Robert Austin Henry
The University of Sydney, History, Department Member
- Grad. Cert. IV (Workplace Ed., RMIT), BA (Hons, Sydney), Grad. Dip. Ed. (Sydney), M.Ed (New England), Ph.D (History &... moreGrad. Cert. IV (Workplace Ed., RMIT), BA (Hons, Sydney), Grad. Dip. Ed. (Sydney), M.Ed (New England), Ph.D (History & Latin American Studies, La Trobe).
Research areas: Post-colonial history of Latin America and the Caribbean, including the political economy of Latin American culture (1810-present) and Pedagogy of Languages & Social Sciences in Latin American Studies. Robert has 150+ publications (80 refereed, 70+ in other media). His 12 books include The State, Literacy and Popular Education in Chile, 1964-1990 (see https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739102886); (Ed.), Diálogos sobre Estado y Educación Popular en Chile: de Frei a Frei, 1964-1993 (2004; on this site); (Ed. & co-author), Intelectuales y Educación Superior en Chile: de la Independencia a la Democracia Transicional, 1810-2001 (2004, 2nd edition 2005, on this site); and (Ed. & co-author), Imperialismo Cultural en América Latina: Historiografia y Praxis (2007; updated edition 2016, on this site).
Forthcoming books include (co-ed) Chile, 1973-2023: Contrarrevolución y Resistencia (2 vols, 2023); Vols. 2, 3 & 4 of the Historia y Cultura en Nuestra América series; Perverse Pedagogy: The School of the Americas & the Rise of Terrorist States; and Reconstruyendo la Escuela Nacional Unificada: Mito e Historia (1927-1973), a 2-volume study of Popular Unity's unique cultural project, co-written with emeritus professor Lautaro Videla RIP, one of its two key architects. He is also developing a history of Australian-based solidarity movements with Latin America since the 1970s.
From 1992 to 2007 Robert taught and researched in Humanities & Social Science faculties in Latin American and Australian universities, was a professor at two Chilean public universities; and visiting professor in Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. He has since worked in History departments at the universities of Melbourne, Queensland and Sydney. From 1998 he has been a participating editor of the journal Latin American Perspectives (USA); and has also been an editorial board member with Cronos, O Público e o Privado and Tensões Mundiais (Brazil); and Encuentro XXI (Chile). Once refused entry to post‐dictatorship Chile for allegedly assisting the high‐security jailbreak of anti-fascist prisoners by helicopter, immortalised in the book El Gran Rescate, he regrets that this is untrue.edit
Diálogos está constituido por 25 entrevistas hechas entre 1992 y 1998 en Chile, más un ensayo de introducción. En conjunto conforman una historia testimonial de la educación popular chilena de distintas perspectivas, desde el declive del... more
Diálogos está constituido por 25 entrevistas hechas entre 1992 y 1998 en Chile, más un ensayo de introducción. En conjunto conforman una historia testimonial de la educación popular chilena de distintas perspectivas, desde el declive del capitalismo liberal durante el régimen de Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964-1970), atravesando por el gobierno socialista de Salvador Allende (1970-1973), el modelo neoliberal autoritario de Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), hasta la controvertida “transición democrática” que relanzó la dinastía Frei en 1994.
Diálogos goza de una doble identidad. Por un lado, representa la memoria de una selección amplia de alfabetizantes, educadores de adultos, educadores populares e intelectuales orgánicos que participaron en los programas formales y populares durante una época convulsionada. Por otro lado, Diálogos es el tomo complementario del libro The State, Literacy and Popular Education in Chile: 1964-1990 (ver https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739102886). Siendo el primero una investigación de antecedentes para el segundo, se tratan de textos interrelacionados. Aplicando distintas metodologías—Diálogos utiliza la entrevista testimonial, The State la narrativa historiográfica materialista—ambos tomos examinan la relación entre el Estado chileno, la alfabetización y la educación en modos formales y populares, desde el declive del capitalismo liberal hasta la consolidación del capitalismo neoliberal. Ver también reseñas en https://tinyurl.com/y459u9xg
Diálogos goza de una doble identidad. Por un lado, representa la memoria de una selección amplia de alfabetizantes, educadores de adultos, educadores populares e intelectuales orgánicos que participaron en los programas formales y populares durante una época convulsionada. Por otro lado, Diálogos es el tomo complementario del libro The State, Literacy and Popular Education in Chile: 1964-1990 (ver https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739102886). Siendo el primero una investigación de antecedentes para el segundo, se tratan de textos interrelacionados. Aplicando distintas metodologías—Diálogos utiliza la entrevista testimonial, The State la narrativa historiográfica materialista—ambos tomos examinan la relación entre el Estado chileno, la alfabetización y la educación en modos formales y populares, desde el declive del capitalismo liberal hasta la consolidación del capitalismo neoliberal. Ver también reseñas en https://tinyurl.com/y459u9xg
Research Interests: Latin American Studies, Popular Education, Latin American and Caribbean History, Educación, Latin America, and 10 moreEducación Popular, Historia Cultural, Alfabetización, América Latina, Historia de Chile, Educacion Popular, Ciencias de la educación, Alfabetización Inicial, Educacion, and Historia De America Latina Y El Caribe
La confluencia del auge del capitalismo tardío, la universidad neoliberal, la precariedad del trabajo intelectual, el debilitamiento del movimiento laboral, el retroceso de la izquierda latinoamericana y los populismos de ultraderecha, ha... more
La confluencia del auge del capitalismo tardío, la universidad neoliberal, la precariedad del trabajo intelectual, el debilitamiento del movimiento laboral, el retroceso de la izquierda latinoamericana y los populismos de ultraderecha, ha estimulado la idea de que las transformaciones provocadas en diferentes planos por la Revolución Rusa—que afectaron la vida de millones de seres humanos—, hoy forman parte del pasado, quedando anacrónico su legado. El surgimiento de dichos fenómenos ha contribuido a distorsiones y hasta falsificaciones no sólo de la propia Revolución Rusa, sino de su influencia global. Texto completo en https://revistas.uece.br/index.php/tensoesmundiais/issue/view/54
The confluence of the rise of late capitalism, the neoliberal university, the precariousness of intellectual work, the weakening of the labor movement, the retreat of the Latin American Left and ultra-right populisms have stimulated the idea that the transformations provoked on different levels by the Russian Revolution—which affected the lives of millions of human beings—are today part of the past, an anachronistic legacy. The rise of such phenomena has contributed to distortions and even falsifications not only of the Russian Revolution itself, but of its global influence. The revolutionary experience is commonly dismissed with such arguments as “power was seized by only a few”; “the Bolshevik party replaced the class”, “a red terror was applied to those who sustained the revolutionary process”, and “Bolshevism is the past”, amongst others.
A confluência do auge do capitalismo tardio, da universidade neoliberal, da precariedade do trabalho intelectual, do enfraquecimento do movimento trabalhista, do retrocesso da esquerda latino‐americana e dos populismos de ultradireita estimularam a ideia de que as transformações provocadas em diferentes patamares pela Revolução Russa–que afetaram a vida de milhões de seres humanos–, hoje, fazem parte do passado, transformando seu legado em algo anacrônico. O surgimento de tais fenômenos contuibuiu para distorções e mesmo falsificações não apenas da própria Revolução Russa, mas também de sua influência global. Comumente, a experiência revolucionária é tachada com argumentos como, “o poder foi tomado por uns poucos”; “o partido bolchevique substituiu a classe”; “inflingiu‐se um terror vermelho sobre aqueles que sustentaram o processo revolucionário, “o bolcheviquismo é o passado”, entre outros.
The confluence of the rise of late capitalism, the neoliberal university, the precariousness of intellectual work, the weakening of the labor movement, the retreat of the Latin American Left and ultra-right populisms have stimulated the idea that the transformations provoked on different levels by the Russian Revolution—which affected the lives of millions of human beings—are today part of the past, an anachronistic legacy. The rise of such phenomena has contributed to distortions and even falsifications not only of the Russian Revolution itself, but of its global influence. The revolutionary experience is commonly dismissed with such arguments as “power was seized by only a few”; “the Bolshevik party replaced the class”, “a red terror was applied to those who sustained the revolutionary process”, and “Bolshevism is the past”, amongst others.
A confluência do auge do capitalismo tardio, da universidade neoliberal, da precariedade do trabalho intelectual, do enfraquecimento do movimento trabalhista, do retrocesso da esquerda latino‐americana e dos populismos de ultradireita estimularam a ideia de que as transformações provocadas em diferentes patamares pela Revolução Russa–que afetaram a vida de milhões de seres humanos–, hoje, fazem parte do passado, transformando seu legado em algo anacrônico. O surgimento de tais fenômenos contuibuiu para distorções e mesmo falsificações não apenas da própria Revolução Russa, mas também de sua influência global. Comumente, a experiência revolucionária é tachada com argumentos como, “o poder foi tomado por uns poucos”; “o partido bolchevique substituiu a classe”; “inflingiu‐se um terror vermelho sobre aqueles que sustentaram o processo revolucionário, “o bolcheviquismo é o passado”, entre outros.
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Ésta es la 2ª edición de una serie integrada de ensayos sobre los temas de género, clase y etnicidad en la vida intelectual del Chile republicano, desde sus inicios en 1810 hasta el comienzo del tercer gobierno de la ambigua “transición... more
Ésta es la 2ª edición de una serie integrada de ensayos sobre los temas de género, clase y etnicidad en la vida intelectual del Chile republicano, desde sus inicios en 1810 hasta el comienzo del tercer gobierno de la ambigua “transición democrática” en el 2001. Se dirige a contextos formales y populares. (Ver también la reseña en http://bit.ly/2eIXo5D ).
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Versión corregida 2016. Comentario sobre la original (2007): "Breves palabras sobre un diálogo necesario: Este es un texto que combina la diversidad de escenarios con la unidad de propósitos, en el logrado empeño por (1) desentrañar las... more
Versión corregida 2016. Comentario sobre la original (2007): "Breves palabras sobre un diálogo necesario: Este es un texto que combina la diversidad de escenarios con la unidad de propósitos, en el logrado empeño por (1) desentrañar las variadas formas que la hegemonía cultural imperialista asume en el continente latinoamericano, ya a comienzos del nuevo milenio; y (2) sugerir alternativas, desde el discurso académico de la izquierda revolucionaria latinoamericana y mundial, para contrarrestar el peso muerto de una ideología que medra sobre cualquier forma de inactividad crítica del corpus pensante más comprometido con la transformación social y humana en nuestros tiempos. El libro tiene el mérito de penetrar parcelas no tan acostumbradas del concepto de 'cultura' como el que linda entre la pedagogía y la sociología de la educación, proponiendo así un discurso crítico, asumido desde una universidad que se 'desenclaustra', en el sentido más simbólicamente esencial de la palabra. Es, a no dudarlo, por demás, un libro ameno en la variada recopilación de sus voces y, por lo tanto, se trata de una lectura que agradecemos, al reconocernos todos los latinoamericanos en ella, sintetizados en lo esencial de un período de intensa batalla de ideas.
- C. Jorge Luis Rodríguez Morell, Profesor Titular, Coordinador - Sección de Comunicación Intercultural, Cátedra Fernando Ortiz, Universidad de Matanzas “Camilo Cienfuegos”, Cuba. Reseñas: http://bit.ly/2kfa9b7 y http://bit.ly/2jVCqr4
- C. Jorge Luis Rodríguez Morell, Profesor Titular, Coordinador - Sección de Comunicación Intercultural, Cátedra Fernando Ortiz, Universidad de Matanzas “Camilo Cienfuegos”, Cuba. Reseñas: http://bit.ly/2kfa9b7 y http://bit.ly/2jVCqr4
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A Reply to “COVID-19: Time to Bring Back the State”. One historic and two gaping omissions detract from international politics academic Shahar Hameiri’s otherwise sober analysis at https://bit.ly/2yM0KE5. The latter two characterise... more
A Reply to “COVID-19: Time to Bring Back the State”. One historic and two gaping omissions detract from international politics academic Shahar Hameiri’s otherwise sober analysis at https://bit.ly/2yM0KE5. The latter two characterise Western scholarship.
Research Interests: Health Sciences, Political Economy, Cuban Studies, Political Science, Israel/Palestine, and 14 morePalestine, Public Health Policy, Public Health, Cuban History, Cuban Revolution, History of Palestine and Israel, Palestinian Studies, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Palestina, Cuba's medical diplomacy, History of Israel Palestine Conflict, Public Policy, Coronavirus COVID-19, and COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Most of contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean supports both the Palestinian struggle for statehood and the right of return, and opposes the policies and practices designed by Israel and its allies to prevent realization of those... more
Most of contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean supports both the Palestinian struggle for statehood and the right of return, and opposes the policies and practices designed by Israel and its allies to prevent realization of those goals. That majority has evolved only over the past 20 of 70 years of Israeli occupation, with a singular historic exception: Cuba.
This study explains Cuba’s seven-decade-long solidarity with Palestinian sovereignty through the theoretical lenses of race, class and colonialism. It first reviews the transformation of Cuba’s constrained solidarity with Palestine in the pre-revolution postwar years to comprehensive internationalism in Socialist Cuba. Simultaneously we explore Cuba’s battle with racial discrimination and opposition to Apartheid as they bear on the question of Palestine.
Then, analyzing Zionism and its Latin American advocates from the time of partition in 1947, we assess Cuba’s definitive break with Israel in 1973. Thirty years on, what role did this play in Palestinian civil society’s launch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign? Interview material will add the perspectives of Jews and Palestinians on Cuba’s long-lasting solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, within and beyond the region.
Key words: Cuban Revolution, solidarity, Palestine, Zionism, Israel, Apartheid
The refereed version of this article appears as “Global Palestine: International Solidarity and the Cuban Connection” in the Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, Vol. 18 (2) 2019, pp. 239-262. See https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/hlps.2019.0217
This study explains Cuba’s seven-decade-long solidarity with Palestinian sovereignty through the theoretical lenses of race, class and colonialism. It first reviews the transformation of Cuba’s constrained solidarity with Palestine in the pre-revolution postwar years to comprehensive internationalism in Socialist Cuba. Simultaneously we explore Cuba’s battle with racial discrimination and opposition to Apartheid as they bear on the question of Palestine.
Then, analyzing Zionism and its Latin American advocates from the time of partition in 1947, we assess Cuba’s definitive break with Israel in 1973. Thirty years on, what role did this play in Palestinian civil society’s launch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign? Interview material will add the perspectives of Jews and Palestinians on Cuba’s long-lasting solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, within and beyond the region.
Key words: Cuban Revolution, solidarity, Palestine, Zionism, Israel, Apartheid
The refereed version of this article appears as “Global Palestine: International Solidarity and the Cuban Connection” in the Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, Vol. 18 (2) 2019, pp. 239-262. See https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/hlps.2019.0217
Research Interests: Latin American and Caribbean History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Cuban Studies, Israel/Palestine, and 15 moreCaribbean History, Caribbean Studies, The Caribbean, Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East Politics, Cuban History, Cuban Revolution, Middle East, History of Palestine and Israel, Palestinian Studies, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Latin America and the Caribbean, Palestina, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and History of Israel Palestine Conflict
El 4 de septiembre de 2020, la izquierda chilena, latinoamericana y más allá recordará el quincuagésimo aniversario de la elección de la Unidad Popular en Chile, y del Dr. Salvador Allende a la presidencia. Un golpe fascista puso fin a... more
El 4 de septiembre de 2020, la izquierda chilena, latinoamericana y más allá recordará el quincuagésimo aniversario de la elección de la Unidad Popular en Chile, y del Dr. Salvador Allende a la presidencia. Un golpe fascista puso fin a los 1.000 días de su gobierno el 11 de septiembre de 1973. Un mes después, el gobierno laborista de Australia liderado por el primer ministro Gough Whitlam reconoció a sus instigadores, la dictadura de Pinochet, como régimen legítimo. Una herencia de tal decisión constantemente invisibilizada en la historiografía, fue la llegada clandestina y permanente a Australia de un número impresionante de criminales de guerra empleados por la misma dictadura. Este artículo considera algunas implicancias de tal política, capturadas exquisitamente en el caso emblemático y actual de Adriana Rivas.
Research Interests: Latin American Studies, Latin America (Comparative Politics), Latin American and Caribbean History, Latin American politics, History of Chile, and 14 moreChile, Latin American Politics (Political Science), Australian Politics, Australian History, Chilean Politics, Australian foreign policy, Estudios Latinoamericanos, Latinoamerica, América Latina, CIA, South America, Historia de Chile, CIA and covert actions in Latin America, and Estudios De Latinoamerica
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A suppression order has denied the Australian people the knowledge that cardinal George Pell, effectively third in the Catholic Church hierarchy, was unanimously convicted on five counts of historic child sex abuse, according to... more
A suppression order has denied the Australian people the knowledge that cardinal George Pell, effectively third in the Catholic Church hierarchy, was unanimously convicted on five counts of historic child sex abuse, according to https://tinyurl.com/ydemj2sp and https://tinyurl.com/ycxsetpl. Timely, then, this modest contribution to the theme of systemic collaboration between the capitalist state and the Vatican; see also “Halo of Hypocrisy” on this Academia website.
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The reinvention of neoclassical economics in Latin America─most recently in the guise of neoliberalism and under conditions of authoritarian capitalism during the 1970s─has seen popular struggle recast in multiple forms, pivotal to these... more
The reinvention of neoclassical economics in Latin America─most recently in the guise of neoliberalism and under conditions of authoritarian capitalism during the 1970s─has seen popular struggle recast in multiple forms, pivotal to these being a new paradigm of popular education. The Consejo de Educación de Adultos de América Latina (CEAAL) emerged in the "decade of dictatorships" as the NGO foil to UNESCO, and rose to prominence by the mid-1980s in popular democratic struggles around the environment, human rights, and the indigenous and women's movements, mediated by an emphasis on adult education in the popular sectors. As the state has withdrawn from previously central areas of activity such as health, housing, and education, CEAAL has galvanized the so-called new social actors around projects interpreted by popular education that address massive disparities in those areas.
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Latin America’s Turbulent Transitions (Burbach, Fox & Fuentes, 2013)—a wide-ranging study on Latin America’s “pink tide” governments, and the social formations which have spawned them—has re-focused debate on the possibilities for a 21st... more
Latin America’s Turbulent Transitions (Burbach, Fox & Fuentes, 2013)—a wide-ranging study on Latin America’s “pink tide” governments, and the social formations which have spawned them—has re-focused debate on the possibilities for a 21st Century socialism. If the period 1990-2010 saw renewed popular insurgency follow the Soviet bloc collapse, Left and anti-neoliberal forces have lately been confronted by low-intensity reaction from the combined might of local and imperial bourgeoisies. This article attempts to interpret the conjuncture wherein US hegemony in Latin America has faced a new mass wave of anti-neoliberal opposition, but now assails popular regimes via constitutional rather than military coups. See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YuQdmmt5bI
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The detention of former dictator Augusto Pinochet in London in October 1998 shook a hitherto Teflon-coated Chilean ruling class and its political expression, the Concertación government of President Eduardo Frei. It had a simultaneously... more
The detention of former dictator Augusto Pinochet in London in October 1998 shook a hitherto Teflon-coated Chilean ruling class and its political expression, the Concertación government of President Eduardo Frei. It had a simultaneously cathartic and unifying effect on a fractionalised Left, recovering from harsh wounds and re-articulating popular struggle after a decline in activism since the late 1980s. Pivotal in the reawakening was the women's movement, affronted by the systematic misogynist cruelty of the Armed Forces under Pinochet's direct command. The predominantly pro-Pinochet media, spearheaded by the CIA-backed Edwards empire and its flagship El Mercurio daily gave his detention blanket coverage to such a degree that even the traditional first half hour of soccer on the Sunday evening television news had to make way for the this symbolic, if not actual crisis.
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Este capítulo acentúa un imperialismo en aparente declive—de Gran Bretaña—y otro aparentemente jubilado, de Australia. Su enfoque cronológico es la era contemporánea, a partir del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en 1945, tras la... more
Este capítulo acentúa un imperialismo en aparente declive—de Gran Bretaña—y otro aparentemente jubilado, de Australia. Su enfoque cronológico es la era contemporánea, a partir del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en 1945, tras la rendición de los Poderes del Eje (Japón, Alemania e Italia) hasta nuestros días. Guerra de la cuál emergieron triunfantes los Poderes Aliados liderados por la Unión Soviética y los Estados Unidos, pronto adversarios en la Guerra Fría entre los bloques del comunismo y capitalismo, que terminó con el emblemático pero presagioso derrumbe de la URSS en 1991, a causa de sus contradicciones estructurales y presiones exógenas hostiles.
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As with the period of the UNESCO-backed literacy campaign in Revolutionary Cuba before it, the period 1964-1970 in Chile is arguably one of the few great watersheds in 20th century history of education. Responding to popular education... more
As with the period of the UNESCO-backed literacy campaign in Revolutionary Cuba before it, the period 1964-1970 in Chile is arguably one of the few great watersheds in 20th century history of education. Responding to popular education debates reaching back to the late 19th century, the Frei Montalva regime sponsored a literacy program linked to its Chilenisation reform project, intended to incorporate the popular sectors in the Christian Democrat modernisation project without fundamentally altering Chilean society, whilst reinvigorating the dominant mode of production. The ideological subtext of adult education now confronted popular rejection of liberal capitalism. There remain wide-ranging influences in global educational praxis today of the interplay between a Chilean pedagogy of the Left and Freire´s development, albeit underacknowledged.
Here we analyse the socio-economic and cultural context of the period, and situate literacy within that context. Inter alia, it is argued that the standardised centrality accorded the early work of Freire in the Chilean literacy process has tended to marginalise the contribution of co-workers: for instance, no English edition of Cultural Action for Freedom carries reference to its Chilean editor Marcela Gajardo. There also remain unresolved contradictions between the stage of Freirian theoretical development applicable, and the textual representations of that theory.
Here we analyse the socio-economic and cultural context of the period, and situate literacy within that context. Inter alia, it is argued that the standardised centrality accorded the early work of Freire in the Chilean literacy process has tended to marginalise the contribution of co-workers: for instance, no English edition of Cultural Action for Freedom carries reference to its Chilean editor Marcela Gajardo. There also remain unresolved contradictions between the stage of Freirian theoretical development applicable, and the textual representations of that theory.
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When the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the “Panama Papers” in April 2016, global corporate and state-owned media portrayed them as reflective of an entire nation’s integrity. This deflected... more
When the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the “Panama Papers” in April 2016, global corporate and state-owned media portrayed them as reflective of an entire nation’s integrity. This deflected attention from much bigger fiscal havens like the US itself, Switzerland, the British Virgin Islands and a series of surrogate western-driven billionaire financial escapes. Let us consider the ICIJ project’s means and ends.
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Profundamente marcado por luchas populares que reivindican su acceso a los derechos sociales fundamentales—entre ellos, el derecho a la educación—el siglo XX en América Latina es, también, el siglo de las Organizaciones No... more
Profundamente marcado por luchas populares que reivindican su acceso a los derechos sociales fundamentales—entre ellos, el derecho a la educación—el siglo XX en América Latina es, también, el siglo de las Organizaciones No Gubernamentales, y su papel en las luchas de las clases populares para constituirse como sujetos políticos, organizados y conscientes. Conceptualmente, dichos sujetos comparten las proposiciones de una lucha más amplia que busca transformar la sociedad, haciéndola más justa y colectivamente responsable. CEAAL ocupa un lugar destacado en el la historia de la educación popular latinoamericana, reuniendo más de 195 ONGs actuantes en distintas partes del continente. Han jugado un papel importante para diseñar los rumbos que la educación popular latinoamericana tomará en los comienzos del Siglo XXI.
Deeply marked by popular struggles for access to their fundamental social rights—among them, the right to education—the history of popular education in 20th century Latin America encompasses Non-Government Organizations and their role in the struggles of popular classes to constitute themselves as conscious and organized political subjects. Conceptually, those subjects share the proposition of a wider struggle which seeks to transform society by making it fairer and collectively responsible. CEAAL occupies an important place in the history of Latin American Popular Education, since it brings together more than 195 NGOs from different parts of the continent. They have played an important part in designing the routes Latin American popular education will take in the beginnings of the 21st century.
Deeply marked by popular struggles for access to their fundamental social rights—among them, the right to education—the history of popular education in 20th century Latin America encompasses Non-Government Organizations and their role in the struggles of popular classes to constitute themselves as conscious and organized political subjects. Conceptually, those subjects share the proposition of a wider struggle which seeks to transform society by making it fairer and collectively responsible. CEAAL occupies an important place in the history of Latin American Popular Education, since it brings together more than 195 NGOs from different parts of the continent. They have played an important part in designing the routes Latin American popular education will take in the beginnings of the 21st century.
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The popular education and adult literacy movements in Chile have historically represented competing paths toward a literate society: one born and nurtured through bitter nineteenth-century labor struggles, the other a compensatory effort... more
The popular education and adult literacy movements in Chile have historically represented competing paths toward a literate society: one born and nurtured through bitter nineteenth-century labor struggles, the other a compensatory effort by the modern state to limit the political potential of literacy. This article explores the contest between the state and popular education in three paradigmatic Latin American regimes: those of Eduardo Frei Montalva (Christian Democrat, 1964-70), Salvador Allende (Socialist, 1970-73) and Augusto Pinochet (Dictator, 1973-90). It addresses the relationship between the Chilean state, formal and non-formal literacy, and popular education, from the demise of liberal capitalism to the consolidation of neoliberalism. An advanced version appears in The State, Literacy and Popular Education in Chile, 1964-1990 (Lanham, MD., Lexington, 2003)
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... sition whose complex and durable roots in historic feminist, ... Chile shares with the rest of Latin America arguably the longest colonial and militarized history of any ... struggle between a complex and fractionalized bourgeoisie... more
... sition whose complex and durable roots in historic feminist, ... Chile shares with the rest of Latin America arguably the longest colonial and militarized history of any ... struggle between a complex and fractionalized bourgeoisie focused on the central-valley lites linked to international ...
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The Palestinian Boycott Campaign, Latin American Perspectives and the Western Academic Bloc In June 2015 a well subscribed and sometimes heated debate over potential endorsement of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel... more
The Palestinian Boycott Campaign, Latin American Perspectives and the Western Academic Bloc
In June 2015 a well subscribed and sometimes heated debate over potential endorsement of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) broke out on the 110-member editorial collective’s e-list of the journal Latin American Perspectives (LAP). This 2nd debate in 2 years over Zionism’s colonisation and brutalisation of Occupied Palestine (LAP-OP2) was equally robust but more clearly focussed and better informed and transparent than the first (LAP-OP1), at the height of the July 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza. On that occasion, the senior editors group had expelled a pro-Palestinian jihadist editor without first consulting the broad collective, unusual in two ways: the rarity of expulsion from the LAP collective over its 40 year history; and the normal practice of participatory democratic consultation across the 3-tiered collective.
Notwithstanding the limited advances of LAP-OP2, both debates laid bare a series of previously latent contradictions in the journal’s direction and operation, and by inference in Western academia more broadly. These included the hitherto invisible entrenchment of a Zionist group in the LAP senior editorship; collective and systematic silence for decades on imperialist decimation of Palestine despite an enormous Palestinian refugee population in Latin America and a policy of engagement with major global issues; and the significance of such silence at a journal itself born of anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist intellectual struggles in the turgid milieu of formal Western education.
This paper will sketch and analyse the historic background to the minority pro-PACBI statement and CFP which emerged from the LAP-OP2 struggle (attached), and attempt to draw some lessons for organising intellectual activism in a similar environment. Alongside most presentations, video of the presentation appears at https://www.facebook.com/bdssyd17/ (See also accompanying PPT, attached). The broader argument is eloquently put at https://tinyurl.com/y4nrhsak
In June 2015 a well subscribed and sometimes heated debate over potential endorsement of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) broke out on the 110-member editorial collective’s e-list of the journal Latin American Perspectives (LAP). This 2nd debate in 2 years over Zionism’s colonisation and brutalisation of Occupied Palestine (LAP-OP2) was equally robust but more clearly focussed and better informed and transparent than the first (LAP-OP1), at the height of the July 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza. On that occasion, the senior editors group had expelled a pro-Palestinian jihadist editor without first consulting the broad collective, unusual in two ways: the rarity of expulsion from the LAP collective over its 40 year history; and the normal practice of participatory democratic consultation across the 3-tiered collective.
Notwithstanding the limited advances of LAP-OP2, both debates laid bare a series of previously latent contradictions in the journal’s direction and operation, and by inference in Western academia more broadly. These included the hitherto invisible entrenchment of a Zionist group in the LAP senior editorship; collective and systematic silence for decades on imperialist decimation of Palestine despite an enormous Palestinian refugee population in Latin America and a policy of engagement with major global issues; and the significance of such silence at a journal itself born of anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist intellectual struggles in the turgid milieu of formal Western education.
This paper will sketch and analyse the historic background to the minority pro-PACBI statement and CFP which emerged from the LAP-OP2 struggle (attached), and attempt to draw some lessons for organising intellectual activism in a similar environment. Alongside most presentations, video of the presentation appears at https://www.facebook.com/bdssyd17/ (See also accompanying PPT, attached). The broader argument is eloquently put at https://tinyurl.com/y4nrhsak
Research Interests:
Cuban Literacy at 50 Public Forum, University of Sydney, 15 April 2011 In 1961, barely two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the country mobilised a mass literacy campaign with few parallels in the twentieth century (see... more
Cuban Literacy at 50
Public Forum, University of Sydney, 15 April 2011
In 1961, barely two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the country mobilised a mass literacy campaign with few parallels in the twentieth century (see http://bit.ly/2hJqgMT). It has since been influential in national literacy campaigns in Chile during the Allende years and Sandinista Nicaragua, popular education in Colombia and El Salvador, and most recently in East Timor, Venezuela and Australia. This bilingual forum reflected critically on the Cuban literacy campaign on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, in a comparative international context (see http://bit.ly/2h9vc0I and http://bit.ly/2ics9Fe).
Panellists: *Ezequiel Morales, literacy brigadista 1961 & director, Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Granma province (audio at http://bit.ly/2iyqt9G)
*Eulalia Reyes, Venezuelan educator, Barcelona & Brisbane; Viviana Ramírez, Chilean, senior teacher of Spanish, Qld Dept of Education & Antero Benedito da Silva, National University of Timor-Leste (all audio at http://bit.ly/2i2h213)
Pedro Monzón, Cuban ambassador to Australia & literacy brigadista 1961; & Robert Austin, University of Melbourne (moderator, co-presenter): audio at http://bit.ly/2hsSRtK.
Organisers: Embassy of Cuba in Australia, Canberra; Peter Freebody and Patrick Brownlee, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney; and Robert Austin.
Public Forum, University of Sydney, 15 April 2011
In 1961, barely two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the country mobilised a mass literacy campaign with few parallels in the twentieth century (see http://bit.ly/2hJqgMT). It has since been influential in national literacy campaigns in Chile during the Allende years and Sandinista Nicaragua, popular education in Colombia and El Salvador, and most recently in East Timor, Venezuela and Australia. This bilingual forum reflected critically on the Cuban literacy campaign on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, in a comparative international context (see http://bit.ly/2h9vc0I and http://bit.ly/2ics9Fe).
Panellists: *Ezequiel Morales, literacy brigadista 1961 & director, Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Granma province (audio at http://bit.ly/2iyqt9G)
*Eulalia Reyes, Venezuelan educator, Barcelona & Brisbane; Viviana Ramírez, Chilean, senior teacher of Spanish, Qld Dept of Education & Antero Benedito da Silva, National University of Timor-Leste (all audio at http://bit.ly/2i2h213)
Pedro Monzón, Cuban ambassador to Australia & literacy brigadista 1961; & Robert Austin, University of Melbourne (moderator, co-presenter): audio at http://bit.ly/2hsSRtK.
Organisers: Embassy of Cuba in Australia, Canberra; Peter Freebody and Patrick Brownlee, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney; and Robert Austin.
Research Interests:
Ésta ponencia trata de desarrollar un modelo de transformación para educación adulta, derivado de lo que se cataloga como educación popular de primera y segunda fases en América Latina. El estudio involucró una abstracción buscando forma... more
Ésta ponencia trata de desarrollar un modelo de transformación para educación adulta, derivado de lo que se cataloga como educación popular de primera y segunda fases en América Latina. El estudio involucró una abstracción buscando forma concreta, siendo los bosquejos teóricos y metodológicos de una pedagogía feminista, antirracista y liberadora. Como tal se sugiere que el valor del programa a los sectores populares involucrados en la lucha por la democracia participativa está condicionado por la sentencia de que la gente se levanta sólo cuando sus condiciones de existencia se hacen intolerables.
Publicado en M. Téllez (ed.), Libro de Actas, III Congreso Iberoamericano de Historia de la Educación
Latinoamericana, Caracas, Venezuela, 1996
Publicado en M. Téllez (ed.), Libro de Actas, III Congreso Iberoamericano de Historia de la Educación
Latinoamericana, Caracas, Venezuela, 1996
Research Interests:
A spectre is haunting Latin American and Hispanic Studies (LAHS). Their Australasian elite has made it possible, as Marx once said of Napoleon, for “a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero’s part”. Whilst this demise has its roots in the... more
A spectre is haunting Latin American and Hispanic Studies (LAHS). Their Australasian elite has made it possible, as Marx once said of Napoleon, for “a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero’s part”. Whilst this demise has its roots in the malaise of the late capitalist academy, LAHS’ path from rebelliousness and integration with the Left intelligentsia to a comfortable chair at the summit of the new conformism also has unique characteristics, which explain the paradox of its once-unthinkable subordination to the corporate managerial model.
Replete with elements of philanthropic interventionism and cultural imperialism, presumptions about the deaths of Marxism and the emancipatory metanarrative, as well as the exoticisation of Latin America as a laboratory at the service of stellar Western careers, the elite’s de-coupling of intellectual work from international solidarity work has been accompanied by direct collaboration among the LAHS elite with the dual projects of imperialism in Latin America and neo-colonialism at home.
Policing the new political boundaries has required that the elite abandon even the most basic pretensions of radical democratic praxis. Secrecy and insider trading with impunity in appointments (read anointments), serial corruption in merit-based selection, exclusive networking, vigorous repression of dissident careers, and discrete support for the global media’s shock-jock comentariat as unofficial curriculum consultants now underscore its hegemonic practice. Dissent at your peril!
Historically this high age of mediocrity has been placed in the dock by popular and Left scholars, from visionaries like José Carlos Mariátegui in the early C20th to Alfonso Sastre and Elena Poniatowska, Marcos Roitmann and Atilio Borón from the post-war era, alongside student movements in Latin America and Australasia. Whilst we agree with E.P. Thompson that there is never a Book of Answers, this study offers some modest insights into this rise and demise, and explores where the discipline might begin to recover its academic autonomy and develop an intellectual practice which confronts capitalist globalisation, rather than meekly acceding to TINA dictates and proliferating a springtime for sycophants.
The audio for this seminar in the Political Economy series at the University of Sydney, held on 19 May 2016, is at http://bit.ly/2g1XdlR The accompanying PPT is an attachment here.
Replete with elements of philanthropic interventionism and cultural imperialism, presumptions about the deaths of Marxism and the emancipatory metanarrative, as well as the exoticisation of Latin America as a laboratory at the service of stellar Western careers, the elite’s de-coupling of intellectual work from international solidarity work has been accompanied by direct collaboration among the LAHS elite with the dual projects of imperialism in Latin America and neo-colonialism at home.
Policing the new political boundaries has required that the elite abandon even the most basic pretensions of radical democratic praxis. Secrecy and insider trading with impunity in appointments (read anointments), serial corruption in merit-based selection, exclusive networking, vigorous repression of dissident careers, and discrete support for the global media’s shock-jock comentariat as unofficial curriculum consultants now underscore its hegemonic practice. Dissent at your peril!
Historically this high age of mediocrity has been placed in the dock by popular and Left scholars, from visionaries like José Carlos Mariátegui in the early C20th to Alfonso Sastre and Elena Poniatowska, Marcos Roitmann and Atilio Borón from the post-war era, alongside student movements in Latin America and Australasia. Whilst we agree with E.P. Thompson that there is never a Book of Answers, this study offers some modest insights into this rise and demise, and explores where the discipline might begin to recover its academic autonomy and develop an intellectual practice which confronts capitalist globalisation, rather than meekly acceding to TINA dictates and proliferating a springtime for sycophants.
The audio for this seminar in the Political Economy series at the University of Sydney, held on 19 May 2016, is at http://bit.ly/2g1XdlR The accompanying PPT is an attachment here.
Research Interests:
The draft commentary herein relates to Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained from Sydney University in 2008; and to “Rise and Demise: Latin American and Hispanic Studies in Australasia, from post boom to postmodernity”... more
The draft commentary herein relates to Freedom of Information (FOI) documents obtained from Sydney University in 2008; and to “Rise and Demise: Latin American and Hispanic Studies in Australasia, from post boom to postmodernity” (forthcoming 2 part-study, 2017; preliminary seminar at http://bit.ly/2iSey6O). The title above was suggested by distinguished senior academics as an alternative to “Rise and Demise” when briefed on the matter at the time. The senior FOI officer involved later expressed bewilderment at the university’s rejection of an appeal based on the FOI documents, summarised at http://bit.ly/2iJM24c. Dr Martínez’s claim that Dr Austin had held no job for more than 2 years was self-evidently false from the CV provided, deducible from http://bit.ly/2iW9bQK At the broad level, the episode highlights the anti-democratic, secretive, medieval and elitist way that neoliberal academia is run; see for instance http://bit.ly/2gE7gP9
Research Interests:
Manuel Sutherland, distinguished political economist and director of the Centro de Investigación y formación Obrera (CIFO), Caracas, recently gave a synoptic conference on what he describes as the "deepest and longest recession" in... more
Manuel Sutherland, distinguished political economist and director of the Centro de Investigación y formación Obrera (CIFO), Caracas, recently gave a synoptic conference on what he describes as the "deepest and longest recession" in Venezuelan history. He featured as final guest speaker for the course "Modern Revolutions in Latin America", Workers' Educational Association, Sydney. Full course details at http://ppesydney.net/modern-revolutions-in-latin-america-ii/
Research Interests: Latin American Studies, Political Economy, Latin American and Caribbean History, Latin American politics, International Political Economy, and 9 moreVenezuela, Political Economy of Development, Latin American History, Marxist political economy, Latinoamerica, América Latina, Venezuelan Politics, Political Economy and History, and Historia de Venezuela
La periodista Reema Rattan analiza el legado perdurable del trabajo de Paulo Freire con Andrés Donoso Romo y Robert Austin Henry, investigadores que trabajan en la historia de la educación latinoamericana, los movimientos estudiantiles y... more
La periodista Reema Rattan analiza el legado perdurable del trabajo de Paulo Freire con Andrés Donoso Romo y Robert Austin Henry, investigadores que trabajan en la historia de la educación latinoamericana, los movimientos estudiantiles y el pensamiento educativo.
Journalist Reema Rattan discusses the enduring legacy of Freire's work with Andrés Donoso Romo and Robert Austin Henry, two researchers who work on Latin American education history, student movements and educational thought.
Journalist Reema Rattan discusses the enduring legacy of Freire's work with Andrés Donoso Romo and Robert Austin Henry, two researchers who work on Latin American education history, student movements and educational thought.
Research Interests: Teacher Education, History of Education, Philosophy of Education, Critical Pedagogy, Educational Research, and 11 morePaulo Freire, Revolutionary Theory, Filosofía Latinoamericana, Educación, Pedagogía, Pedagogía Crítica, Filosofía de la Libertad, Historia de la Educación, Paulo Freire, Critical Pedagogy, Cultural Studies, Pedagogia do Oprimido - Paulo Freire, and Historia Y Teoría De La Educación
From its invasion of Manchuria in 1932 until a year after World War II ended (1946), the Japanese imperial armies abducted, coerced or deceitfully enticed girls and women across the Asia-Pacific region into sexual slavery at its scores of... more
From its invasion of Manchuria in 1932 until a year after World War II ended (1946), the Japanese imperial armies abducted, coerced or deceitfully enticed girls and women across the Asia-Pacific region into sexual slavery at its scores of so-called “comfort stations”. Estimates of the victims vary from 200,00 to 400,000. The vast majority died as a result, either by execution or the horrendous effects of their exploitation; and until the 1980 their testimonies were largely lost.
On 14 August 2019, global remembrance ceremonies and protests were held in solidarity with the victims and to demand justice, over 70 years on. The group Friends of Comfort Women, Sydney, invited me to speak at the Sydney demonstration (see https://tinyurl.com/y4u8ga8p); attached are the longhand notes. Mainstream media ignored the issue but it was well reported in the Korean press: see for instance https://tinyurl.com/y6fwggqm and https://tinyurl.com/y4b7bvgl
On 14 August 2019, global remembrance ceremonies and protests were held in solidarity with the victims and to demand justice, over 70 years on. The group Friends of Comfort Women, Sydney, invited me to speak at the Sydney demonstration (see https://tinyurl.com/y4u8ga8p); attached are the longhand notes. Mainstream media ignored the issue but it was well reported in the Korean press: see for instance https://tinyurl.com/y6fwggqm and https://tinyurl.com/y4b7bvgl
Research Interests: Japanese Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Women's Studies, South Asian Studies, Korean Studies, and 15 moreSouth Korea, Japanese History, Asian History, Feminism, Violence Against Women, Second World War, War Crimes, World War II, Feminist history, Feminism and Social Justice, World War II history, North Korea (politics and society), Korean popular culture, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Critical War Studies
A dusty but historic video tribute to worker-student-intellectual struggle has emerged, made at a 2005 public forum at RMIT in defence of academic freedom and against dismissal of this writer for supporting a national student strike: see... more
A dusty but historic video tribute to worker-student-intellectual struggle has emerged, made at a 2005 public forum at RMIT in defence of academic freedom and against dismissal of this writer for supporting a national student strike: see link at http://bit.ly/2kDhRvy It reaffirms with exquisite clarity the depth and breadth of support for the universal principles underpinning the Defend Our Universities campaign (see http://defendrobert.blogspot.com.au/), despite the public silence of the “talk left, act right” elite in Latin American & Hispanic Studies in Australia. Even when the entire student population was on vacation and staff were immersed in end-of-year duties there were c. 45 participants, with a solid Latin American cast, an excellent panel and eloquent debate. The agenda:
1. Premier performance from the Grupo de Danza XochitQuetzal (El Salvador, 2005-ongoing).
2. Panel of speakers, in order:
*Ruth Evans - Lecturer in International Studies (RMIT)
*Carmen Rosa de López (Latin American community leader) with Claudia Bonel (Bolivian activist, translator)
*George Papanastasiou - Lecturer in International Trade (Victoria University)
*Liz Thompson - Spanish 1 student and student union rep (RMIT)
*Chair: Lisa Farrance (RMIT NTEU Branch Committee member, 2004-2005).
3. Debate on the motion, ending with response by myself.
With thanks to Carmen Rosa de López for copyright permission.
1. Premier performance from the Grupo de Danza XochitQuetzal (El Salvador, 2005-ongoing).
2. Panel of speakers, in order:
*Ruth Evans - Lecturer in International Studies (RMIT)
*Carmen Rosa de López (Latin American community leader) with Claudia Bonel (Bolivian activist, translator)
*George Papanastasiou - Lecturer in International Trade (Victoria University)
*Liz Thompson - Spanish 1 student and student union rep (RMIT)
*Chair: Lisa Farrance (RMIT NTEU Branch Committee member, 2004-2005).
3. Debate on the motion, ending with response by myself.
With thanks to Carmen Rosa de López for copyright permission.
Research Interests:
The Australian Broadcasting Commission is the national public broadcast network. Here follows the link to the unedited audio of the lead interview with news presenter Jade McMillan on the 6pm national TV bulletin on 26 November 2016,... more
The Australian Broadcasting Commission is the national public broadcast network. Here follows the link to the unedited audio of the lead interview with news presenter Jade McMillan on the 6pm national TV bulletin on 26 November 2016, within minutes of the release in Australia of the news of Dr Castro's physical passing. Hopefully my contribution does his legacy justice: see http://bit.ly/2gJfmK2 or https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_FvzxVlWuRUDZNVGtPaTk4OWc/view
The 2nd link has already been tampered with, so if neither link works please use the Academia website link to contact the author. ¡Hasta siempre, Compañero Fidel!
The 2nd link has already been tampered with, so if neither link works please use the Academia website link to contact the author. ¡Hasta siempre, Compañero Fidel!
Research Interests:
Extended interview for Episode 11 of "Outside In" program, Radio 4EB (Brisbane, Australia), 15 July 2015: https://tinyurl.com/yxjv3azw
Research Interests:
Beyond Solitude belongs to a Eurocentric project which addresses the character of European - Latin American links in ways intended to challenge entrenched academic paradigms in both regions.
Research Interests:
Video of book-launch review of this detailed analysis of the powerful social movements challenging Imperialism across Latin America: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YuQdmmt5bI