100 miles from the sea

This week thousands of students and UCU activists across the UK have had a week of action in the ongoing campaign to bring back EMA. Student activists in Colleges (including Dudley and Stourbridge) have been running stalls and using social media to share petitions and encourage people to lobby their MPs to sign the Early Day Motion calling for the grant to be returned.

When I first started working in FE in 2005 EMA was helping over half a million students from the UK’s poorest families to stay on in education. This worked in a number of ways. The allowance meant that students could get up to £30 a week which could help with costs for transport, resources such as books and stationery, or any other bills.  As well as this, it provided a strong argument for kids who wanted to carry on in education who might otherwise have to go straight in to full time employment at 16.

Now, of course, the option of full time employment isn’t there for many. In the black country young people are twice as likely to be unemployed as the national figure.16 is a very young age to already be experiencing the repeated disappointment of competing against hundreds of others for jobs day after day. EMA could help widen the opportunities for those who are trapped in this, allowing them to develop their skills – meaning more jobs are opened up as possibilities, but also meaning people who could be the future in terms of driving the UK economy forward are not being shut out before they even get as far as FE.

You can find out more about the campaign to bring back EMA here.

Just a brief post to highlight what is happening currently at London Met University. On the 7th Feb the UNISON branch chair, Max Watson, and the union-supported and newly-elected staff governor, Jawad Botmeh, were suspended from their jobs. This appears to centre around Jawad Botmeh having a criminal conviction.

The criminal conviction was declared fully at the time of his appointment. It has been highlighted that no policy relating to the employment of people with convictions was made to those appointing to him by HR at the time of his employment, and HR have also had access to records showing this conviction for the five years since he was employed. Jawad is viewed as a hard working colleague by those who work with him. He had contested the conviction, and Amnesty International , UNISON’s National Delegate Conference and MPs (including Jeremy Corbyn) who signed an early-day motion all take the position that he is innocent.

The suspensions have happened against a background of threatened derecognition of UNISON by the VC. Max Watson describes the disciplinary process as follows:

 ‘On Thursday last week a “Kangaroo court” summoned me to a hearing that lasted 30 minutes. I had no time to prepare and I had no indication what it was concerning’.

 ’This is not about me or Jawad, in the end. It is about our right, as workers, to organise in the workplace and to elect our own reps. It’s about justice and solidarity for those who put their head above the parapet. It’s about every one of us standing should to shoulder in defence of our jobs and in defence of our right to organise.’

A third trades unionist, Steve Jeffreys, who oversaw Jawad’s appointment, has now been suspended. He makes the following statement:

“Dear Trade Union Friends,
I’m writing to let you know that I was suspended on Wednesday by Londonmet after a 45 minute investigation into the WLRI because I appointed a former prisoner who had served 13 years imprisonment to a part-time, casual three month maternity cover job in our social justice Institute.
Did I know that his conviction in 1996 was for conspiracy to blow up the Israeli embassy? Yes. I also knew that he had been refused parole for 6 years because he maintained his innocence, and that Paul Foot and Robert Fisk had campaigned for him. And I saw his CV which included his having completed an OU degree in sociology and an MA in Peace and Reconciliation (with merit), as well has having been prisoners’ rep on equality issues.
But actually, although this all made him an ideal person to work with us, I felt there was also a basic human rights issues involved. Do we give people a second chance?”

This is another worrying case of what appears to be abuse of disciplinary procedure to target known activists within an educational institution, and I would encourage people to do everything they can to support London Met Unison and UCU branches and the suspended three. You can get to the campaign page here:

http://www.londonmetunison.org.uk/campaigns/suspension-of-jawad-botmeh-and-max-watson-stop-the-witch-hunt/

and the campaign blog here: http://goo.gl/FFyiI

You can also sign a petition here: http://goo.gl/XceXs

London Met UNISON ask that supporters can help in the following way:

• Attend the Lobbies (watch this space for news and updates)
• Send the Vice Chancellor and HR an email using our template
• Join the Facebook group
• Submit the model motion to union branches to Defend Jawad and Max (amend to add Steve Jefferys)
• Send messages of support and solidarity to unison@londonmet.ac.uk : encourage friends, colleagues in other institutions and your community to do the same
• Donations to support our campaigning – cheques to ‘UNISON London Metropolitan University’ gratefully received,
  Chris Manna, UNISON Treasurer, Room TM 189, London Metropolitan University, 166-220, Holloway rd. N7 8DB

They are not always the most popular amongst the left but I have personally got a lot of time for the SWP. The activists I know are amongst the most dedicated, organised and supportive. They live their politics more than practically any other political group I know - every political protest is an opening to agitate, and no social injustice is knowingly allowed to pass without a demonstration of support.

The SWP view of feminism is that they work alongside feminists, and share common short term goals. Ultimately international revolutionary socialism is the goal, and should be viewed as the solution for female oppression (amongst all other forms of oppression) - international revolutionary socialism, and not feminism. This is not to say that large numbers of members do not act with the same values as (marxist) feminists, and members may identify as feminist individuals. If this was all theoretical, then this could technically be a matter of semantics - broadly, any movement aiming to end female oppression could be classed as sympathetic to feminism or even feminist. However, recent events show that the reality is that there is a line in the sand.

Following the Comrade Delta crisis, it looks as though the party line is that it is time to move forward. Party unity is seen as the ultimate key to revolutionary progress, and affirmation of the decisions made by the CC is seen as the way to continue in a unified way. There are issues surrounding how this has been dealt with which must be troubling for feminists within the party - the questions over how the complainant was examined specifically, as issues surrounding freedom of members to discuss and organise outside of the party structure, which don’t appeal to me but presumably are democratically agreed and known by members as party rules, are in a way separate. Whether this will mean an exodus of feminist members or lead to the intended level of closure remains to be seen. Can you be a feminist within a party that has the stated hierarchical goal of revolutionary international socialism above feminism, and will organise where necessary to reinforce this goal? I don’t know.

Meanwhile, the radical Fems are organising again. After last year’s backlash it seems they are not specifically barring trans women in their entry requirements this year, though the internet is already kicking off within days of the conference being announced with the rad Fems in one corner and pretty much everyone else in the other. I think in general I probably share many more values with the SWP than I do with rad Fems. I don’t believe in biological essentialism, and I struggle with a feminist movement that excludes any women. I reject an analysis of sex-work which denies sex-workers agency, although I recognise the harm sex-work does to many women. I think it is far too simplistic to see gender as something which always privileges and enables male domination. I view the hierarchical structure of society as the source of patriarchy, not individual males. That doesn’t mean all issues they raise are automatically dubious - apparently they will be discussing how to organise mothers for recognition of labour, for example.

Like the SWP, Rad Fems are revolutionaries who live their politics with a passion. Like the SWP they tend to reduce revolution to a specific class - in the case of Rad Fems, (cis) women are the slave class - which excludes intersectional nuance. For Rad Fems - or at least those who are particularly vocal in relation to this on the internet, who may or may not represent their sisters - frustration at the patriarchal system is crystallised into rage. Rage is good at motivating and driving, but it simplifies, and when it is directed at vulnerable others who are also restricted by the cultural power assigned to biological sex as a signifier of identity, it could be argued to be working against the overall goal of revolutionary feminism, because it stays within the (non-radical) boundaries.

I was sad but not surprised to learn of the resignation of Professor Ian Parker from MMU in an ongoing climate of witch hunts against political activists within educational institutions.

When I did my degree in the late 90s/early 00s Ian Parker’s ideas had a huge influence on me in terms of how my thinking about Psychology developed. He was a real force for change in Psychology, encouraging the reader to critically unpack the relationship between cultural hegemony and scientific “truth”. He was part of a wave of critical theorists within Psychology who pointed to the inevitable confounding variable of power in the traditional laboratories of knowledge production, developing practice for the use of discourse analysis and critical self-awareness within the field.

Last Autumn Ian Parker was suspended from his post at MMU, with the university alleging gross professional misconduct. The allegations appear to surround e-mails sent by Ian Parker to colleagues in which he questioned the actions of management in terms of workload and appointment procedures. He was a departmental union rep for UCU. Following a disciplinary hearing he was allowed to return to work in December, but he is now apparently at the point where his position is unworkable, and has resigned, stating:

“The University was making me sick. It was time to get out. My professional work as an academic has been undermined to the point where there is now nothing left to return to in the psychology department. Not only have my conditions of work changed, but the research base I helped to build in the last 27 years at MMU has very rapidly been dismantled.”

What this represents is an indicator of the absolute crisis being brought about in the education system by the conflict between the corporate model being politically imposed under the guise of sustainability, and the universal necessity of freedom of thought and expression for education to be functional.

In Primary and Secondary schools, academisation is being aggressively pursued, and this will lead to a huge weakening of the checks and balances against internal poor management decision making. With unions castrated by the inevitable changes in conditions and management “freed” from the structure of national governance, there will be little in place to protect students from the inevitably market-led downgrading of provision. The word “freedom” is used a lot in privatisation, but what it refers to is freedom for the powerful few from multiple accountability. In FE the consequences of long term incorporation mean the power of senior management is ever on the rise against increasingly weakened unions, with teaching staff now seemingly sackable at will in relation to student outcomes, with no robust protection for students from drops in standards of provision as a result of the increasingly lean climate of cuts. Our Universities are seeking out injunctions against student displays of protest, and it is the norm for the future of academic departments to rest on market value in terms of research production.

The encroachment of corporate culture within the education system is happening at every level, with disastrous consequences. It may be mainly Marxists who are specifically being targeted at the moment, but the writing is on the wall for the principles of liberalism and free thought in education if it is allowed to continue. We need a mass movement of students and educators across all levels beyond the scale of anything seen previously if this attack is to be effectively resisted.

Having made it - at least temporarily - into a top 100 list of independent tweeting bloggers and a top fifteen (top 100 here - http://goo.gl/yZO4h , top 15 here - http://goo.gl/eeibq - I did learn how to use a link shortener this year but still don’t know how to html words to get you there!) I thought I should post something.

There is a lot of injustice going on very close to me that I want to talk about at the moment and sadly can’t, so instead I thought I would have a go at doing my own end of year round-up. I’ve seen a fair few general political ones so I thought I would go for a feminist one. Please link to any oversights and additions by commenting below and I will add/link. The order is arbitrary. I’ve gone for five blogs, five feminist tweeters who as far as I am aware don’t blog - again, please comment to let me know if wrong or of any additions - and five events. 

Top 5 blogs

1) Sarah Graham (@SarahGraham7 - formerly petitefeministe I think)

Blog here: http://sarah-graham.co.uk/author/petitefeministe/ (there is a Tumblr too)

Public twitter here: https://twitter.com/SarahGraham7

Sarah links to a lot of interesting blogs with retweets and feeds through to various feminist takes on issues in the media in her twitter feed. She is studying journalism and has written some good stuff on Leveson and media sexism.

2) Black Feminists (@BlackFems)

Blog here: http://blackfeminists.org/blog/

Twitter here: https://twitter.com/blackfems

Various authors. Key blog in pointing towards unchecked privilege in mainstream feminist media, from unpicking Guardian articles featuring exclusive images and comments from white liberal feminists, to providing a leading critical voice to point towards intersectional class/ethnicity issues during Morangate.

3) The F word (@thefwordUK)

Blog here: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/

Twitter here: https://twitter.com/thefworduk

Best round up. Lots of guest writers, always on top of the week’s issues. Very good at amplifying different voices. Have done some great work this year in terms of networking different feminists together, which I think was powered by Phillipa (@incurablehippie)

4) Prymface (@prymface)

Blog here: http://prymface.yolasite.com/blog.php

Twitter here: https://twitter.com/prymface

Dynamic voice for young mothers - her work this year has included the weekly youngmumschat sessions on twitter, campaigning for young mothers in education on issues like the funding cuts, and general advocacy work. Inspirational.

5) Cath Elliott (@cathelliott)

Blog here: http://toomuchtosayformyself.com/

Twitter here: https://twitter.com/CathElliott

“Outspoken” trades unionist and campaigner against violence against women. I don’t agree with all of Cath’s views - in particular her stance on making prostitution illegal - but she provides a strong media presence for powerful, well reasoned, feminist, trades unionist arguments.

Top 5 twitters

1) Shan Kilby (@shankilby)

Anti-VAWG activist. Links to all the things lots of people probably would rather not read about. She is awesome.

2) The Astell Project (@astellproject)
Educational activists who want women and gender studies introduced into schools. As a mother of a child who had already knew her favourite colour was pink at the age of 2, I don’t think it can come soon enough.

3) Chitra Nagarajan (@Chitranagarajan)

Socialist feminist. Director of Southall Black Sisters. Highlights international VAWG issues as well as providing a strong critical voice on the need to recognise intersectionality in mainstream feminism.

4) Women’s networking hub (@drivingequality)

Do a lot of work in connecting and amplifying feminist voices in the midlands. Have recently been influential in calling for the Nobel Prize for Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education. Have also launched Shelve It, a campaign encouraging activists to rate newsagents for display of sexist imagery.

5) Zenscara (@zenscara)

Feminist trades unionist, who does a lot of work highlighting the growing issue of casualisation in education. Gets told she how young and small she is a lot, apparently, which says a lot about what we need to do in trades unions to open them up to women activists.

Top five events

I’m going to brave some youtube clips here so here’s hoping that the links work!

1) Pragna Patel speaks on the impact the cuts are having on the most vulnerable at UK Uncut Refuge from the Cuts:
Pragna Patel is the best speaker ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gx5YO2MvBJk#!

2) Fem Lobby: UK feminista feminist lobby of parliament

Those of you who are familiar with my ongoing “relationship” with my MP Chris Kelly may be unsurprised to hear that I didn’t get to meet him at the lobby. Watch the video to see why I wanted to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXew23GOQYM

3) Reclaim the night, Delhi

After the slutwalk movement of the last couple of years, we are facing ongoing battles against sexual assault survivor blaming both nationally and internationally. Here thousands of students, teachers and activists take back the streets of Delhi following the horrific events of the last month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUhei6TZvcw

4) Malala Yousafzai shot

The teenage activist and campaigner for female education was shot by the Taliban earlier this year. This footage shows her explaining why she risks her life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-tRcDvZ8EU

5) March for a Future that Works

As we approach the third year of coalition rule, austerity Britain continues to take from the most disempowered within society to enhance the wealth for the few, with cuts falling disproportionately on women in terms of cuts to jobs and services, and retroactive ideological moves to put women’s bodily autonomy up for debate. Women now form the majority of trades union members, with the first General Secretary Elect Frances O’Grady about to take the lead. In October trades unionists marched on parliament to demand a better future, but can we recognise our power and act collectively to stop the all out assault on workers, the poor, women and minorities? Let’s hope so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxuwFJ4pcp8