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What's
Left?
This
was the question we used to frame our discussions in July, 2007.
It gre from a shared feeling that there was an absence
of effective resources for countering the dominant rationalities
of our time. This is a feeling that is shared across
the political left and is a particular problem in a
climate where planning and related issues are once again
high on the political agenda. "What's left?"
can be understood as a project aimed at developing critical
analysis of the state we're in, exploring the pessimism
of our collective intellect.
There
is a need for discussion and debate about the current
state of planning, joining up to wider questions about
the state of the world, and planning's position within
it. PNUK should become a focus for that discussion,
linking to other projects and campaigns that share an
interest in challenging the injustices and inconsistencies
that sustain the neoliberal order of things. This project
must seek to discover the contradictions within that
order, and therefore to analyse the bases from which
alternatives might spring. It must also provide the
bases for acting and responding to the challenges of
the current conjuncture.
The
idea is to build and maintain a se of useful resources.
If you have something to contribute get in touch through
the mail list or wiki.
Work
towards this will include:
Critical
think-pieces on current events/ developments in
planning and related fields trying to help us to understand
the political moment. (including perhaps distillations
of research into accessible think pieces for those without
access). These can be anything from a paragraph on a
recent news story to a more thought out piece of research.
The key is to generate the resources for discussion.
Collecting
Resources to help deconstruct the conventional wisdom:
o An annotated bibliographies with links to downloadable
articles etc.
o A disorientation guide for students, similar
to the one produced by PN
in North America
o Resources for campaign groups/ support for
them
Research
agendas: analysis of the gaps in research that might
help to develop a better understanding of where we're
at.
An
attempt to develop analyses that we can promote
through various media
Debates: the event in September 2007 on New
Labour and Planning could be billed as the first
pnuk debate. If further events are taken forward as
discussed on land tax, and housing market renewal this
can hopefully become a regular pnuk activity. These
can allow discussions to move from being virtual to
face-to-face and perhaps become the basis for publications,
and other publicising.
Discussion
and analysis of emerging policy: including power-points
to support practitioner presentations, resources to
help people frame responses to consultations.
This
is only intended as an indicative list. Anything anyone
wants to contribute helps. People taking forward research
or other work in areas of particular interest are encouraged
to share it through pnuk.
All of this is of course work in progress, and we're
working from a standing start. If you are interested
and feel that pnuk is a worthwhile project then your
time and energy will be very much appreciated in helping
us take this forward.
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