Come along to The Counting House at 7pm to listen to Ciaran’s talk. Share a crust of bread, and hear the reflections he has to share…
Strange Terrain: Part Three – A Different Kind Of Revolution
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Robert Burns was a radical, subversive political dissident throughout his life. His poems push against oppression, injustice and the treatment of the poor. Becoming the flavour of the time of the Edinburgh bourgeoisie he redoubled his efforts to change the social landscape of Scotland through his prose, art and opinions. This put him at odds with the powers that be, and his risked his freedom to shout for the common man.
He sympathised with the republican ideals of the American Revolution of 1776, as well as the French Revolution of 1789, although his own government declared war on both republics.
This is the work of Kenneth Wilson B.Sc.(Edin.); a thesis presented in 1998 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. It is published in sections on the Ragged University website, and this is the overview.
This thesis addresses the crisis of modernity by examining three inter-related concepts, namely, action, rationality and mediation. Part One on action examines three often neglected aspects of human agency. The first of these is the agent’s relationship with the biosphere or environment. Against a tendency to see the agent as isolated from the biosphere it is argued that he or she is inextricably dependent on it. Read more…
On the 26th Aug 2011 in the Edinburgh International Festival, Jatin Puri, an Indian Musician did a talk called “Music in India; Music in Me”. This is the podcast of the talk. Having been involved in the music industry in India since 2004, he brought a wealth of insight into the forces with which an independent musician has to contend in India. With a desire to have always been a musician, it was his dream since being a child. Read more…
The University of Manchester Library has been running a credit-bearing course unit called The Digital Society for the past two years as part of the University College programme.
Humanity at present is like lemmings preening there fur coats before going over the cliff, but we are taking many other species with us. David Attenborough has stated that he can think of no environmental problem that would be easier to solve with fewer people. The difference we can make is the difference between 8 billion and 10 billion but we can only do this by facing up to the problem and braking the taboo of talking about it. We do not need coercion, set limits or eugenics but we do need to talk. Read more…
As a social education project, Ragged University is built upon a foundation of a theory of culture as a framework for directing activity which supports civic involvement. Over time the model is evolving as it comes into contact with new thinkers and is added to, changed and evolved to fit the spaces and people which animate it.
In July 2014 Ragged Uni teamed up with Edinburgh Fringe Live and the Peartree to put on a small music festival where bands played, got live streamed and the crowd put what money they could into a hat. It was all done on a voluntary basis and the idea was to explore what could be done for zero budget to promote local bands and hopefully put a few quid into their hands. It was a success and many bands played, people enjoyed themselves and reached into their pockets to give a few quid, also they were live streamed.
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“If we don’t want the information age to deliver widespread economic and political destruction, we must commit to including all citizens in a dialog about creating a just and equitable future. In the end, our liberation is bound up in each other; we all sink or swim together.”
Professor Virginia Eubanks wrote the book Digital Deadend from her time living and working with a YWCA just outside of New York. Her experiences trying to provide free education, support and span the ‘digital divide’ led her to write this book. Her studies show the myths which are perpetuated around the rhetoric of the digital age – i.e. computers will make us all free; it will make education accessible to all; the ‘poor’ lack skills whilst the rich have them…
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