Manchester is famous the world over for its football, its music and now, sadly, for being the latest in an ever-lengthening list of European cities that have suffered terrrorist atrocities- Madrid, London, Oslo, Brussels, Berlin, Nice, Paris – in recent years. (And globally the list takes in Oklahoma City, Boston, Mumbai, Baghdad and so very many... Continue Reading →
On the Manchester bombing – safety, fear, solidarity
Facebook messages come through every minute - people marking themselves as "safe." Twenty two people are not, and sixty more are physically wounded. The psychological wounds for others who were there, for the emergency services, and for others further afield (loved ones, friends) will take time to be obvious, longer still to heal (if they... Continue Reading →
When you think climate change, think “dam”…. #3MT
Here's me giving my spiel in the "Three Minute Thesis" heat at University of Manchester Here's the slide I used. And... I'm through to the Three Minute Thesis Final to be held on Wednesday June 7, between 2pm and 3:30pm in University Place Lecture Theatre A. You can register for a (free!) ticket https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/university-of-manchester-three-minute-thesis-final-2017-tickets-34791162303. ... Continue Reading →
Learning by doing – it’s the only way…
Case. Study. Bloody. Research. Still, it meant I read Stake, R. 1995. The Art of Case Study Research. London: Sage, And on page 35-6 there is this gem- One century ago, philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey argued that science was not moving in the direction not helping humans understand themselves: Only from his actions, his fixed utterances, his... Continue Reading →
Constant craving- of liberty, independence and the State…
Researching my thesis/an article-I-want-to-submit somewhere, I got interested (i.e. briefly stuck my head down a rabbit hole) in the question on the use and abuse of metaphor in political theory. Via inter-library loan, got hold of this- Ankersmit, F. 1993. Metaphor in Political Theory. In Ankersmit F. and Mooij, J. Knowledge and Language Vol III.... Continue Reading →
Obama, Trump, Omar, Levy. The game…
I am no fan of Trump, obvs. But this emoluments thing, about him crassly (and everything about the Donald is crass) enriching his family and business through the POTUS gig. Everyone is losing their shit about it, but when Obama gets a gig to give a speech for 400k for it people were slightly less bothered. If I... Continue Reading →
Social skill (which I clearly lack!)
Social skill is defined as “the capacity for inter-subjective thought and action that shapes the provision of meaning, interests and identity in the service of collective ends” [Fligstein & McAdam, 2012 p.4] Fligstein, N. & McAdam, D. 2012, A Theory of Fields, Oxford University Press, New York, New York. Hat-tip to Stephen McGrail
Retching wretchedly in the datasmog
Long-time case researcher Harry Wolcott wrote in his manual (1990). The critical task in qualitative research is not to accumulate all the data you can, but to “can” (i.e. get rid of) most of the data you accumulate. This requires constant winnowing. The trick is to discover essences and then to reveal those essences with... Continue Reading →
2019: How the #climate activists blew it, again #debacle #doomed
Imagine it's 2019. Imagine that "climate activists" get the perfect conditions handed to them on a plate. What would happen? Sometimes Mother Nature gives climate change activists a boost. She tried in the summer of 1988. She tried again in August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina bulls-eyed New Orleans. She tried again in the long... Continue Reading →
Neoliberalisms: Combative, Normative and Punitive
Neoliberalism, eh? That handy catch-all insult that helps mainstream liberals not say "capitalism", that helps radicals not have to think very hard about how to think or communicate. Nota bene, I am not saying it is not real, that it does not matter, that there is not a usefulness to the term. Just that we tend... Continue Reading →
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