Activist research for education and social movement mobilization

Abstract in Portuguese by Aziz Choudry included.The role of social movements and social and political activism as educative processes and milieus is often overlooked by scholars of social movements and those working in the field of adult education. Yet social movements are not only significant sites of struggle for social and political change but also important – albeit contested and contradictory- terrains of learning, knowledge production and research. Grounded in insights from the author’s longstanding involvement in multi-scalar social movement organizing, education and research, this article draws primarily from his current research on activist research practice in social movements and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which work closely with them. It traces the dialectical relations between informal and non-formal learning and education in social action, research, education and action. Drawing on interviews conducted in 2012-2013 in the Philippines, South Africa, Canada and the UK, the article focuses on the ways in which research is carried out by movement research activists “in the struggle”, located outside of university institutional contexts or partnerships. Emphasizing the social character of all knowledge production, it argues that everyday struggles are not only the means to build movements, alliances, and counter-power but are generative of, and in turn informed by the learning/knowledge aspects of this activity.peer-reviewe

Dip Kapoor and Steven Jordan (Eds.). (2009). Education, Participatory Action Research, and Social Change: International Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

A book review for Dip Kapoor and Steven Jordan (Eds.). (2009). Education, Participatory Action Research, and Social Change: International Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmilla

Activist Research Practice: Exploring Research and Knowledge Production for Social Action

Research is a major aspect and fundamental component of many social struggles and movements for change. Understanding social movement networks as significant sites of knowledge production, this article situates and discusses processes and practice of activist research produced outside of academia in these milieus in the broader context of the ‘knowledge-practice’ of social movements. In dialogue with scholarly literature on activist research, it draws from the author’s work as an activist researcher, and a current study of small activist research non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with examples from movement research on transnational corporate power and resistance to capitalist globalization.. It explicates research processes arising from, and embedded in, relationships and dialogue with other activists and organizations that develop through collaboration in formal and informal networks; it contends that building relationships is central to effective activist research practice. In addition to examining how activist researchers practice, understand and validate their research, this paper also shows how this knowledge is constructed, disseminated and mobilized as a tool for effective social action/organizing

Transnational Activist Coalition Politics and the De/Colonization of Pedagogies of Mobilization: Learning from Anti-Neoliberal Indigenous Movement Articulations

Part of a special issue on international perspectives on education and decolonization. The writer discusses indigenous movements, networks, and activism that critique and oppose neoliberalism, within the context of anticolonial struggles for self-determination

From struggle knowledge and movement learning to the university classroom

There is renewed interest in illuminating ways in which collective social struggles can be key sites of learning and knowledge production, analysis, tools for social change – and theory. While it should not be contentious for adult educators to acknowledge the various forms of significant learning that occur in such contexts, there has often been a disconnect between scholarly literature and the learning in the movement spaces which they theorize. This article draws from the author’s organizing and education work in social movements, activist groups and non-governmental organization (NGO) networks and from his research and teaching as an academic engaged with the dynamics, tensions and possibilities of learning in social and political activist contexts, critical adult education and social change. Further, in reflecting upon learning and knowledge in social movements, it discusses the place of such struggle knowledge in non-formal adult education/popular education milieus and university classrooms.peer-reviewe

Bannerji, Himani. 2011. Demography and Democracy: Essays on Nationalism, Gender and Ideology

Bannerji, Himani. 2011. Demography and Democracy: Essays on Nationalism, Gender and Ideology. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. ISBN 978-1-55130-389-5. Paperback: 34.95 CAD. Pages: 272

Novel insights into megakaryopoiesis, thrombopoiesis and acute coronary thrombosis: transcriptome profiling of the haematopoietic stem cell, megakaryocyte and platelet

The aim of this project was to investigate the transcriptome of human haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), megakaryocytes and platelets to gain insights into steady state and accelerated thrombopoiesis that occurs in states of haemostatic demand and in thrombosis by applying these findings to the pathological setting of acute coronary thrombosis. To investigate transcriptional heterogeneity within the human HSC population, single cell RNA sequencing was performed in human bone marrow HSCs. Transcriptionally distinct subpopulations were identified including two megakaryocyte biased subsets with potentially differing functional relevance. Both populations expressed megakaryocyte specific transcripts, one of which also co-expressed common myeloid and megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor transcripts while the other did not. This study represents the first interrogation of the human bone marrow megakaryocyte transcriptome. Cells were collected from healthy human bone marrow and analysed by low input and single cell RNA sequencing. To identify novel drivers of megakaryocyte maturation, the human bone marrow megakaryocyte transcriptome was compared to that of megakaryocytes cultured from human CD34+ cells, a process known to generate immature megakaryocytes. Transcriptional signatures associated with increasing megakaryocyte ploidy were then investigated. Increasing megakaryocyte ploidy level was found to be associated with an upregulation of transcripts involved in translation and protein processing as well as expression of a number of transmembrane receptors which might have functional relevance. Finally, the pathological setting of acute coronary thrombosis was used as a model for accelerated thrombopoiesis. Megakaryocyte and platelet transcriptomes were compared between patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as well as severe coronary disease and a control group. The transcriptional signature relating to disease compared to control in megakaryocytes included upregulation of platelet activation related transcripts in megakaryocytes isolated from patients with AMI and severe coronary artery disease.Funded by Medical Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowshi

Epigenetic Control of Haematopoietic Stem Cell Aging and Its Clinical Implications.

Aging, chronic inflammation, and environmental insults play an important role in a number of disease processes through alterations of the epigenome. In this review we explore how age-related changes in the epigenetic landscape can affect heterogeneity within the haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment and the deriving clinical implications.Fizzah Aziz Choudry is recipient of an MRC clinical fellowship (MR/K024043/1). Mattia Frontini is supported by the BHF Cambridge Centre of Excellence [RE/13/6/30180] and EU-FP7 project BLUEPRINT (282510).Peer Reviewe