this site will be updated on occasions - the occasions of news and comments. You will find older notes in the archive February 10 to July 10 (558kB)  and archive July 10 to February 11 (796kB)

Latest news as Final news: This section of the website moved now to the WILLIAMSTHOMPSONUCC-blog which had been recently created for several reasons: one being that it can be used also as means of discussion the other reason is that you can easily subscribe so that you will be automatically alerted when changes are made.

The other parts of this site will remain in place.

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Replacement?

Not sure if it will be this. But today a blog had been launched and it may sooner or later replace at least this "news and Debates'-Part of this website. You are cordially invited to have a look and subscribe for updates.

The Education Bubble

Talking to academics at the Department of the University of Debrecen,Peter Herrmann drew a parallel between developments of the economy and third level education today. It would surely be true that a growing number of young people would go to universities and obtain degrees. However, they would gain useful skills, being usually well trained specialist with a higher qualification, however, leaving academic training as matter of universal and critical thinking to a small number of students only. "Not least the tiger economies of the recent years show", he contended, "that the increasing number of graduates would go hand in hand with maintaining and even strengthening an elitist system of third level education. The economies - and the universities - are able to prosper for a short period of time. But they do so only to fail after the short blossom in even more sever ways. What is needed is not more specialist and diversified (in terms of differentiated) offer but more criticl engagement." The discussion showed that the idea of third level education as matter of engaging in critical universal thinking could offer very well an also financially feasible answer by universities. Orienting on more students would then mean challenging more students to get engaged in real education rather than inlfationary schemes that are actually non-starters. Already now we see the increasing difficulties of maintaining high numbers of students. And offering more of the same cannot be an answer.

He criticised not least recent debates at the School of Applied Social Science are University College of Cork to develop a "MSocSc ‘Routes’". Especially colleagues who would see here another opportunity to through eclectically existing offers under a new heading would act in an irresponsible manner. Calming with such a strategy a process of establishing a profile would be misleading. "Profiles of knowledge, of research is about having something to say. They are about looking for questions rather than providing answers on issues that are actually not a problem." An eclectic MSocSc ‘Routes’ can be compared with offering a system as we just saw it collapsing on the financial markets: insure what cannot be insured to create another insurance for the next layer of investment that cannot be insured. "This is not a paradox. This is not about contradictions of bubble creation. It is simply about a lack of responsibility."

In some respect it can be said that the real dimension of the socio-economic crisis is only now getting obvious. And for Ireland it is surely as well a crisis with some very specific dimension. Peter Herrmann suggests in a contribution elaborated in connection with his work at the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Social Law that one may speak "of a second historical famine: what once appeared as crop failure but had in actual fact been a policy of famishment by the british colonial power appears to day as policy of mismanagement and greed by some superrich is actually a policy of famishment by policies in the global colonialising financial sector. Foreign, not least German capital established over a long time a dependency which is now extended beyond the climax of the crisis. It is still the foreign capital that, under the sheet anchor of the IMF and World Bank promises to act as savor of the economy but not urge towards a sustainable development Instead it opts for short-term oriented measures, systematically fading out the social costs.

Relevant in this context is surely the Manifest zur Krise des Euro (135kB) Manifesto on the crisis of the Euro (83kB)

Working as academic, has - or at least: it can have - a most exciting dimension due to the fact of the intertwinement of global societal, social and personal dimensions of the work, be it research or teaching. Peter Herrmann is fortunate in this respect for another time as TUBITAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey granted an application from colleagues at ODTU, the Middle East Technical University, namely Sibel Kalaycioglu and Umut Bespinar, allowing hosting him for some research cooperation and teaching in the upcoming month. 

From previous collaboration Herrmann appreciates this in particular as the work in Turkey and in particular with ODTU shows the close interconnection between both the different aggregate levels: personal, social and societal issues; and the movement within a world system, Turkey being in many respects a border country not so much in geographical terms but in terms of economic, political and religious perspectives.

Herrmann works on the issue of this complex interconnection already with his attempts of refining the theory of régulation, of which a brief theoretical outline is currently elaborated under the (working) title "Basic Rules of Capitalism - Defining the Wider PErspective" (in: Herrmann, Peter [editor]: All the Same - All Being New. Basic Rules of Capitalism in a World of change) and in a contribution for a boo edited by Ananta Kumar Giri, looking at "Social Quality, Alternative Values and Alternative Methodology".

The work mentioned first is closely linked to the author's cooperation with Paul Boccara and his more recent works on the need to understand the current crisis not simply as an economic crisis but as crisis of civilisation.      

The presentation by Peter Herrmann under this title, addressing the fourth International scientific-practical Conference "Deviancy and Maintenance of International Safety of Educational Area, Moscow, February 2010, is not available in the conference documentation.

The short contribution looks at a contradiction in terms, stating that information is an under-complex concept. Especially teaching as matter of establishing really social consciousness and perspectives requires developing a concept of 'information' that is closely linked to practice rather than allowing a reductionist approach of skills training as it is currently mainstreamed.   

Even globalisation and the world citizen if (s)he ever may exist does not live independent of space, i.e. locality. And locality is most likely bound to a very limited area in which cohesion and sustainability alike are required. A recent working paper is now published on the website of the European Foundation on Social Quality. As Working Paper 5 it is published under the title LOCAL WELFARE ARRANGEMENTS FAVOURING SUSTAINABLE  COHESIVENESS AND THE URBAN CAUSUS OF LARK NORTH OF THE CITY OF THE HAGUE. Authors of the document are Laurent J.G. van der Maesen, Peter Herrmann and Alan Walker. It shows not least the relevance of the social quality for real life situations and real politics. 

The deliberations of the PERARES science shop project, funded by the European Commission's DG Research&Innovtion are moving on. And as much as it may be true that the sky is the limit it is getting clear that there are many glass ceilings. Part of the problem the science shop approach faces is that many community and voluntary organisations feel "over-researched", over-consulted and at the same time disappointed by the fact that this had been only reaffirming the fact that research FOR these organisations and their constituency can never be a matter of serious participation. One of the Working Packages of the overall project in which the UCC team is involved (carried out by Peter Herrmann as responsible representative of academia) focuses on the meaning of human rights on the local level, in particular with respect to members of the Traveling Community, Sinti, Roma ... In one of the meetings of the colleagues of this workshop Herrmann put forward the provocative thesis for consideration: If society denies the right to people to realise themselves according to their own understanding of what life is about and forces them to certain activities and actions that mainstream society and mainstream of legislation considers as illegal it may be necessary to claim the right for being criminal as human right. If begging is made criminal and there is no other way of making money for a living ... . If "trespassing" is not allowed by law, and public places are increasingly privatised but people consider moving around as essential ....

(entrance of the building of the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation - Photo: Nobert Steinhaus)

Well, yes, Imagine ...

Yesterday the second international meeting of the European FP7-program-financed PERARES project, dealing with science shops had been opened. from the UCC, Catherine O'Mahony and Peter Herrmann are participating. The cornerstones for the debate of the meeting and the project in general had been marked by J.P. de Greve, Vice rector of VUB, pointing on an important contradiction science is facing: on the one hand we see the development of research and science towards products which are sold. On the other hand we see that research and science are not solely  matter of universities anymore - rather, they are very much a matter of various actors of and in society. The question for the future is if scientists can move research towards society - and this means: a real society that is not solely dominated by markets and their obsession by marketable products or if science will be completely absorbed by a society that is colonialised by market driven orientation on productivity. Herrmann stresses on this occasion again that science shops have to play an important role here - in society and in the academic world: genuine research, fighting for interest in social progress rather than business plans should drive the agenda.

Such a heading may be read in very different ways, suggesting the limits of globalisation in terms of the claimed positive development for the economy, the limitation of the actual spread of cultural progress as for instance the ongoing exclusion of the large numbers of the world populace from education and other topics. Another issue is that of migration: even if migration takes undoubtedly place on a global level, it has its own dynamic and many ongoing borders in the way.

The Fifth International Scientific-Practical Conference under the title Deviation and influence of migratory processes on the educational environment (491kB) is scheduled for the 18th of February in Moscow. Peter Herrmann will address the conference, looking at "The Role of Education as Part of the Process of Integration - the Meaning of Culture and Mentality". 

Globalisation had been - again - issued and addressed in various contributions since the economic crisis from 2008 - and of course, social issued had been addressed in this context too. However, the mainstream debate is by and large concerned with issues that are closely linked to the manifest crisis, not least questions of immediate concern of economic development in the narrow understanding. As such, usually employment/unemployment are featured. And so are 'derived issues' as for instance increasing poverty, homelessness etc. and specifically directed policy measures. Surely these issues are pressing and should not at all be underestimated. But nevertheless, it has to be emphasised that we are facing a much broader set of issues - reaching from general considerations around the fundamental character of the society we (want to) live in to the questions that emerge for small communities and settings of immediate social relationships.

The World Conference on Social Work and Social Development 2012 is scheduled for 2012 in Stockholm and jointly organised by IASSW, ICSW and IFSW. The wider range of issues will be addressed during the work of this major event of which the planning is well on the way. This weekend the International Programme Committee had been inaugurated. It will play an important role in identifying the various issues at stake.

Peter Herrmann had been nominated (from the side of ICSW as member of the committee. Reason for the nomination had been not least his wider orientation on social policy issues, aiming on the integration of the question if and how "another economy is possible". 

The Katholisch-Soziale Intsitut, the German branch of attac and the Publik-Forum. Leserinitiative Publik are hosting the Finanzmarkttagung 2011 (4,129kB). The title reads Eine Neue Balance zwsichen Geld und Leben (A New Balance of Money and Life). It is surely a much discussed topic, coming up with the crisis and guiding many public and private debates, "moods" and feelings. It is also an issue which is surely an issue that actually had been discussed already since ancient times, for instance Aritsotle's engagement in looking for a good society (see in this context also: Peter Herrmann: Smart Economy or Changing Structures). Peter Herrmann will participate and had been invited to work together with Harald Klimenta on the documentation which will published later this year.

Many politicians are already speaking about the end of the crisis - stating that we ended the march through the valley already or can see at least clearly the turning point. But how does this link into the argument that still may politicians and also academics classify the recent - and ongoing crisis as most severe, similar to the crisis at the end of the 20/beginning of the 30s of the last century? And how does this relate to the fact that it is most likely that today's crisis is much more severe already on the simple ground that globalisation tied societies and their economies and political regimes to an extent together that is barely comparable with the degree reached in the last century.

Especially the latter point should make us aware that we are also facing a fundamental political shift.

All these aspects will be discussed during the International Symposium 'Globalisation Studies: Trends, Problems, Perspectives'. It is scheduled for the 19th-22nd of May, and will take place at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Peter Herrmann who is also linked with the Journal History & Mathematics, accepted an invitation to the symposium and will contribute with a position on World system Development - Postmodernisation or Refeudalisation. He already worked on this topic and the book on New Princedoms (with contributions also by Brigitte Kratzwald and Wendy Earles) is due to be soon published at Rozenberg Publisher, Amsterdam 

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