Author: Editors

Just come from a talk by Henry Overman at LSE and jotting down some reactions. He has that kind of cocky, glib, style of presentation common among liberal (mainstream) economists which I find very hard to challenge in the heat of the session. Continue reading “Liberal nostrums, relaxation of planning…”

Usual fine orgy of eating and drinking and playing games with words. Two good big fat books came as presents: Osssie gave me Hobsbawm’s How to Change the World: tales of Marx and Marxism and Gavin gave me David Graeber’s Debt: the first 5,000 years. I have started on Hobsbawm, though I struggled with the first chapter—on the pre- and post-Marx history of socialism—because I just don’t know enough history to follow it all. But then Continue reading “christmas, eating, reading”

Life has been busy, what with capitalism melting in Europe, the Occupation in London and elsewhere, plus domestic life and UCL. I seem to be more active on Twitter these days, where there is more interaction and immediacy. And 140 characters suits me. Immediacy is gripping at the moment and I had some cheering (actual) visits to the Occupation. Continue reading “Catch-up: deck chairs moving around”

The occupation outside St Paul’s is a week old and an offshoot has started up in Finsbury Square where there is plenty of room and no pesky priests quoting Health and Safety (!) and ding the bidding of their insurers. I have nothing special to say which others aren’t already saying. Penny Red doing well and also in the New Statesman, and the Occupation web site itself.

I went down yesterday and, getting off the bus at Bank, saw a crowd in the triangular plaza in front of the Royal Exchange. It turned out to be a ‘teach-out’ from the Occupation: a great idea. In this one John Christenson from the Tax Justice Network was doing his super-expert stuff on tax havens and avoidance. Had a large crowd gripped. Then along at St Paul’s some very cheery people, stickers, music, argumentation… Good age range, though with a missing middle as usual.

Had a friendly exchange of tweets with a radical knitter ‘Deadlyknitshade’ because I had her mouse on my screen last week and it formed the unintended background for a 0900 class at UCL. 0900 is bad enough, but the Victoria Line was playing up and many of us were late, with no breakfast. As I started stirring the porridge (that’s what the class felt like) I began to see some smiles. Looked round. Saw the picture and explained. It helped.

Peter Marcuse in his blog has the most useful, thoughtful, analysis of the (NY) occupation. http://pmarcuse.wordpress.com/

[9 December 2011 ] The Berkeley Journal of Sociology has a magnificent page of links to scholarly and other writings, mainly North American, and talks including Harvey and Castells addressing #OccupyLSX http://bjsonline.org/2011/12/understanding-the-occupy-movement-perspectives-from-the-social-sciences/

This started on 11 August as a cut-and-paste of correspondence and links about London riots which have seemed useful. I’ve continued adding more on the bottom end, until today 31st at least. Penny K points to the good material (including this image) on Critical Legal Thinking.

Continue reading “Insurrection in London (and England)”

Wet July so the Euston Puddle is back. Last seen October 2010 – earlier chapters here. It seems just as bad as it was before I got Network Rail, TfL, the London Boorough of Camden and Skanska to sort it out. Do you suppose I have to mobilse them again each time it rains?

Next post on this topic is Spring 2012, as the Puddle prepares for the Olympic Games.