Redefining the political moment

On 16 February 2003, more than half a million people gathered in Sydney, Australia, as part of a global anti-war protest aimed at stopping the impending invasion of Iraq by the then US Administration. It is difficult to estimate how many millions marched on the coordinated protest, but it was by far the largest mobilization of a generation. Walking and chanting on the streets of Sydney that day, it seemed that a political moment was upon us. In a culture that rarely embraces large scale activism, millions around Australian demanded to be heard. The message was clear: if you do not hear us, we would be willing to bring down a government. The invasion went ahead, however, with the then Australian government, under the leadership of John Howard, being one of the loudest and staunchest supporters of the Bush Administrations drive to war. Within 18 months, anti-war activists struggled to have a few hundred participants take part in anti-Iraq war rallies, and the Howard Government was comfortably re-elected for another term. The political moment had come and gone, with both social commentators and many members of the public looking for a reason. While the conservative media was often the focus of analysis, this paper argues that in a time of late capitalism, the political moment is hollowed out by ‘Politics’ itself. That is to say, that formal political processes (or ‘Politics’) undermine the political practices that people participate in everyday (or ‘politics’). Drawing on an ongoing research project focusing on democracy and young people, I discuss how the concept of ’politics‘ has been destabilised and subsequently, the political moment has been displaced. This displacement has led to a re-definition of ‘political action’ and, I argue, the emergence of a different type of everyday politics

Solidarity, community and the political economy of hurt

This paper considers whether as anti-racist activists we can form a community of solidarity. Critiquing the issue of ‘whiteness’, I consider whether such a community reflects or actually confronts the structures of a political economy of whiteness. Using both academic literature and narrative research I reflect on my own experiences of racism and hurt. These emotional and important issues are then intertwined within the political economy of whiteness

The Commons: Opening and Enclosing Non-commodified Space

This paper begins with a simple question—‘how can you steal something that no one owns’? Though a simple question, the answer is complicated, for the stealing of ‘things’ owned by no one explains an important aspect of capitalism’s insatiable appetite. Historically the conditions for industrialisation and market economies were created by capital through the colonisation of common lands and common modes of production—things that are shared but not owned. And this is an appetite that shows no sign of abating. This paper looks at the concept of the commons as aspects of our lives that no one owns but that everyone enjoys. Today the commons are constantly under siege. However, this claim does not only refer to ‘physical’ commons; here, I extend the concept of non-commodified ‘spaces’ into the cultural sphere. By outlining how capital continually works to enclose the commons—both physical and cultural—this paper aims to present a key contest occurring between neoliberalism and today’s social justice movements. This conflict is based on the manufacturing of scarcity through enclosure versus the concept of abundance through sharing and cooperation. The purpose, then, is to identify the source of this enclosure, and why it continues, as well as describe potential paths to challenge it

The miner and the activist: an Australian parable for our carbon constrained world

This paper reviews the meaning of carbon by applying five broad questions to this controversial substance: what is land; what is property; what is ownership; what is value; and what are property rights? By exploring each of these questions, we aim to show that a multidimensional and complex understanding is required for effective policy discussions to confront the challenge of global warming. We engage the perspective of a miner and an environmental activist to illustrate the tensions relating to carbon pollution in an era of climate change, and in so doing we offer a parable for our carbon constrained world. We conclude by considering the implications of property rights for carbon for polluters, governments, people as individuals with a right to breathe clean air, as well as the global commons and other species. Key Words: Carbon, pollution, land, ownership, property rights, valu

Research into the diversification of university careers in learning and teaching and intentionally closing-the-loop on graduate employability

Universities are both a source of employable graduates and careers. This paper examines universities as developers and employers of their own graduates from the perspective of employees and recruited positions. Research questions were: what do learning and teaching careers look like at universities, and; what are the occupational patterns, satisfactions and concerns of the staff in those careers? An autoethnographic account of employees’ career journeys (all of whom were employed in learning and teaching or closely related areas) from five different universities were shared, compared and contrasted. Two of these universities are profiled as having a large proportion of students from target equity groups and therefore have intentionally recruited learning and teaching staff to widen student participation. A desktop review of six months of university employment vacancies from these two universities was conducted. A consistent theme across the autoethnographic stories was a feeling of being an outsider. The authors’ hypothesis is that this is related to haphazard preparation for learning and teaching positions. Of the 322 university vacancies, 84% were for professional staff, 23% of which were in learning and teaching, with the most prevalent role being Coordinator. Fourteen per cent were for academic staff, 64% of which involved learning and teaching, and the most prevalent title was Lecturer/Senior Lecturer. Key takeaways include recommendations for universities to intentionally enhance the employability of graduates who pursue learning and teaching positions within universities, and for prospective university learning and teaching staff to enhance their employability

Intersection between metabolic dysfunction, high fat diet consumption, and brain aging

Deleterious neurochemical, structural, and behavioral alterations are a seemingly unavoidable aspect of brain aging. However, the basis for these alterations, as well as the basis for the tremendous variability in regards to the degree to which these aspects are altered in aging individuals, remains to be elucidated. An increasing number of individuals regularly consume a diet high in fat, with high‐fat diet consumption known to be sufficient to promote metabolic dysfunction, although the links between high‐fat diet consumption and aging are only now beginning to be elucidated. In this review we discuss the potential role for age‐related metabolic disturbances serving as an important basis for deleterious perturbations in the aging brain. These data not only have important implications for understanding the basis of brain aging, but also may be important to the development of therapeutic interventions which promote successful brain aging.Fil: Uranga, Romina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Bruce Keller, Annadora J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Morrison, Christopher D.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez Kim, Sun Ok. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Ebenezer, Philip J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Le. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Dasuri, Kalavathi. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Keller, Jeffrey N.. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unido

Insulin in the nervous system and the mind: Functions in metabolism, memory, and mood

Background: Insulin, a pleotrophic hormone, has diverse effects in the body. Recent work has highlighted the important role of insulin's action in the nervous system on glucose and energy homeostasis, memory, and mood. Scope of review: Here we review experimental and clinical work that has broadened the understanding of insulin's diverse functions in the central and peripheral nervous systems, including glucose and body weight homeostasis, memory and mood, with particular emphasis on intranasal insulin. Major conclusions: Implications for the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and mood disorders are discussed in the context of brain insulin action. Intranasal insulin may have potential in the treatment of central nervous system-related metabolic disorders. Keywords: Insulin, Intranasal insulin, Memory, Metabolism, Moo

Blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer disease: mapping the road to the clinic.

Biomarker discovery and development for clinical research, diagnostics and therapy monitoring in clinical trials have advanced rapidly in key areas of medicine - most notably, oncology and cardiovascular diseases - allowing rapid early detection and supporting the evolution of biomarker-guided, precision-medicine-based targeted therapies. In Alzheimer disease (AD), breakthroughs in biomarker identification and validation include cerebrospinal fluid and PET markers of amyloid-β and tau proteins, which are highly accurate in detecting the presence of AD-associated pathophysiological and neuropathological changes. However, the high cost, insufficient accessibility and/or invasiveness of these assays limit their use as viable first-line tools for detecting patterns of pathophysiology. Therefore, a multistage, tiered approach is needed, prioritizing development of an initial screen to exclude from these tests the high numbers of people with cognitive deficits who do not demonstrate evidence of underlying AD pathophysiology. This Review summarizes the efforts of an international working group that aimed to survey the current landscape of blood-based AD biomarkers and outlines operational steps for an effective academic-industry co-development pathway from identification and assay development to validation for clinical use.I recieved an honorarium from Roche Diagnostics for my participation in the advisory panel meeting leading to this pape

The heterogenous citizen : how many of us care about Don Bradman’s average?

One of the first challenges faced by new Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was what to do with the former government’s controversial citizenship test. While a quick evaluation of the test shows that 93 percent of those who have sat it ‘passed’ (Hoare), most media controversy has focussed less on the validity of such a test than whether questions relating to Australian cricketing legend, Don Bradman, are appropriate (Hawley). While the citizenship test seems nothing more that a crude and populist measure imposed by the former Howard government in its ongoing nationalistic agenda, which included paying schools to raise the Australian flag (“PM Unfurls Flag”), its imposition seems a timely reminder of the challenge of understanding citizenship today. For as the demographic structures around us continue to change, so must our understandings of ‘citizenship’. More importantly, this fluid understanding of citizenship is not limited to academics, and policy-makers, but new technologies, the processes of globalisation including a globalised media, changing demographic patterns including migration, as well as environmental challenges that place pressure on limited resources is altering the citizens understanding of their own role as well as those around them. This paper aims to sketch out a proposed new research agenda that seeks to investigate this fluid and heterogenous nature of citizenship. The focus of the research has so far been Sydney and is enveloped by a broader aim of promoting an increased level of citizen engagement both within formal and informal political structures. I begin by sketching the complex nature of Sydney before presenting some initial research findings