Monthly Archives: February 2015

The Trouble With Sustainability II: A Dynamic Steady-State?

Have human beings ever built organizations that can sustain projects over very long time spans? Yes. Cathedral-building is a classic example. The joint-stock company, at least in its earliest iterations, is another example that many would cite. Organizations that by … Continue reading

Posted in Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System, Politics | 10 Comments

The Trouble With Sustainability I: The Clock of the Short Now

More than a week later, I continue to really think about our recent “sustainability charrette” at Swarthmore College led by folks like David Orr, Hunter Lovins, John Fullerton and Nikki Silvestri. At least one of the things I keep thinking … Continue reading

Posted in Oh Not Again He's Going to Tell Us It's a Complex System, Politics | 9 Comments

Wary About Wisdom

Cathy Davidson has been steadily working away at the problem of inequality within higher education and at how higher education contributes to inequality. I admire the intensity of her focus and her willingness to consider radical rethinking of institutions of … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Defining "Liberal Arts" | 6 Comments

Bourdieu + Foucault Spell Trouble For Us All

I wonder sometimes if one of the perverse consequences of the general dissemination of Bourdieu-style analysis of culture and habitus has been to inform and strengthen conservative attacks on public support for education, the arts, and so on. Especially when … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Politics | 4 Comments

A Note on Abstraction and Referents

I may eventually finish two more pieces that I had in mind for my “Grasping the Nettle” series, but I also understand very well the response that a few folks had that the whole series seems so disconnected from specifics … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging | 1 Comment