Eugene and others,
As far as the scare tactics I do think there are areas of concern that
should not be dismissed. First they decentralized the economy and no one
noticed, then they decentralized the unions and no one noticed, and then
the decentered public education and no one noticed etc, etc. The anology
doesn't seem that far fetched, but then again I think the X-files is a
documentary. Seriously though, modernism with all its faults has given us
certain institutions that mediate, protect etc. from other institutions
including business. I think there is definately a reason for concern
especially is an age when we think the rest of the world is our plaything.
Absolute power corrupts and I fear we are going full speed ahead in that
direction.
Nate
> As Nate recently wrote we should be careful in not making historically
and
> cultural particular as universal. I think we should critically
investigate
> of modernist ideological discourse bashing "illiteracy". I think it was
a
> tool for fighting traditional societies and probably contributed to
> colonialism. I do not want to romanticize traditional societies either
but
> I do not think it is only either-or approaches. By the way, we should
not
> scare ourselves to death by Third, Fourth, and Fifth, and so on ways of
> doing things (I'm teasing at our recent xmca discourse suggesting that
any
> attempts to deviate from traditional "right" and "left" ideologies will
> unavoidably lead to the EVIL like nazism) :-)
>
> What do you think?
>
> Eugene
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Phil Graham [mailto:pw.graham@student.qut.edu.au]
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 1999 8:02 AM
> > To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: Re: Campaign Against Public Schools
> >
> >
> > Ricardo,
> >
> > I'm not saying that literacy will automatically ensure protection
against
> > ideological violence, but what I _am_ saying is that the ruling class
have
> > historically enjoyed the priviliges of literacy, which is a
communication
> > and therefore an organisational technology (ie a technology of control
for
> > _them_ . Therefore it matters not in the least to the ruler whether the
> > ruled are literate or not). Critical literacy is a different matter.
> > Critical literacy can _definitely_ protect people; illiteracy cannot
and
> > will not. That's why critical literacies are largely shunned
> > throughout the
> > world.
> >
> > I think the question "what are schools for?" is the question that needs
to
> > be answered; not whether we ensure (or at least strive for) equal
access
> > for all to the very best of education.
> >
> > Smashing public education will do more damage than it is possible to
> > imagine. Thanks for the refs, I'll read them with interest.
> >
> > Phil
> >
> > At 17:56 18-05-99 -0200, you wrote:
> > >You wrote:
> > >"An illiterate society will be no more well equipped to protect itself
> > >from the violence of ideologues than will a literate one. To argue to
> > >the contrary is crazy."
> > >
> > >Well,
> > >Recently I give a look in a book published under Valsiner and Oliveira
> > >responsability in with there are very interesting articles on
Literacy.
> > >The book name is LITERACY IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, by Ablex Publishing
> > >Corp., Stamford, Connecticut and London, England, 1998.
> > >
> > >The articles "Schooling, Literacy, and Social Change: Elements for a
> > >Critical Approach to the Study of Literacy" by Angela Kleiman (pgs.
> > >183-225)and "Conceptual Organization and Schooling" by Marta Kohl de
> > >Oliveira (pgs. 227-245)sign "larger and more complex structures, and
> > >cultural differences" - and not so stable relations between Literacy
and
> > >one's awareness/consciousness of ideologies violence action.
> > >
> > >
> > >Ricardo.
> > >
> > >
> > Phil Graham
> > p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
> > http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ----------
> > "Another damned fat book, eh, Mr Gibbon? Scribble, scribble, scribble,
eh,
> > Mr Gibbon?" - The Duke of Gloucester to Edward Gibbon upon the
> > publication
> > of "Decline and Fall".
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ----------
> >
>