Re: [xmca] Access to articles and discussion

Well I'm not one of those who vote and don't discuss but I
am willing to have a guess at issues here, and maybe people
will be provoked into correcting me?

I have had brief discussions with several people either
offline or via FaceBook who have expressed an interest in
xmca discussions but say (basically) they are not clever
enough to contribute. Having been assured that this is
absolutely not the case, they later go on to become
contributors. For some, it is that fear of speaking up and
maybe getting their heads bitten off. In other cases, I am
sure, it is a simple matter of the insanity of academic
workloads already driving people to the edge.

I have racked my brain and failed to come up with a viable
means of resolving this, other than being civil and
respectful in discussions. When I asked about Bobath,
someone who had never spoken before spoke up saying "At last
something I feel qualified to speak on." Likewise, when I
asked for help for my brother with his daughter's maths
problems, loads of really helpful and knowledgeable people
spoke up. But the general debate, people seem to find
intimidating. And yet, in my experience, unjustifiably so.

Andy

Mike Cole wrote:
> I fear that at present the article to be made available free for discussion
> at Taylor and Francis
> has not been released. The ever-lengthening duration of Thanksgiving holiday
> has probably not
> helped matters. Consequently, many, probabaly most, members of xmca do not
> have access to the
> article in question by Stetsenko and Sawchuk. We are working on it.
>
> The issue of discussion of article in MCA that are not made available free
> is even more difficult and we
> are working on that too. We have a situation where often two or more
> articles are ones that people want
> to discuss but we are unlikely to get T&F to offer the journal for free. So
> we are discussing with them
> the cost of electronic versions so that acces to people without the
> financial means to get access can
> be handled in a viable way.
>
> Simultaneously, I would not that more than 30 people voted to discuss the
> Sanino article, but to date, very
> few people have availed themselves of the opportunity they obtained for the
> group by their votes. I take
> this to be a problem and would appreciate suggestions for making XMCA a more
> multi-voiced forum for
> discussion. Might the overwhelming majority of people who voted for
> discussion of this article but who have
> failed to comment on it help me and others understand what is a foot. Is it
> amplification or amputation, perhaps some productive transformation, that is
> required
>
> The academic semester/quarter draws to a close in the United States. The
> stock market is open in Asia. The people of Mumbai, Peshewar, Ramadi,
> Eastern Congo, flood raviged Brazil and elsewhere bury their dead. The polar
> bears, I hear, are enjoying a cool winter, but word is sparse from that part
> of the world. The future beckons. What is that she is holding in her hand?
> Or is it behind our backs?
> mike
> _______________________________________________
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> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>

-- 
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Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435 
Skype andy.blunden
Hegel's Logic with a Foreword by Andy Blunden:
http://www.marxists.org/admin/books/index.htm
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