Do you ever feel you're strapped into a car that almost deliberately, wilfully, crashes into a wall? Sort of a Groundhog Day/Source Code mash-up, with Camus ruefully driving a Facel Vega and getting hit by a boulder that some clown had let roll down a hill? I do. It's like we in the 'social movement... Continue Reading →
When a Shiny New Technology is being hyped, it's in order to pump the stock up, or get venture capital. That's how the hype cycle game is played, and it happens among mostly consenting adults. Fair enough you might say. No hype and nothing gets done (maybe). But when it comes to social movement hype... Continue Reading →
And the Best Paper I Have Read This Month Award goes to... drum-roll please... Lawhon, M. and Murphy, J. 2011. Socio-technical regimes and sustainability transitions: Insights from political ecology. Progress in Human Geography. Vol. 36 (3), pp.354-378. Here is the abstract Sustainability is increasingly becoming a core focus of geography, linking subfields such as urban,... Continue Reading →
I don't get many requests to take part in research, but the rate seems to be increasing, and the to-and-fro takes up everyone's bandwidth. Therefore this; Dear Xx/Xy/prefer not to say, I am flattered by your request to take part in your research. My decision always leans to 'no' because of a) time constraints and... Continue Reading →
So, am reading about Institutional Work. And stumbled on an article that used the best television show that I ever saw ('The Wire') to talk about this and a LOT else. Not sure how I will be able to use it in The Thesis (concept of fields, relentless contestation that changes the actors - and... Continue Reading →
Goering is alleged to have said that whenever he heard the word culture he reached for his revolver. For me, whendver I hear the word 'trap' I think of my Elvis. Specifically, 'We're caught in a trap. I can't walk out....' Meanwhile, this from an article Nair, S. and Howlett. 2015. From robustness to resilience:... Continue Reading →
I went to a meeting (won't say if it was activist or academic or whatever - that's not the point). There was explicitly 'no agenda'. And we were then, without warning, asked to introduce ourselves (say what we had done, were doing and what we wanted to do around this particular issue/topic). And did they give... Continue Reading →
There's a great Paul Kelly song From Little Things, Big Things Grow, about an Aboriginal Land Rights struggle. It opens thus- Gather round people let me tell you're a story An eight year long story of power and pride British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiarri Were opposite men on opposite sides Vestey was fat with... Continue Reading →
Former US vice-president Walter Mondale once observed that political image is like mixing cement. When it's wet you can move it around and shape it, he said. But at some point it hardens, and then there is almost nothing you can do. Oakes, L. 2011. Like concrete, lie could sink Gillard. The Australian, 12 March.... Continue Reading →
So, imma try to join dots between The Last of Sheila, Australian climate politics and Bobby de Niro as Louis Cypher, with a little Clarice Starling, 'Parker,' Gene Hackman and Julian Rathbone thrown in for good measure. It all starts with this, from my PhD thesis research - The incredible Lenore Taylor wrote a piece in... Continue Reading →
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