Zen Library of Blogs

  • Declassifying the Faculty

    Declassifying the Faculty

    Higher education should be inclusive and diverse, with open and equal ‘opportunities’ for all.  As George Davie (1986) makes clear, this issue was debated and discussed in Scottish higher education as early as the 1900s and again (post-Great War) in the 1920s, specifically relating to the innovation of state-funded university places and the introduction of… Read more

  • Women in Power to Power-less Communities

    Women in Power to Power-less Communities

    What follows is a comparison of Mary Beard’s (2017) Women & Power: A Manifesto and Thomas Markus’ (1993) Buildings and Power: Freedom and Control in the Origin of Modern Building Types on the question of power – what it is and what people should do with or about it? Beard on Power Beard’s Women &… Read more

  • Going Kwasi, Learning Economics!

    Going Kwasi, Learning Economics!

    On the morning of Tuesday 27th September 2022 the Financial Times reported experienced professional economists referring to Kwasi Kwarteng’s (UK Chancellor of the Exchequer) understanding of economics as being “A-level”.  In other words, his understanding involved a superficial or populist comprehension (of economic relationships) which, interestingly, is something to be expected of school children (‘why?’).… Read more

  • The Glass Funnel: On the Problem of Equity in a Hierarchy

    The Glass Funnel: On the Problem of Equity in a Hierarchy

    In 1945 Karl Popper published his famous work The Open Society and Its Enemies, which has been viewed as a major defence of liberal democracy and an attack on historically determinist theories which see human development following a pre-ordained path.  I am not going into the details of Popper’s work here but ask a simple question: who… Read more