Perhaps this is too mundane, too untheoretical, too concrete, but for
anyone in nyc area it might be of some interest - g s
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Call for Founding Meeting
Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual Organizations
November 1, 2003, in New York City
ALERT # 2
INCLUDES: DATE / TIME /EXACT LOCATION OF
THE FOUNDING MEETING OF THE
ALLIANCE OF RADICAL ACADEMIC/INTELLECTUAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual Organizations welcomes you to its
FOUNDING MEETING
DATE: NOVEMBER 1ST
TIME: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
LOCATION: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
                          SILVER BUILDING
                          100 WASHINGTON SQUARE EAST
                           ROOM 809
NEED A MAP of the area? Go to mapquest.com and fill in the address:
100 Washington Square East.
TRANSPORTATION:   NYU (New York University) is easily accessible by
the New York City Subway system. Subway lines running on the west
side are accessible from the Penn Station railroad terminal and the
42nd Street Greyhound/Trailways Bus terminal. Lines running on the
east side are
accessible from the Grand Central Station railroad terminal. You may
disembark from any of the following subway stations:
IND Lines (west side) : West 4th   Street Station: A, C and E lines
and F, V, D and B lines
Walk one block east to Washington Square Park and across the park (about 5
short blocks) to Washington Square East.
IRT Lines (west side): Christopher Street Station: 1 and 9 lines
This stop is one block further west from the IND lines above
BMT Lines: 8th Street Station: N and R lines
Walk two blocks south to Waverly Place and then three blocks west to
Washington Square East.
IRT Lines (east side): Astor Place Station:
This stop is two blocks further East from the N and R lines.
Silver Bldg, 100 Washington Square East, Room 809.
Call for Founding Meeting
Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual Organizations
November 1, 2003, in New York City
The Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual Organizations invites all
collectives, caucuses, and organizations--i.e., all groups working in,
around, in spite of institutions of higher education--and whose members are
in agreement with the principles in the draft Statement of Purpose (see at
end)--to participate in a founding meeting of the organization on November
1, 2003, in New York City, at a location to be announced. Final decisions
regarding the statement of purpose, name, and activities of the organization
will be based on discussions at the founding meeting itself, including
whether the organization is to be a loose alliance to communicate and
coordinate activities or an organization that will initiate projects and
actions on its own.GOALS OF THE FOUNDING MEETING
*To create an organizational structure to facilitate the coordination and
communication among member organizations for action around the following
themes:
-The Empire
-The fiscal crisis
-Repression of civil liberties
*To discuss and propose strategies for the following:
-Action in the academic arena
-Support of research bodies and think tanks to present new alternatives for
public debate, with an impact on policy and public opinion.
PRELIMINARY AGENDA
*Opening Remarks
*Group Presentations/Reports and Discussions of Themes and Strategies
*Breakout into possible Task Force groups for proposals
*Proposals and decisions: statement of purpose, organizational structure,and
actions
PARTICIPANTS INVITED TO ATTEND
*Delegates chosen by academic collectives, caucuses, and organizations in
and around higher education to represent their group formally, including
groups publishing radical scholarly academic journals, radical caucuses
organizing and already within unions, radical caucuses within academic
disciplinary and professional organizations, and other sites where
political/ intellectual work takes place.
*Individuals from such groups interested in bringing proposals back to their
organizations
*Individuals interested in organizing such groups in their
academic/intellectual areas
ORGANIZERS OF THE ALLIANCE
We are radical scholars and intellectuals. Many of us are activist-scholars
and activist-intellectuals who work in non-academic settings. Some of us are
veterans of the sixties, and some of us are younger; all of us are active
participants in today's new movements. In 2002-2003, we came together in the
streets, the teach-ins, the academic associations and elsewhere in
opposition to the "war on terrorism" and to the war-related fiscal crisis in
higher education and across the economy; we oppose the governmental lies
that brought the U.S. into the war, and we oppose U.S. imperialism and the
emerging U.S. empire. We are deeply concerned about growing repression and,
in particular, its impact on critical thought and expression.
BACKGROUND
An initial meeting of the Alliance, called by the Radical Caucus of the
Modern Language Association, was held on April 19, 2003, at the City
University of New York Graduate Center. A steering committee of volunteers
was charged with the task of preparing a draft Statement of Purpose and of
organizing a Founding Meeting for fall, 2003. The Steering Committee members
participating in these tasks include the following:
Betsy Bowman, Radical Philosophy Association
Barbara Foley, Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association
Patricia Keeton, Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association
Jesse Lemisch, Historians Against the War
Yusuf Nuruddin, Brecht Forum, Research Group on Socialism and Democracy
Andor Skotnes, Radical History Review and Historians Against the War
More than 25 people affiliated with radical academic and intellectual
organizations attended the initial April 19 meeting, including members of
the following groups:
*Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association
*Radical Philosophy Association
*Radical History Review
*Historians Against the War
*New Political Science
*Brecht Forum
*Research Group on Socialism and Democracy
*Latin American Studies Association
*North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) collective and journal
*Professional Staff Congress union of CUNY
*Union of Radical Political Economics
*Working Class special interest group, Conference on
*College Composition and Communication
*Caucus on Class of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies
REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION
To obtain more information or to register for the meeting, please email the
following: Alliance-*at*hotmail.com
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE (DRAFT)
The Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual Organizations is a network of
educational collectives and caucuses --brought together by the conjuncture
of the "war on terrorism"; the degradation of the economy exacerbated by,
but not totally attributable to, the war; growing repression; and
privatization and de-funding of higher education. The goals of the Alliance
are to support the work of individual caucuses and organizations through the
establishment of a national and possibly international organization and,
through this, to facilitate and coordinate activities on a larger regional,
national, and international basis in response to these developments. The
types of scholarly and intellectual groupings in the Alliance are diverse,
including radical caucuses in academic disciplinary and professional
organizations; organizations publishing radical scholarly academic journals;
radical caucuses of faculty, professionals, and graduate students both
organizing and already within unions. The Alliance invites such
organizations--as well as those who would like to organize new groups - to
join this network. While member groups are diverse in type, all affirm the
following two principles:
First, members of the Alliance--as members of scholarly and intellectual
groups organized around radical principles--recognize that social and
economic inequalities are built into the structure of capitalist society. We
also believe that inequalities of power come in many other forms: racism,
sexism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, bigotry, and discrimination based on age,
ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, creed, and native language.
Alliance members oppose all these forms of oppression and exploitation.
Second, members of the Alliance commit themselves to the principle of
activism, with\ priority to activism within the educational sector because
this is where Alliance members are concentrated. We are all activists, and
we affirm the dignity and value of intellectual work. We seek to build a
better society, free of the bigotries and inequalities mentioned above, in
which the passion for knowledge will flourish. We believe that activism, as
well as teaching, research and writing have an important role to play in
bringing about a just and humane society. We want to establish institutional
and societal conditions that will encourage analytic and critical thought as
well as foster the full development of human potential and creativity. To
these ends we seek to build and be part of a re-born left.
---
To subscribe to the Alliance of Radical Academic/Intellectual
Organizations'discussion listsev LEFTALLIANCE send an email request to
fur-*at*runbox.com
--
gregory g. sholette
<gshol-*at*artic.edu>;
Associate Professor
Arts Administration;
Visual, Critical Studies
The School of the Art
Institute of Chicago
http://www.artic.edu/~gshole/
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