tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70245862024-03-08T04:34:39.074+02:00Critical PsychologyA blog about new developments in critical psychology, radical psychology, liberation psychology and related fields.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730588078940715494noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-35640745167991558452009-01-14T23:14:00.002+02:002009-01-14T23:22:05.584+02:00Psychology in Society now onlineThe long-running critical psychology journal edited by Grahame Hayes, <a href="http://www.pins.org.za">Psychology in Society</a> (PINS), is now available online. So far only four issues are up, but the idea is to gradually add all previous issues, plus new ones as they appear. Complete articles are provided in pdf form, with no log-in or payment required.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730588078940715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-75956324525522900812007-07-11T16:04:00.000+02:002007-07-11T16:22:07.964+02:00Evidence-based psychotortureThe US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE's COUNTERINTELLIGENCE FIELD ACTIVITY (CIFA) BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE DIRECTORATE (APPLIED BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE) recently issued what they call a <a href="http://fedbizopps.cos.com/cgi-bin/eps/spg/ODA/CIFA/DODCIFA/Reference-Number-BAA-CIFA-DB-07-01/listing.html?notice=PRESOL">'Presolicitation Notice' </a>(Solicitation Number: Reference-Number-BAA-CIFA-DB-07-01) tendering for some good old applied research. They frame it so:<br /><br />'The purpose of the research is (1) to develop, test and evaluate the application (translation) of known principles and findings of the behavioral and social sciences to enhancing capabilities relevant to current and future intelligence, counter-intelligence, and human intelligence collection; and (2) to understand threats to national security in terms of the principles and methods of the social and behavioral sciences. A portion of the funding may be made available for meritorious proposals from minority institutions and historically Black colleges and universities, and these entities are encouraged to participate.' <br /><br />They continue:<br /><br />'This research is primarily focused on: (i) developing and evaluating reliable, valid, behavior-based methods of evidence and human intelligence sources ssessment; (ii) developing and evaluating methods for understanding terrorist groups and their relationships to populations of interest; and (iii) methods for the translation principles and models in the social and behavioral sciences developed in laboratory settings to field and operational settings.'<br /><br />A colleague of mine correctly summarises the aims of this, er, solicitation, in the following way: 'The call states that many of the techniques currently in use often are based only on the individual experiences of the interviewers, anecdotal information, and shared beliefs, rather than on empirical behavioral and social science. It goes on to say that until evidence-based approaches to interviewing and elicitation are established, little progress will be made in our ability to distinguish effective from ineffective techniques. Is it just me or is the Department of Defense asking for research to identify best practice methods to torture people?'<br /><br />You can send your applications or well-wishings to:<br /><br />Counterintelligence Field Activity<br />Department of Defense<br />251 18th Street Crystal Square 5 Suite 1200<br />Arlington VA 22202<br />Attn: Loretta Buckley (Contract Specialist, Phone (703) 699-7283, Fax (703) 699-7740, Email loretta.buckley@cifa.mil)Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-60360638215941695092007-07-10T12:24:00.000+02:002007-07-10T12:34:49.816+02:00Mute, but wordyThe online version of the magazine <a href="http://www.metamute.org/node"><em>Mute: Culture and politics after the net </em></a>is certainly worth a browse. It is filled with fascinating, wordy articles.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-20083911868386019262007-05-02T18:26:00.000+02:002007-05-02T18:40:43.779+02:00Baiting the capitalist lawyers...Er, in case you're interested, here's the key for unlocking high definition DVDs -<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0</span><br /></span><br />No I have no idea how it works either, but apparently the movie industry has been threatening legal action against anybody who publishes the key. So of course everybody is going ahead and doing exactly that, and I thought I'd better do my bit.Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730588078940715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1175247008984718562007-03-30T12:25:00.000+02:002007-03-30T12:30:08.996+02:00Don't believe the hyper...This blog has been dormant so long, we even forgot to mention the death of Jean Baudrillard. It just didn't feel real (urgh, lame joke). Many obituaries have been written over the last few weeks, and much scholarly discussion will follow, but I found <a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tim_footman/2007/03/hyperreally_saying_something.html">this short article</a> in the Guardian Unlimited quite good.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1175246470471762992007-03-30T12:17:00.000+02:002007-03-30T12:22:00.796+02:00Slumming it in TorontoThose attending the International Society for Theoretical Psychology meetings in Toronto in June, especially those of us from 'less developed' countries who see Canada as a utopia of equality and dollars for all, <a href="http://www.torontoslumtourism.com/index.php">this website</a> will be instructive...Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1165222369631606862006-12-04T10:42:00.001+02:002007-04-13T14:49:26.766+02:00Same sex marriages in South Africa 3On Saturday, 2 December 2006, Christi van der Westhuizen attended the first legal gay wedding in a religious ceremony in South Africa (and Africa). <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35694">Here</a> is her report.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1164800110934805362006-11-29T13:25:00.000+02:002007-01-07T00:12:10.536+02:00Critical psychology around the worldThe fifth <em>Annual Review of Critical Psychology </em>had just been published. It is now freely available as an <a href="http://www.discourseunit.com/arcp/5.htm">online</a> journal. This year's edition is called 'Critical psychology in a changing world: Contributions from different geo-political regions' and was edited by Manolis Dafermos, Athanasios Marvakis and Sofia Triliva from the University of Crete. They have included contributions from a broad spectrum of perspectives and locales, producing a volume that will serve as an excellent reference work and hopefully also contribute to the deepening of international or transnational networks of critical psychological thinking and practice.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1163581784543096842006-11-15T11:03:00.000+02:002006-11-15T11:09:44.556+02:00Same sex marriages in South Africa 2After much public debate and some invigorating activism by gay and lesbian rights groups, the South African parliament yesterday "approved the controversial Civil Unions Bill, which provides for same-sex marriage, making South Africa the first African country to do so and one of only a few in the world. (...) The bill provides for opposite-sex and same-sex couples of 18 years or older to solemnise and register a voluntary union, either by marriage or civil partnership. (...) Same-sex couples can be married by civil marriage officers and such religious marriage officers who consider these marriages not to fall outside the tenets of their religion" (<a href="http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,9294,2-7-12_2030321,00.html">news24</a>).Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1158575066122331722006-09-18T12:16:00.000+02:002006-09-18T12:27:55.700+02:00Same sex marriages in South AfricaI recently got this email about same sex marriages in South Africa. If you are interested in signing their petition or participating in any other way, contact details are provided at the end of the email:<br /><br />Dear Colleagues and Supporters,<br /><br />Parliament has tabled a draft Civil Union Bill, which intends to grant same sex couples the right to form a 'civil partnership'. Although the same legal benefits would be accorded same sex couples, the state would not recognize these partnerships as marriage. As such, same sex couples would still be excluded from choosing to marry, through the existing Marriage Act. Instead, civil partnerships would be regulated through a separate legal institution and administered separately.<br /><br />This would relegate same sex couples to a second class citizenry and perpetuate the stigmatization of our relationships. In effect, it would entrench the prejudice of some, which dictates that our relationships deserve a lower social status. And, as the Department of Home Affairs has stated, the Marriage Act "will not be tampered with". What is also worrying is that the State Legal Advisor has not signed of on the current version of the Bill as they have expressed concerns about its constitutionality on various grounds.<br /><br />We do, however, commend the section of the Bill that pertains to domestic partnerships in that it extends legal protections to both heterosexual and homosexual couples who are unmarried.<br /><br />Make your voice heard on this important matter, which tests our nation's commitment to the Constitution, and the principles of equality and human dignity for all.<br /><br />WHAT CAN YOU DO?<br />1. Sign onto the petition in support of a change to the existing Marriage Act and against a new, separate act for same sex couples only.<br /><br />2. Write letters to the press. <br /><br />3. Join in the public participation process by participating in the public hearings, which will be held in all provinces, culminating in parliamentary deliberations on the 12-13 October. The details for the public hearings will be published in the local press shortly, and we will keep you updated.<br /><br />4. Write to parliament. Parliament will be calling for written submissions on same sex marriage. You can write a submission, either personally or as an organisation. It doesn't matter how long or short it is, each one will help. We will send through details of the submission process once these have been released. For more information on the parliamentary process contact the Secretary of Home Affairs Portfolio Committee - Mr. Mathibela Mankge - at + 27 (0)21 4033826.<br /><br />We will, in due course, be sending our fact sheets on the proposed Bill.<br /><br />Please post this email onto your website, and forward it to other interested<br />parties.<br /><br />Yours, in solidarity,<br />OUT LGBT Well-being<br /><br />For more information contact Fikile Vilakazi, Melanie Judge or Dawie Nel, on<br />+ 27 (0)12 3445108.<br /><br />OUT LGBT Well-being<br />Tel : + 27 (0)12 344 6501<br />Fax : + 27 (0)12 344 6501<br />Cell : 083 2712543<br />E-mail : programmes@out.org.zaDesmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1156333123006493012006-08-23T13:15:00.000+02:002007-02-22T23:54:52.933+02:00Psychology and tortureThis letter, regarding the refusal of the American Psychological Association to prohibit the involvement of psychologists in military interrogations, was addressed to the President (Cheryl Foxcroft) of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) a number of weeks ago. Not sure whether it had been discussed by PsySSA or whether we will get any feedback from them... Will keep you posted about developments.<br /><br />Dr. Cheryl Foxcroft<br />Psychological Society of South Africa<br /><br />Dear Dr. Foxcroft<br /><br />We are writing to you in your capacity as president of the Psychological Society of South Africa. It has come to the attention of many in the psychology profession that the American Psychological Association has steadfastly refused to prohibit its members from participating in military interrogations conducted at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. The refusal of the APA to ban its members from such activities has serious human rights implications, as prisoners are held without trial and many are subjected to inhumane treatment, including torture. <br /><br />While the APA policy requires its members to adhere to the code of ethics for psychologists, which includes a statement prohibiting torture and inhuman treatment, they may still consult to military interrogators and provide psychological advice. Psychologists consulting to military interrogators are used to break down prisoners and exploit their emotional and psychological vulnerabilities in order to extract information. Both the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association have prohibited their members from participating in military interrogations. For this reason the United States military has relied on psychologists rather than psychiatrists to assist in these interrogations. <br /><br />The group, Physicians for Human Rights, has called on the APA to prohibit psychologists from participating in interrogations (see their statement at <a href="http://www.phrusa.org/research/torture/news_2006-07-26.html">this website</a>). So far APA has refused to change its policy.<br /><br />This letter is a request that PSYSSA, in view of its relationship with APA, strongly and publicly condemn APA’s policy on psychologists’ consulting to military interrogators, and its president, Dr. Gerald Koocher’s, steadfast defense of this policy. Dr. Koocher has stated repeatedly that psychologists have a special knowledge to contribute to military interrogations and have a valuable role to play in helping to protect the United States. By not expressly prohibiting its members from consulting to military interrogators, the APA appears to be condoning human rights violations. In view of our own history of oppression and human rights violations in South Africa, PSYSSA under your leadership has a duty to insist that the APA abandon its policy. We also suggest that if PSYSSA’s public condemnation of the APA’s position does not result in any change in its policy, PSYSSA should distance itself from the APA. Failure to do so may be construed as apathy or even complicity with violating the human rights of prisoners. <br /><br />Yours Sincerely<br /><br />Department of Psychology<br />Stellenbosch UniversityDesmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1154340857087526722006-07-31T12:08:00.000+02:002006-08-07T06:35:48.360+02:00Oh, just protecting the nation...The following article recently appeared on <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/07/26/interrogation/index_np.html">saloon.com</a>:<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Psychological warfare</span></strong><br /><strong><br /></strong>Angered that their professional organization has adopted a policy condoning psychologists' participation in "war on terror" interrogations, many psychologists are vowing to stage a battle royal at the APA's annual meeting.<br /></strong><br /><strong>By Mark Benjamin</strong><br /><br />The 150,000-member American Psychological Association is facing an internal revolt over its year-old policy that condones the participation of psychologists in the interrogations of prisoners during the Bush administration's "war on terror."<br />Last summer, the APA adopted new ethical principles drafted by a task force of 10 psychologists, who were selected by the organization's leadership. That controversial task-force report, which is now official APA policy, stated that psychologists participating in terror-related interrogations are fulfilling "a valuable and ethical role to assist in protecting our nation, other nations, and innocent civilians from harm."<br />But Salon has learned that six of the 10 psychologists on the task force have close ties to the military. The names and backgrounds of the task force participants were not made public by the APA; Salon obtained them from congressional sources. Four of the psychologists who crafted the permissive policy were involved with the handling of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, or served with the military in Afghanistan -- all environments where serious cases of abuse have been documented.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1151149571022312312006-06-24T13:22:00.000+02:002006-07-27T05:24:14.303+02:00Uncle Critical Wants You!The following email has been circulated recently, and I hope they don't mind me posting it here. It is about the 2007 European Congress of Psychology, to be held in Prague, and the possibility of organising some Critical Psychology symposia there. Ian Parker doesn't want to fight the battle all on his own, you see, or be stuck without any friends to drink the undeniably tasty Czech beers with. If Parker's loneliness does not inspire you to go, or you don't drink beer, Prague is at least a fascinating and beautiful city. Consider it!<br /><br />(For those reading the email below and who are unfamiliar with Critical Psychology, a short disclaimer: you might get the impression that 'critical' here means whining about how terrible, boring, and expensive the conference will be, how we will not get enough time to speak and won't be heard in any case, but that if it will further the Cause, we will be the least and spend some fine summer days in Prague... We promise there is more to being critical in psychology than this, although probably nothing that is quite as much fun.)<br /><br /><strong>Critical Psychology: Lessons for Critical Psychology in Europe from around the world. </strong><strong>The tenth European Congress of Psychology will be in Prague from 3 to 6 July 2007. </strong><br /><br />This will most likely be a grotesque large psychology conference, and they will probably charge the earth for the privilege of listening to the latest 'discoveries'. Those who do decide to speak at the conference will probably be allotted a few small amount of time. It is unclear exactly how<br />terrible the event will be, but there are first details on <a href="http://www.ecp2007.com/intro.htm">http://www.ecp2007.com/intro.htm</a><br /><br />However, this could also be a space for a critical intervention. Ian Parker has been invited to speak at the conference, and would now like to ensure some friendly faces are there. So he wants to organise a symposia or two on ''Critical Psychology: Lessons for Critical Psychology in Europe from around the world'. (The organisation of this might be with the editors of the special ARCP issue on critical psychology around the world, depending on whether they will be attending the conference.) The ECP organisers have promised to put this title in their list of symposia in the second announcement for the conference which they are currently preparing for their website. It would be great if we could get together people who contributed to the Annual Review of Critical Psychology 5 on critical psychology around the world. So, if you think you may be interested in coming to Prague and being involved, look at the congress website, think about the logistics (high price, boring conference, interesting city, summer holiday etc), and email Ian (at <a href="mailto:I.A.Parker@mmu.ac.uk">I.A.Parker@mmu.ac.uk</a>) and tell him if you will be coming along. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is November, but Ian wants to get the abstracts sorted out by September.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1149578859079672602006-06-06T09:22:00.000+02:002006-08-30T06:00:19.686+02:00Communing in Puerto RicoOne of the 'authors' of this blog is currently attending <a href="http://cipcad2006.albizu.edu/HTML/index.html">The First International Conference on Community Psychology</a>, held in the no doubt sunny and warm Puerto Rico. The other author, stuck in somewhat cold South Africa, is jealous and just a little bit grumpy... Hopefully Martin will have some interesting things to say about this conferences and the things debated there on this site in the near future.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1149241284442234332006-06-02T11:32:00.000+02:002007-02-22T23:26:13.300+02:00Norwegian gossip...My Norwegian always fails me when I need it most, but if yours is more reliable you can read one (possibly scathing, who knows?) entry about us and a lot more about what is apparently psychology at <a href="http://tenke.no/2006/05/13/critical-psychology/">tenke.no</a> - a blog by what seems to be two Norwegian psychologists. Not sure that it is a 'critical' psychology blog, but we don't discriminate; would be interested to know, though, if there is such a thing as a Norwegian 'critical psychology' tradition?Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1149003663316258722006-05-30T17:35:00.000+02:002006-05-30T17:41:03.326+02:00Thinking with nurses<a href="http://thinkingnurse.blogspot.com/">Thinking Nurse</a>, a blog by a student nurse specialising in learning disabilities, is a must read. He reflects on nursing, the human rights of people with disabilities and philosophy, all from a nicely grounded socialist perspective. As the author says, nursing and philosophy had been linked since the days of Socrates. Now who would have thought.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1147421776232049752006-05-12T10:07:00.000+02:002006-05-12T10:17:17.530+02:00Writing and publishing for democracyThe 'democratic think tank', <a href="http://www.demos.co.uk/">Demos</a>, offers a wealth of information on their website, as well as being an interesting example of how theoretical and empirical work can be put to work and be used to inform public debate. Most importantly, almost all the reports and books published by them are available for free download on the website. Titles in their by now quite extensive catalogue are arranged according to five themes, Democracy, Learning, Global Change, Enterprise and Quality of Life.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1145479816353744612006-04-19T22:45:00.000+02:002006-04-19T22:50:16.363+02:00Critical psychologists not yet extinct<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2752/138/640/DSC00874.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2752/138/320/DSC00874.jpg" border="0" /></a>Sorry about being so quiet lately. We're thinking. <a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a> Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730588078940715494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1143210924547780992006-03-24T16:28:00.000+02:002006-03-24T16:35:24.556+02:00Theoretical Psychology Conference, 2007The International Society of Theoretical Psychology's next conference is called THEORETICAL PSYCHOLOGY BEYOND BORDERS: TRANSDISCIPLINARITY AND INTERNATIONALIZATION. The conference will take place from 18 - 22 June 2007 at York University in Toronto, Canada. According to the <a href="http://psychology.ucalgary.ca/istp/">first call for papers</a>, 'This conference is the premier opportunity for theoretical psychologists and graduate students interested in theoretical issues in psychology to present, discuss, and reflect on theoretical psychology in a transnational and transdisciplinary context. The Conference invites contributions to theoretical psychology from all scholarly approaches. Deadline for submissions will be January 1st, 2007.' These conferences are biannual events, and the previous one was hosted in Cape Town, 2005. You can visit the <a href="http://www.istp2005.org/">website</a> of the Cape Town conference, where you will find all the abstracts and some other interesting bits of information.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1143188612533976692006-03-24T10:13:00.000+02:002006-03-24T10:23:32.550+02:00BorderlandsAn ever increasing number of quality sites for academic publication and debate function as free access e-journals. The one that keeps me busy at the moment is the quite exciting '<a href="http://www.borderlandsejournal.adelaide.edu.au/index.html">borderlands</a>'. This is its editorial statement: '<em>borderlands</em> is a refereed international journal that aims to promote transdisciplinary work across the humanities, work which might also intersect with diverse practices and sites in culture, policy and everyday life. Although our beginnings are modest, we hope that over time you will be able to view writings cutting across and between politics, media, literature, history, law, science, medicine, philosophy, economics, music, film and more, along with incisive debate about contemporary culture.' their motto is from rock singer, PJ Harvey: 'speak to me of universal law…of heroin and speed, of genocide and suicide, of syphilis and greed…speak to me the language of love, the language of violence, the language of the heart...just give me something i can believe.' Enough said.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1141373437981127422006-03-03T10:01:00.000+02:002006-03-03T10:12:48.690+02:00On being togetherThe latest edition of the electronic journal <a href="http://www.culturemachine.net/">Culture Machine </a>is devoted to the topic of 'community'. There seems to be some interesting and potentially important reflections on how to conceptualise our 'being together' in the world without resorting to totalizing myths of national, ethnic, religious or racial unity. This journal appears once a year, so also check out the back issues.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1140785710437832522006-02-24T14:45:00.000+02:002006-02-24T14:55:10.450+02:00Shiny happy people can be critical tooThe most recent lead article of the <a href="http://www.ahpweb.org/">Association for Humanistic Psychology</a>'s <strong>Perspective Magazine</strong> is called 'A Critical Psychology' (by Don Eulart) and is <a href="http://www.ahpweb.org/pub/perspective/dec_2005/dec05cover.html">available online</a>. Also click on the <a href="http://ahpweb.org/events/menu.html">events link </a>and see all the shiny happy people!Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1140770158112771672006-02-24T10:25:00.000+02:002006-02-24T10:35:58.123+02:00A new internet journalAydan Gulerce, from the Bogazici University in Istanbul, has launched a new internet journal called, <a href="http://sppt-gulerce.boun.edu.tr">Social Practice/Psychological Theorizing</a>. The editorial board is loaded with the usual suspects, but also include a fair amount of scholars from places like South Africa, India, Brasil and Japan. Besides publishing formal academic articles, it seems also to envision functioning as a more interactive discussion forum. It seems like a worthwhile project, so I hope it will become a dynamic and lively space of debate.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1140077480912455822006-02-16T09:47:00.000+02:002006-02-16T10:27:29.780+02:00Barcelona!I always find the relationship between international scientific/scholarly societies and their conference cities interesting. Generally, it seems that the host city is reduced to an incidental backdrop, preferably wrapped in tourist clichés. Reality should be kept at arms lenght: luckily, modern convention centres and their associated hotels make this very possible. In fact, if you have ever been caught in one of these, you will know that escaping into something resembling a real city street is quite difficult. (In this, they of course resemble much of social theory and other scientific activity, so don't blame their designers too much...) This distancing is especially ironic when the scholarly society in question is the <a href="http://istp.org">International Society of Political Psychology</a>... They are hosting their 2005 annual conference in Barcelona this July. I am planning to attend this conference, so I have been searching both the <a href="http://ispp.org/meet.html">conference website </a>and the web more generally for information about Barcelona and the region of which it is the capital (I think), Catalunya. Predictably, the conference website, like most tourist websites, reduces the city and region to another charming part of the kaleidoscope that is steoretypical Spain - bullfighting, payella and olives. Meanwhile, back in the bullring, there are apparently some serious and interesting political tensions around Catalonya at the moment, about its regional autonomy vis-a-vis the Spanish state, about language rights, and about its "national" status. So how sucessfull do you think a conference on <strong>political</strong> psychology will be in ignoring such interesting events? My guess: very... Any Spanish (sic?) critical psychologists out there who could say something about these current debates and events, and their implications for understanding Spain, Europe, the world, and everything else?Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024586.post-1140012152177867322006-02-15T15:50:00.000+02:002006-02-15T16:02:32.230+02:00Our world is not for sale...Check out the <strong>Our World Is Not for Sale</strong> <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/index.asp">website</a>. They call themselves "a worldwide network of organizations, activists and social movements committed to challenging trade and investment agreements that advance the interests of the world’s most powerful corporations at the expense of people and the environment". It is a multilingual, certainly multilateral resource, and filled with enough information, news, articles and current actions to keep you glued the screen for a while. You can also read and sign their <a href="http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/about.asp?about=signon&lang=english">New Statement</a>.Desmondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17853312739158709221noreply@blogger.com0