#redsquareeverywhere

Dear All,

Greetings from Poland! As the members of following organizations: Public Sociology Lab at the University of Warsaw, The Youth Society of Polish Sociological Association, and Crisis Comitee of Polish Humanities, we are writing to you to express our solidarity with your cause and our support for your strike. Being students ourselves, we can assure you that here, in Poland, we are facing similar problems: every day, our Universities and schools are being colonized by the logic of profit, which prioritizes financial gain over both material and intellectual needs of staff and students.

This worrisome turn in our country's education policy has been under attack for many years by both academics and students, but the situation is not getting any better. In fact, in 2012 our government passed a reform which introduced New Public Management (under the ever convenient guise of “modernization”) into the workings of academia.

Our protests were of course completely ignored or worse, deemed “reactionary” (we explain this in more detail in two articles for Global Dialogue, which you can find under these links:

http://isa-global-dialogue.net/a-neoliberal-takeover-of-polish-higher-education/

http://isa-global-dialogue.net/open-letter-concerning-the-reform-of-higher-education/).

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education treats our views as conservative and anachronistic, as if we were the last obstacle on their road to glorious, progressive change. Therefore, in the official discourse, academia is constantly being portrayed as defensive, allegedly holding on to some imaginary “privileges” derived back from “pathological” post-socialistic system. This image, of course, stands in bright contrast to what the Ministry and other supporters of neoliberal reforms claim to represent:  the true force of emancipation and advocacy for students' rights and interests.

In reality however, the perspective and consent of Polish students is never recognized as significant. Those of us who manage to gain public attention long enough to voice our disapproval and noncompliance are all being met with indifference or accusations of being “equivocal” and lacking any “objective merit”.

This has been going on for far too long, and today, inspired by your vivid protests, we take action as well.

On Monday, May 20th, we are going to occupy a sitting of the University of Warsaw Students' Parliament, during which the Parliament will take their stance on the Chancellor's proposal to introduce new fees for students' who don't hand in their thesis by the end of their last semester (currently, students have two extra years to complete their thesis, free of charge, because of the amount of work expected from them during the last months of their BA and MA programs). Since this proposal was met with widespread dissent from faculty and students, we decided to hold a demonstration to make sure that our representatives won't give in to Chancellor's demands and that  students' rights will be upheld.

It is not much, of course, but it is still a step in the right direction, for we are still trying to find the most effective and the most accessible form of protest and raising awareness. If you were interested in sharing your experience with us or establishing cooperation, we would be more than happy to either Skype with you or welcome you to Poland. It seems we could all use some support.

UPDATE: Participants in LSE Occupation defy management's ultimatum. Please see pictures attached for management's statement dated 31/3/2015 and our response.

Dear Stuart,

We welcome and fully reciprocate your enthusiastic reception of the negotiations and discussions held with delegates from the occupation so far. In particular, we were very pleased to see this enthusiasm matched by actions, in the form of your proposal for formal tripartite discussions at the start of the summer term.

However, we would like to clarify how we feel our contribution to the democratic environment at LSE has worked and can continue to work, and how this relates to our occupation of university space.

To be clear, it goes without saying that the productive and encouraging dialogue that has come out of our occupation so far is an immediate consequence of our bringing direct action and direct democracy to the heart of the university. In the democratic and inclusive environment at LSE, and specifically in any formal discussion prompted by our demands, we believe it is essential that we continue to bring these key elements - direct democracy and direct action - to the table.

We have reached a consensus after extensive discussion that the assurances provided in your letter dated 31st March do not constitute a satisfactory response to our demands. To this end, full consensus has also been reached in the group that the assurances and clarifications listed represent the bare minimum of what the university should already be doing regardless of our ongoing occupation.

We understand that those delegated to negotiate with us have been limited in their capacity to to act more fully on our demands, and we would welcome a broadening of the participation from management at the proposed tripartite meetings, so that those who are able to make the relevant decisions are present.

Finally, we feel that it is important to acknowledge that the demands, concerns, and critiques which have emerged from our current occupation do not and cannot find their resolution in a discussion process alone. To this end, we wish to particularly redirect your attention to our demand for a permanent space for the pursuit of the aims of the Free University of London.

The process which has been initiated in the occupied space has been one of creating, on a prefigurative and propositional basis, a liberated and safe university space, run democratically by students and staff, and independent of the pressures of the market. We hope it is obvious that we cannot continue this process without access to a space along the lines of point 2) of the Liberation section of our demands document.

In this respect we believe it would be a dereliction of duty for us not to maintain an open space, providing opportunities for democratic discussion in the time leading up to the tripartite meeting, as well as opening up additional space for studying and alternative educational workshops, until the proposed discussions take place.

Yours sincerely,

Our demands have been translated into Mandarin by some amazing Taiwanese students at LSE and National Taiwan University 

Message of Support to the protests in Amsterdam, at the LSE, at King’s College, at UAL, and elsewhere

We write to express our support for, and solidarity to, the pacific and nonetheless revolutionary actions of students and staff occupying and appropriating spaces in their universities in Amsterdam, London and in many other cities around the world. Students and staff members - whether in the role of researchers, professors, technicians, and even administrators - demand a radical change in the way universities are managed. They especially argue against:

1. The idea that academia must work like a firm and run for profit;

2. The view of students as “resources” and “clients”, which forces them to take debts to satisfy their right to study, fosters an education that complies with mainstream views only  and does not encourage critical thinking;

3. The increasing burden of bureaucracy at the expenses of quality of teaching and research;

4. The position of academics in the institutions, shifting dramatically from permanent to temporary positions. Such a shift exposes teachers and researchers to the unsustainable pressure of short-term goals imposed by the “God Market”.

In this appropriation of spaces in their universities, students and staff are taking the first, concrete steps towards the creation of alternative spaces of study, research and conservation of culture and science. The objective is also to question a top-down model of management and put the academics in charge of the organisation of teaching and research.

Following the debatable goals and methods decided during the Bologna process, in recent times Italian academia has undergone several changes after the neo-liberal reform of 2010 (the so-called “Legge Gelmini”). The effects of such a blind and narrow-minded neo-liberal reform of academia are now widespread. Evaluation criteria not inspired by the scientific communities, the cancellation of national funds, the paradox of students winning scholarships with no money, etc., are just some examples of such effects. It is time to radically change direction and let staff and students, in their respective roles and within their responsibilities, claim back the guidance of academia.

We wish the occupiers success in their struggle and recognise the key role such struggles play in battling the wider neo-liberal assault upon society in favour of a multicultural, open, and democratic approach. We wish that this effort will not be confined within the local borders of individual institutions or countries, but rather will establish links among the occupiers and their supporters so to shape a different view of the world. The academic communities of Amsterdam, London and elsewhere are actively building a new view of the world. They deserve our fullest support and we hope that the movement will continuously grow.

Signed (in alphabetical order):

Stefania Arcara, Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche, Università di Catania

Alessandro Arienzo ([email protected]), Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II"

Marco Benini ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria

Margherita Benzi ([email protected]), Universita’ del Piemonte Orientale

Alberto Giovanni Biuso ([email protected]), Università di Catania

Gianluigi Boca ([email protected]), istituto di fisica, Universita' di Pavia

Francesca Boccuni,([email protected]), Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano

Jelle Bruinsma ([email protected]), European University Institute, Florence

Dino Buzzetti, formerly Department of Philosophy, University of Bologna

Calogero Cammalleri, Associato di diritto del lavoro, Università  di Palermo, Presidente nazionale CoNPAss

Fulvia Caruso ([email protected]), Università di Pavia

Elena Casetta ([email protected]), Università di Lisbona / Università di Torino

Dario Cecchi, ([email protected]), "Sapienza" Università di Roma

Angelo Cei ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Filosofia, Comunicazione e Spettacolo, Università di Roma Tre

Alessandra Chiricosta ([email protected]), University Roma 2, Tor Vergata

Sergio Ciuchi ([email protected]), University of L'Aquila

Roberta Corvi ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Filosofia - Università Cattolica Milano

Daniele David ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli studi di Perugia

Salvatore De Martino ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Ingegneria Elettrica, e Matematica Applicata, Università di Salerno

Monica de Simone, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche- Istituto Officina dei Materiali, Trieste, Italia

Giuliano Di Bacco, ([email protected]) Musicology Department & Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature, Indiana University, Bloomington USA

Antonino Drago ([email protected]), retired Naples University Dept. Phys. Sci.

Francesca Ervas ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Pedagogia, Psicologia, Filosofia, Università di Cagliari

Laura Felline ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Filosofia, Università Roma Tre

Marco Fenici, ricercatore indipendente

Alessandro Ferretti ([email protected]), Università di Torino

Miriam Franchella ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Filosofia Università degli Studi di Milano

Isabella Gagliardi ([email protected]), Università di Firenze

Francesca Gambetti ([email protected]), Università di Roma ‘Tre’

Giuliano Garavini, Università di Padova

Sebastiano Ghisu, Università di Sassari

Dario Generali ([email protected]), Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Antonio Vallisneri

Federico Gobbo ([email protected]), Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Francesco Guerra, [email protected], ex Università di Pisa e IISS, ricercatore indipendente

John-Erik Hansson ([email protected]), European University Institute, Florence

Gianluca Introzzi ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Fisica, Università Pavia

Luca Labate ([email protected]), Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

Edoardo Lamedica, ([email protected]), dottorando Università di Urbino/ Université de Liège

Maurizio Lana, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università del Piemonte Orientale

Federico Laudisa ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Scienze Umane, Università di Milano-Bicocca

Paolo Liverani ([email protected]), Università di Firenze

Federico Luisetti, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Luca Manunza, ([email protected]) PHD Research in Sociology, Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benicasa di Napoli

Giuseppe Martini ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e dell'Informazione, Università di Pavia, Italia

Alfredo Mazzamauro ([email protected]), European University Institute, Florence

Giuseppe Merlati, University of Pavia - Italy

Alessio Moneta, Istituto di Economia, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa

Luisa Montecucco ([email protected]), DAFIST, Sez. di Filosofia, Università di Genova

Matteo Morganti ([email protected]),Università di Roma 'Tre'

Teresa Numerico ([email protected]), Dipartimento Filosofia, comunicazione e spettacolo, Roma Tre

Francis O Connor COSMOS/European University Institute

Valentina Onnis, ([email protected]), Università di Cagliari

Laura Pavia, Dipartimento delle Culture Europee e del Mediterraneo, Università della Basilicata

Gianni Piazza ([email protected]), Università di Catania

Gino Roncaglia ([email protected]), Dipartimento DISTU, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo

Federica Russo ([email protected]), Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam

Enrica Salvatori ([email protected]), University of Pisa

Stefano Salvia ([email protected]), PhD and Research Assistant in History of Science, Department of Philosophy, University of Pisa

Matteo Slataper, Università di Trieste

Mattia Sorgon ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Filosofia, Comunicazione e Spettacolo, Università degli Studi Roma Tre

Lorenzo Spezia ([email protected]), Istituto Teologico di Assisi

Jan Sprenger, Department of Philosophy, Tilburg University

Laura Stancampiano ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie - Università di Bologna

Giorgio Tassinari ([email protected]), Università di Bologna

Federica Timeto, Accademia di Belle arti di Palermo

Emanuele Tredanaro ([email protected]), Universidade Federal de Lavras MG, Brasil

Francesco Verde ([email protected]) Sapienza Università di Roma

Gianluca Verrucci, PhD e cultore della materia, Università di Parma

Marco Flavio Michele Vismara ([email protected]), Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare, “Sapienza” Università di Roma.