HQ Terrors and Uncertainties
Apropos research agendas and what the HQ might be up to. This (renewed) call is just out from ESRC/AHRC. It follows some debate already mentioned here, here and here. But I think now the conjoining of environmentalism, poverty and terror research ads a new, still more spurious fold.
“From: “ESRC
Date: 18 June 2008 12:22:43 BST
Fellowships under the RCUK Global Uncertainties ProgrammePlease could you bring to the notice of your membership the following
forthcoming opportunity for fellowships under the RCUK Global Uncertainties
programme:RCUK Global Uncertainties Programme: Security for All in a Changing World
ESRC/AHRC Fellowships on Ideas and BeliefsCall Launch: 30th June 2008
At the end of June there will be a joint ESRC/AHRC call for proposals for
Research Fellowships addressing key elements of the cross-Council programme
on Global Uncertainties: Security for All in a Changing World.The cross-Council programme aims to understand the nature and interactions
of five global phenomena: conflict, crime, environmental degradation,
poverty and terrorism. Within this cross-Council framework, this Fellowship
call will focus specifically on ideas and beliefs. The call specification
is currently under development but headline issues will likely include:
• How ideas and beliefs evolve that underpin risks and threats evolve,
and why and when do these develop into violent or criminal activities
• Role of access to knowledge and information
• Communication and representation of risks and threats including the
use of language, images and symbolism
• Relationship between national security and civil liberties debates
• Role of different security institutionsWe will be running workshops in different parts of the UK to explain the
call to potential applicants. Current thinking is for workshops in
Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Southampton.Please see the ESRC web page for further information and updates on
workshop details: www.esrc.ac.uk/gufellowships/Any queries should be directed to: gufells@esrc.ac.uk.
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June 20, 2008 at 9:13 am
Wow, thanks for the alert, which only confirms that things are getting a little scarier every day. I would be very interested in seeing us address the nature of such calls and their consequences for our research–and other–agendas. At the level of the more general discussions emerging from HQ, but maybe also at the level of discussion and design of the 10-year anniversary events? How to design the events, and hopefully the projects they will foster, with explicit reflection on their potential for co-option by (for example) a national security agenda, or for seamless incorporation into an explicitly state-driven program of Islamophobia? Is this a point on which we can come together at the outset? Less as a thematic parameter, perhaps, than as a reflection on the kinds of knowledge we are producing.
It would be good to know: what was the response to the letter that was being drafted, it seemed, a while ago that was referenced in the backlog discussion?
June 24, 2008 at 10:14 am
[...] A year long contract – another reason why lack of adequate funding for research and why forced temporary and short term employment contract research ain’t a good way to run a University. Thanks Kee, who pointed out the piece, which links up nicely with this. [...]