also the Irish launch of the special issue of the journal Contemporary Buddhism (Vol. 11, no.2, 2010) on the remarkable and unjustly forgotten figure of U Dhammaloka, a Dublin-born migrant worker who was one of the first Europeans to become a Buddhist monk and a famous opponent of Christian missionaries.
Atheist, autodidact, temperance campaigner and Buddhist revivalist, Dhammaloka was supported in Japan by Letitia Jephson of Mallow, denounced in Singapore by journalist Edward Alexander Morphy of Killarney and tried for sedition in Burma by Justice Daniel H. R. Twomey of Carrigtwohill.
Famous throughout South-East Asia in his time, Dhammaloka travelled extensively between 1900-1914 in colonial Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaya, Japan, China, Ceylon, India and Nepal and beyond. He was an active correspondent of the freethought journals of the day, and his "Buddhist Tract Society" reprinted, among others, the works of Thomas Paine in Burmese.
This unique event features an international line-up of scholars including Prof. Thomas Tweed from Austin, Texas (author of The American Encounter with Buddhism), Dr Alicia Turner from Toronto (editor of the Journal of Burma Studies), Dr Elizabeth Harris from Liverpool (author of Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter), Dr Laurence Cox from Maynooth (co-editor of Interface: a journal for and about social movements) and Prof. Brian Bocking from Cork (chair of Ireland's first Department of the Study of Religions).
The provisional programme for the day is:
2 pm: Arrival, Tea and coffee
2.30: Welcome: Introducing Dhammaloka (Brian Bocking, Study of Religions Dept., UCC)
2.45: Dhammaloka, "The Irish Pongyi" in colonial Burma (Alicia Turner, Religious Studies, York University Toronto)
3.15: Dhammaloka - atheist, activist, Irish Buddhist (Laurence Cox, Sociology, NUI Maynooth)
3.45: Response: Ananda Metteyya and U Dhammaloka (Elizabeth Harris, Theology and Religious Studies, Liverpool Hope)
4.00 tea / coffee break -
4.30: Dhammaloka's Irish connections: Letitia Jephson, Edward Morphy, Daniel Twomey (Brian Bocking)
5.00: Dhammaloka in context: globalising Buddhism at the turn of the 20th century (Thomas Tweed, Religious Studies, North Texas University)
5.30: Discussion
6.00: Close
Information and registration (free): www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day
Enquiries: dhammaloka@ucc.ie < mailto:dhammaloka@ucc.ie>
Tel: 021 490 2773
Boole Lecture Theatre, UCC, Cork:
All welcome, admission free
Dear friends,
Full details of "Dhammaloka Day" are now available on the UCC website at http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day/ with links to the draft programme, on-line registration (please register if you're hoping to come) and a short video introduction by Prof. Brian Bocking on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mUil5bVPsI.
'Dhammaloka Day' celebrates the centenary of "The Irish Buddhist's" 1911 trial for sedition in colonial Burma. It is also the Irish launch of the special issue of the journal Contemporary Buddhism (Vol. 11, no.2, 2010) on the remarkable and unjustly forgotten figure of U Dhammaloka, a Dublin-born migrant worker who was one of the first Europeans to become a Buddhist monk and a famous opponent of Christian missionaries.
Atheist, autodidact, temperance campaigner and Buddhist revivalist, Dhammaloka was supported in Japan by Letitia Jephson of Mallow, denounced in Singapore by journalist Edward Alexander Morphy of Killarney and tried for sedition in Burma by Justice Daniel H. R. Twomey of Carrigtwohill.
Famous throughout South-East Asia in his time, Dhammaloka travelled extensively between 1900-1914 in colonial Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaya, Japan, China, Ceylon, India and Nepal and beyond. He was an active correspondent of the freethought journals of the day, and his "Buddhist Tract Society" reprinted, among others, the works of Thomas Paine in Burmese.
This unique event features an international line-up of scholars including Prof. Thomas Tweed from Austin, Texas (author of The American Encounter with Buddhism), Dr Alicia Turner from Toronto (editor of the Journal of Burma Studies), Dr Elizabeth Harris from Liverpool (author of Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter), Dr Laurence Cox from Maynooth (co-editor of Interface: a journal for and about social movements) and Prof. Brian Bocking from Cork (chair of Ireland's first Department of the Study of Religions).
The provisional programme for the day is:
2 pm: Arrival, Tea and coffee
2.30: Welcome: Introducing Dhammaloka (Brian Bocking, Study of Religions Dept., UCC)
2.45: Dhammaloka, "The Irish Pongyi" in colonial Burma (Alicia Turner, Religious Studies, York University Toronto)
3.15: Dhammaloka - atheist, activist, Irish Buddhist (Laurence Cox, Sociology, NUI Maynooth)
3.45: Response: Ananda Metteyya and U Dhammaloka (Elizabeth Harris, Theology and Religious Studies, Liverpool Hope)
4.00 tea / coffee break -
4.30: Dhammaloka's Irish connections: Letitia Jephson, Edward Morphy, Daniel Twomey (Brian Bocking)
5.00: Dhammaloka in context: globalising Buddhism at the turn of the 20th century (Thomas Tweed, Religious Studies, North Texas University)
5.30: Discussion
6.00: Close
Information and registration (free): www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/dhammaloka-day
Enquiries: dhammaloka@ucc.ie < mailto:dhammaloka@ucc.ie>
Tel: 021 490 2773
Saturday 15 January 2011
Be outraged!
Stephane Hessel, a 93-year-old survivor of the French Resistance and Buchenwald, recently published a short (13-page) booklet entitled Indignez-vous (Be outraged!) which has become a viral best-seller in France (600,000 copies) and deserves to do the same here. A rather clunky English-language translation is now available online here.
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