27th Feb 2020: The Colonisation of Economics and the Reduction of Everything to Finance
Come along to the Safari Lounge (21 Cadzow Pl, Edinburgh EH7 5SN) at 6pm to listen to a talk about economics and finance by Alex
Education as Human Development
This expresses the philosophy of education underpinning the values of Ragged University. This thesis is an expanded version of a presentation originally given at the British Educational Research Association conference held in Liverpool John Moores University 8th November 2018 which spoke to the of ‘Transitions: Challenges, Threats & Opportunities across the Post-compulsory Sectors’. Its original title was ‘Education as Human Development; Rewilding and Saving Social Mammals from the Ostricism of the Market’ Read more
Action Research: Outputs, Outcomes and the Political Setting
What follows is the section of my action research project analysing the metrics and bureaucracies inserted into the support-need junctures which influence and determine the support which people receive from various organisations and support services. Read more
Lifelong Learning that learns for Life! by John Salway
I came up to Edinburgh at the end of April to experience a Ragged University event for myself and got in touch with Alex in advance to explain why. After having retired from teaching Drama and English, running a Theatre-in-Education operation and engaging in non-institutional teacher-training, I have had time to reflect at length on the upshot of that whole working life. Read more
Podcast: George Monbiot; How Did We Get Into This Mess ?
This podcast was recorded on 16th March 2016 at University of Edinburgh,for the Ragged University project by request. With thanks to Elaine and Tarlochan at Wordpower Books, and thanks to Stuart for being welcoming with technical support. Elaine from Wordpower Books, Scotland’s Independent and Radical Bookshop introduces the event they have produced in conjunction with the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.
The main lecture is George Monbiot who is launching his latest book – How Did We Get Into This Mess. The Twitter hashtag which was set up was #thismess.
The Moral Marketplace by Doreen Soutar
As Kermit famously said, it’s not easy being green. And ironically, as ethical consumption gets more popular, it has also become more difficult to judge which products are ethical and which aren’t. In this article, we start by looking at the part emotion plays in purchasing decisions and the gradual demand for greater product morality. We assume that sellers – spookily enough – are highly interested in selling us stuff, and getting our money is what gets them out of bed in the morning.
We end up at the shocking conclusion that we will only get more ethical products if we give our cash to sellers that treat their produce as if it is worth something to them. Bet you weren’t expecting that!