Notes on “Creating Transformative Anarchist Geographic Learning Spaces” by Farhang Rouhani
Neoliberalisation can be understood as the institutional erasure of place based identities. This kind of placelessness can be countered with a political pedagogy that encourages emplacement.
UAL functions as a neoliberal institution that interrupts the personal histories of a place through urban redevelopment. By encouraging the removal of Elephant and Castle’s old shopping centre to make way for a new university building, UAL participates in the destruction of local histories and also displaces its own students and workers by misaligning with place. It seems these managerial actions relate to the the “ivory tower syndrome” of higher education, where local knowledge is devalued in favour of empirical knowledge. If UAL was invested in local knowledge production, the managerial decisions would be different. More communication needs to happen between councils of authority and local communities in regards to urban planning. Also, the institutions that engage with gentrification on this scale need to be transformed by those who participate with the institution, such as students and workers. We must open lines of communication between us and community groups in Elephant and Castle to build a plan of action.
How can we subvert the mechanics of privatisation in UAL to regain our power? How can we use the facilities of our university as radical informal learning spaces for collective research?
- Collective research – with community, local and institutional.
- Across roles, students, teachers.
- As an Expedition: an invitation to a diverse publics to participate in learning about under represented communities.
- As an Institute: an active, collective site for the gathering of knowledge to be used to inform political action and policy.
3 steps for Anarchist pedagogy…
- Humility in approaching education process
- Anti-hierarchical, a mission to break down, challenge and discuss hierarchy wherever it appears
- Expand what and who is worthy of learning and teaching, enlarging the set of educaitional needs
A belief in human capabilities <3
How do we integrate theory into practice of political organising, without imposing directions on to the other? How to practice anarchist pedagogy in a soft, listening approach while being actively anti-hierarchical?