Interregnum, populist moment, or paradigm shift?

This year I have had the absolute pleasure to be heavily involved in the running of a 'new' course for the MSc Social Justice and Community Action, of which I am the programme director. The course has been on-the-books since the inception of the programme, but, so I'm told, it has never run for a variety of reasons. The course is called Learning for Democracy and it has been an absolute joy to run, even in the middle of intense industrial action. In fact, being locked into a period of upheaval like this has, arguably, augmented the content of the course and made it even more relevant.

At its heart, the course is about the paradoxes inherent within liberal democracy and how different models of democracy all - implicitly or explicitly - attempt to reconcile such paradoxes to make democracy more relevant to the demos. It also examines the recent crises in neoliberalism and capitalism, and challenges its students to ask the question: are we currently going through a crisis of democracy. And, if so, what can / should be done about it? The students have a plethora of models and tools at their disposal, and they need to consider, as informal or formal educators, what are the 'best' ways to respond to such crises with different learning groups?

Co-organising this course in the middle of intense industrial action has been a very educational process for me. The typical recording of asynchronous lecture format had to be radically re-thought as industrial action has left us very little time between lectures to actually do the preparation for the next one - all of this course is new content and material and any academic will tell you this can be extraordinarily time consuming. So, about three weeks in we realised we had to do something different or we wouldn't be able to deliver a substantive amount of this course. We started lectures as dialogues, between two of the teaching team each week. I've been involved in every dialogue since they began and not only have I found it a great way to teach, but the 'bouncing' ideas off each other during recording has really provoked some stimulating discussions about very important issues we are all going through, whether we recognise these or not.

What has been equally exciting is the students working together to produce learning for democracy projects, each to tackle issues that are important to the groups they work with IRL or prospective groups they want to work with. This has led to some very rich discussions about issues that groups are facing all over the globe and the barriers that our students face implementing projects such as these. What has been discussed at length is a growing preference across some parts of the globe of 'removing' politics from education and the powers-that-be creating increasing sanctions for teachers / facilitators who don't. This has provoked some interesting discussions about if this is contributing to what Chantal Mouffe calls 'a populist moment' and, even more worryingly, leaving citizens unprepared for the lure of populism and/or authoritarianism?

All involved in the course have been struggling for years to find the 'right' way forward for politics. Charges of corruption are espoused in most parts of the world and there is a admission that democracy has suffered from the expansion of capitalism, neoliberalism and globalisation which leaves politics increasingly vulnerable to market interference and, potentially, domination. Within such processes, it becomes more difficult to separate political ideologies or even recognise when political parties and/or political leaders are espousing contradictory or pick-n-mix ones that can - and do - have disastrous consequences for citizens across the globe. Within such an 'interregnum' or populist moment it surely makes more sense for educational processes to engage more with political education rather than less.

But, less overt engagement means that politics is still being transmitted, but in taken-for-granted ways which are treated as 'normal' and part of the 'natural order'. This is torturous, where people 'know' that the systems they are embedded within are unfair but they lack necessary toolkits to be able to evaluate and analyse these systems in a systematic way. It's not easy to do this and there are debates galore about what is the appropriate role of the educator, how much knowledge they should 'transmit' and how much to enable students to develop their own toolkits, even though they may be problematic. There are other debates as well, around partisanship and around what models you can use in educational spaces to enable debate and difference, and whether it is the best outcome to come to a consensus or not. Nevertheless, it really is encouraging to be able to have these conversations and hear about the great work that is being done around the world, despite shrinking spaces for this type of work to flourish.

The optimist in me hopes we are moving towards a paradigm shift, a shift where a new or existing model of democracy - or something very much like democracy - materialises to get us out of this interregnum or populist moment. Like Zizek, I don't think populism is the answer. It requires the political - and politics - to be excessively simplified to build questionable alliances that benefit some groups more than others. We need more political education, not less, and in a critical way. There are no easy answers but, in many ways, this is exciting. A new horizon is waiting to be seen and embraced, somewhere just out of sight. I need to keep focused on that and keep questioning or I would become increasingly pessimistic as authoritarianism incessantly creeps. I'm in the right place to do that though, surrounded by great people. There is a lot, for which, to be thankful.

Rolling With The Punches

I watched a video on Youtube recently about the Monkey forecast for the Year of the Water Tiger 2022. For those not au fait with Chinese Astrology, we are currently going through a Water Tiger year, and I am a Metal Monkey. The Monkey and the Tiger are enemies, nemeses so the speak. They are also opposites which means that they actually overlap in lots of characteristics. My mother is a Tiger so I know all about this. I love my mother very deeply, but we fight and disagree about almost everything. It's a difficult relationship to sustain with the clashes, but the other person's viewpoint is crucial when big crises arise. They see what you don't and vice versa. They are indispensable.

Your nemesis year happens when you are (or about to turn) 6, 18, 30, 42, 54, 66, 80, 92 years old. So far, they have been growth years but the pace can be exhausting, leading to the following year (of the Rabbit / Cat) being a recovery year. Indeed, at the tail-end of my last Tiger year (2010) I contracted glandular fever and the following year was spent recovering from it. The Tiger year before (1998) I was watching a primary caregiver succumb to cancer and she finally left us at the end of that Tiger year, and I spent the following year on mood stabilisers and in psychotherapy. The Tiger year before that my parents had just separated and we had to live with elderly extended family until my mum was able to get her own house. What I do remember was lots of instability and anxiety.

Unsurprisingly, I have been quite anxious about how this year is going to go. It has already thrown me a couple of curve balls (striking at work, pension cuts, etc). I usually consult astrology on a fairly regular basis to see what's coming up and what I need to work on. I have been apprehensive about doing that this year, because the forecast is usually along the lines of 'batten down the hatches, a storm is coming and it will wipe you out!'. I was actually surprised to hear that although this will be the case in a lot of respects this year, actually this is a very good year for Monkeys. We have a lot of stars working in our favour, more than any other sign. It will be a tough year as unexpected barriers will keep popping up to challenge us. But, we will have enough resources and support to not only get through it but to thrive.

There was an expression that the astrologer used that I thought was brilliant. She said, 'Monkeys, this is the year you learn to roll with the punches'. I thought about what that really meant, and I found it very insightful. The majority of the time, we see barriers as blocks; as objects stopping us from going in the direction we want to pursue. But, what if the barriers are telling you that you need to go off piste for a little while and develop in other directions? What if you actually commit to learning about how the barriers can actually develop you? Instead of putting all your energy to hit an immovable object and keep bashing your head against it, you learn all about that object and the skills that are needed to overcome it; and learning about yourself all in that process? There's a very different conception of agency there. It's like being tied to a huge weight in the sea leaving you to be bashed about by the waves. But, you are unlikely to drown. Someone will eventually find you and the weight will be removed. So, take that rare opportunity to meditate on life and yourself, and keep the faith. It could end horribly, but the chances are it won't. Roll with the punches, they are trying to teach you something you haven't yet learned to the necessary degree.

That's my motto for this year. Things are going to come at me, but it's how I respond that is crucial and, particularly (I have learned from previous Tiger years), how I expend my energy. My aim is to be empowered, not disempowered, from everything that comes at me. To not see myself as a victim of some sort of cruel fate, but as water adjusting itself to get through the cracks to get to the other side. The only way out is through. Monkeys cannot beat Tigers. They can tease them mercilessly and get a few one-ups on them, but they can't beat them. They are too fierce and will go in for the kill if provoked. The truth is, Tigers go for larger prey anyway. So, fight alongside the Tiger. Learn its lessons and ally yourself with its mission for the year. Tigers draw their strength from adversity, and take their time to regain ground on battlefields and territories they have lost. They wait and pounce at the right opportunity. They also play the long game. They are mavericks, and use innovation to move forward bit by bit. Be more like the Tiger. It's going to be punch after punch after punch. But, roll with the punches and learn the lessons. If you do, you'll come out of this year in a better frame of mind, body and spirit than how you entered it.

Social Media, Activism, Politics, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Reading and Writing

The last few weeks have been tough in many ways. I expected them to be more grounding in some respects - time removed from day-to-day working to engage in activism work. That part, overall, has been extremely rewarding. Over the last few weeks I have been picketing and Striking on behalf of UCU (University and College Union) UK for five fights: pay, casualisation of workers, equality and diversity, workloads and pension cuts. What has been wonderful about all that activity is the camaraderie I have directly experienced with other staff at the University of Edinburgh. We've had the time and space to talk about our jobs, our lives, our values, our needs and our wants. Some of that has been framed by university expectations. But, most of that has been negotiated by us - re-assessing ourselves in this highly charged moment in time and having the space to think about alternative futures.

In the last few weeks I've also spent more time on social media than I have in a long time. Striking UCU members have been very active on social media, getting a particular (and more accurate) narrative out into the media about the calamitous and quite frankly, ruinous situation in which academics are increasing finding themselves. There have been some great posts that I've shared on Twitter about the realities of the work we do, and about how much of that is unrecognised. But, also expected. Academia is not immune from a prevalent instant gratification culture where we feel pressure to do everything now rather than stick to realistic goals that allow us to have a decent work-life balance in order to be mentally strong. We are constantly spinning a multitude of plates in the air and trying to carve spaces to work on important pieces while balancing a formal workload that is crushing in itself. The onus is left on us to put down boundaries that always leave people dissatisfied. In that process we also have to constantly remind ourselves that we are not failing but coping as best as we can. It can be demoralising.

Then there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I have also been following this on Twitter and LBC (Leading Britain's Conversation) and doing pieces of work in the background to help where I can. At the beginning of this week it all became too much. I found myself scrolling through Twitter with a buzzing going on in my head and feeling very lightheaded. Once I came off Twitter, I found it very difficult to concentrate on anything for even short periods of time - I was constantly checking my phone to see if there had been any updates. Not only that, but Twitter's algorithm had chosen both UCU and Russia / Ukraine posts as issues that I 'wanted' to focus on, so my home page was over-saturated with new takes, news and opinions. So the cycle would begin once again and I would be locked in the virtual world for even more time, coming out feeling even more lightheaded and struggling to concentrate.

It's really a no-brainer that my conclusions from this 'experiment' is that social media isn't very good for my mental health. Of course, social media is the vehicle and is not (fully) responsible for this tumultuous time in which we find ourselves. But, I do appreciate more now why there are informal guidelines about using social media in ways that are not detrimental to mental health. So, I've been taking a bit of a step back the last few days - from both social media and the picket line - to try and ground myself when I actually have the opportunity to do that because of strike action. It is equally the time to consolidate as it is to act. The former includes giving yourself enough space to think through the realisations that have been coming at you, not solely stoking them and reifying them until they become mental prisons.

What I have found more useful is taking the time to listen to podcasts, watch debates and read key texts that are all directly related to the moment in which we find ourselves. Where the underlying issues and structural mechanisms are exposed and there is a narrative of change. Where we can connect these particular issues to more broader issues that have been permeating for some time and there is debate how we can get out of this. I've found the work of Yanis Varoufakis and Rebecca Solnit quite illuminating. Whilst I have read some of their work before, it was just the space to listen to debates they've been having recently which gave me some hope, albeit a bit morose hope. The issues that we are all facing today are not new. But, in between the punishing analysis in these debates, both also speak of how they cope with having all these thoughts and realisations, and how they keep going. Self care, unsurprisingly. Putting down boundaries when they need to. Rebecca Solnit was especially good on this, talking about how there are many emails that she doesn't even respond to. She can't. Though many people want her time and expertise, she can't give it out to everyone. She has to be selective, to give herself the scope to keep writing which seems to be as important to her as breathing. I'm sure parts of Rebecca Solnit would cease to exist if she couldn't find the time write regularly.

I've also given myself some 'me' time and been listening more podcast discussions, this time about creativity and writing. I've also followed up some of these podcast discussions with reading some books on the importance of writing for mental health, and about how to write. I have been concluding for a while that most academics do in fact enjoy writing, but it is the gun to your head to do it in very particular ways that has taken the joy out of it for some of us. It has become one other thing, on top of everything else, to 'achieve' and through which we are judged. Everything that I have been listening to and reading has underscored the necessity to not write for these reasons. Writing is an expression of you and sometimes it reflects back to you thoughts or ideas you didn't know you had. Start from there, and if it becomes something more than that, then that is just a bonus. Easier said than done with current pressures, but crucial to stress. In both meanings of the word.