http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/issue/feedConcept2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Gary Frasergary.fraser@ed.ac.ukOpen Journal Systems<p>The Journal of Contemporary Community Education Practice Theory. Concept offers a lively independent forum for critical debate and exchange of ideas in contemporary Community Education. Community Education is seen in the broadest sense to include community work, adult education and youth work and takes place in a range of settings and agencies. We see the concept of community education as dynamic and diverse and do not seek to reflect a fixed view.</p>http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9295Editorial - Arts & Culture for All (Special Issue)2023-12-28T14:11:20+00:00Mae ShawMae.Shaw@ed.ac.uk<p>We are living in a troubled and troubling world: globally, locally and, increasingly, personally. A world of violence, insecurity and fear. Palestinian author Isabella Hammad's concern that 'violence can make art-making seem futile and feeble, easily crushed' (2023) must resonate for many of those who work with people experiencing increasingly harsh living conditions. Her conclusion, however, is instructive: 'It's easy to feel useless, and from there it's a short leap to despair. But I don't believe we can afford to despair, nor do I think despair is ethical'. This sense of a duty to resist despair is a striking reminder of the critical task of educators and activists, and of the role that arts and culture can play in sustaining energy, determination and defiance in the face of despair. In this special issue of <em>Concept</em>, authors draw attention to some of the ways that people collectively make sense of, re-imagine or seek to change, the conditions of their lives by using the arts as a means and space of engagement. </p>2023-12-28T12:28:34+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9296Chains of interruption2023-12-28T14:11:20+00:00Darlene E Cloverclover@uvic.ca<p>My interest over the past two decades has been the gendered nature, politics, and pedagogies of museum practices or representation. Practices of representation consist of language and symbols as well as visuals and objects. They are important because they are pervasive and resilient; we are embedded in and propagate multiple forms of representation on a daily basis. Practices of representation do not simply reflect the world; they shape and bring it into being. They are how we make meaning and sense of and articulate differences in environments, cultural traditions, communities, and other people. In particular, representations are how we forge our own identities and sense of place in the world (Hall, 2013; Kidd, 2015).</p>2023-12-28T12:39:38+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9297Men and Masculinity2023-12-28T14:11:20+00:00Robert Grantrgrant@tcd.ie<p>This article describes a project where philosophical dialogue was introduced to male community leaders to support them in a critical reflection on the meaning of masculinity. </p> <p>While it might seem unusual to apply an open-ended philosophical approach to a subject like masculinity, given its natural home in anthropological and sociological domains, this paper aims to show that the practice of philosophical dialogue provides a uniquely productive and fruitful way to engage men in discussion about masculinity.</p>2023-12-28T12:49:23+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9298Guid Fer A Laugh2023-12-28T14:11:20+00:00Lydia Markhamlydia.markham@ea.edin.sch.ukDerek Suttiedsuttie2011@hotmail.co.uk<p>Guid Fer A Laugh has always sought to place itself as part of what Mikhail Bakhtin calls 'the open-ended dialogue that enters into the dialogic fabric of human life' (Morson & Emerson, 1990). It places a central value on the contributions of the <br>participants and the active discourse that they create. As Buber (1965) states '[it is only] when we meet in the narrow ridge of the between' that we discover for ourselves new discourse, new knowledge and truth. This ‘meeting in dialogue’, especially applies to laughter.</p>2023-12-28T13:01:39+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9299Folk - Music2023-12-28T14:11:20+00:00Stuart Eydmanneydmann@googlemail.com<p>This photographic essay is offered as a reflective gallery space among the text-based debate, ideas, arguments, and opinions in this special edition.</p> <p>On 14 August 1985, I had a falling out with my friend and fellow musician and musicologist David Johnson (1942-2009), on account of a review I had written of his seminal book <em>Scottish Fiddle Music in the Eighteenth Century</em> for the journal <em>Cencrastus</em>. I remember the precise date, as David chose to challenge me on the matter while we sat together waiting nervously in the green room at the Queens Hall, minutes before we were to take the stage in <em>Mr Menuhin’s Delight</em>, an Edinburgh International Festival concert of Scottish fiddle music.</p>2023-12-28T13:11:41+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9300Storytelling for Each Weaves a Blanket for All2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Beth Crossbeth.cross@uws.ac.ukJennifer Markidesbeth.cross@uws.ac.ukDonald Smithbeth.cross@uws.ac.uk<p>The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (Unicef, 1989), amongst other things, names the right to identity, the right to play and the right to a voice. Storytelling weaves together all three. Stories are carried through song, sculpture, weavings, drawings and the told word. To celebrate and nourish them is central to human health and to the work many of us do regardless of our job designations, wherever being a good listener is the primary skill we hone.</p>2023-12-28T13:21:56+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9301A Personal Experience of Political Song2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Eileen Penmaneileenpenman55@gmail.com<p>As the world careers into perpetual destruction fired by a greed for power and land leading to war, violence, hunger and pollution of the planet, people are marching across the world in horror and incredulity at the unimaginable suffering of Palestinians - as well as many Israelis of course. Every decade brings its own struggles, accompanied by strikes, demonstrations, rallies, protests, sit-ins, flash mobs, whatever. Over our lifetimes I, and countless others, have lost count of the number of demonstrations we have participated in to make our voices heard. We are used to hearing speaker after speaker (often male) blowing their own trumpets and making stirring speeches with which the majority of us agree. However, organisers of protests would do well to think seriously about ways in which to include music and song in marches and rallies. Why? What is the purpose of political song? I firmly believe in the necessity of political song as an integral part of public protest; to uplift and inspire the cause and, in so doing, enrich our culture. I'd like to think that younger musicians, as artists, feel strongly enough to acknowledge and support popular struggles through their music and song. I witnessed how cultural events flourished during the Scottish Independence campaign leading up to the Referendum in 2014, when the National Collective was active and bursting at the seams with young people entertaining us. Makes you think!</p>2023-12-28T13:31:29+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9302Learning for Democracy2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Stuart Moirstuart.moir@ed.ac.uk<p>The sustainability of any democratic polity relies on the active participation of its citizens in civic and political affairs. Therefore, if we value democracy, it is important to be clear about how people become active participants so it can be sustained and developed. There are a range of conceptual ideas that social scientists use to explain how people develop an interest in politics and become political actors. In this article I will draw on my doctoral thesis to explore one of these ideas, the concept of political socialisation, and to highlight the key role that music played in helping some young people become politically active and critically conscious citizens. I will conclude by arguing that educators should recognise and harness the transformative power of music to help people learn about democracy and their role in it.</p>2023-12-28T13:36:30+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9303Understanding the world through accessible cultural resources2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Allan Hoseyallanhosey@hotmail.com<p>Using accessible cultural resources to understand the world is not a new concept. It is, however, a complex and multi-layered activity with historical routes in many different aspects of the sciences. The activity is clearly subjective, both in terms of the research subject and the cultural resources accessed. My cultural reflections span a period from the early 1960s to the present. I will try to structure this article by firstly outlining some of the personal cultural inflection points that influenced my choice of subject matter to research, and give a brief outline of the areas I spent time researching. Secondly, I will outline the type of cultural resources that I used for my research and, to conclude, I will reflect on how accessing cultural resources has, and still does, positively influenced my life.</p>2023-12-28T13:41:24+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9304A green referral2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Karen Byrnekaren.b60@icloud.com<p><em>This is about my journey finding meaning after loss. It is a personal account and though I refer to fellow travellers and facilitators I am speaking from my point of view, and my peers will have their own observations. I have been a teacher, parent, partner, carer (and, many years ago, an artist).</em></p>2023-12-28T13:45:16+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9305Arts and Culture for all in Public Libraries2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Paul Hudsonpaul.hudson@edinburgh.gov.uk<p>I have worked in community library services for the past 27 years and have seen the role of libraries in promoting and supporting cultural activity change and develop significantly over the period. All libraries are generally defined as a physical space that holds specific resources for use by its members. A typical definition of a public library can be found at collinsdictionary.com: 'a building where things such as books, newspapers, videos and music are kept for people to read, use or borrow'. <em> </em>When I began working in public libraries, much of my role supported this simple definition. The majority of my work involved the maintenance and development of library collections and the ways in which they could be more easily accessed by users. Over the years, the priorities of front-line staff in libraries have moved away from a collection-centred approach towards an approach that is more community-centred. There have been a number of factors that have contributed to this change in emphasis but, from my perspective, they all have their roots in libraries adjusting to community demand.</p>2023-12-28T13:49:56+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9306To Hell with Culture2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Tom Steelegosticksteele@gmail.com<p>Any word that stretches from a Petrie dish of toxic chemicals mixed up by scientists in a lab, at one end of the spectrum, to the complete works of Shakespeare at the other is bound to suck in plenty of bullshit in between. So, should we abandon the word ‘culture’ as far too vague to be meaningful or pare it back to see what we really mean when we use it? In desperation the poet, Ezra Pound, junked it in favour of ‘Kulchur,’ meaning, for the most part, he did not think it meant anything useful at all. And the sculptor Eric Gill said: ‘When will revolutionary leaders realize that ‘culture’ is dope, a worse dope than religion; for even if it were true that religion is the opiate of the people, it is worse to poison yourself than to be poisoned…To hell with culture, culture as a thing added like a sauce to otherwise unpalatable fish’. The Greeks did not have a word for it, according to Herbert Read, since for them they just had a good way of life that encompassed everything and definitely did not need a separate commodity called ‘culture’ to make it taste better. The term appears to have been first coined by the Romans, who turned culture into that commodity, ‘Roman Culture’, and then dumped it onto the unsuspecting peoples they conquered and absorbed into their empire, whether they liked it or not. The British did much the same a millennium and a half later.</p>2023-12-28T13:54:43+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9307Arts, Culture and Community Development (2021 Edited by Rosie Meade and Mae Shaw, Policy Press 272 pages ISBN 978-1447340515, £26.992023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Lyn Tettlyntett468@gmail.com<p>This book shows the many ways in which the arts provide the means and spaces of engagement for people to <em>collectively</em> 'make sense of, re-imagine, or seek to change the personal, cultural, social, economic, political or territorial conditions of their lives' (p. 1). To do so, academics and practitioners from six continents discuss and explore a range of aesthetic forms including song, music, muralism, theatre, dance, and circus arts based on examples from Finland, Lebanon, Latin America, China, Ireland, India, Sri Lanka and beyond. It comprises 13 chapters and an Afterword and is divided into two parts: 'making and sharing collective meanings' and 'negotiating policy and practice'. The first part captures how collective hopes, frustrations and fears are addressed through song, dance, etched on walls or conveyed through puppets and theatre leading to allegiances and memories that illustrate how 'community development is reflected in what is said, done, made, and created by people together' (p. 13). The second part is about the conditions of possibility for community-based arts and media, where the focus is on addressing the consequences of structural violence, inequality, and oppression. Here, the authors explore how cultural practices are conceptualised and negotiated in a wide range of countries and settings.</p>2023-12-28T14:02:05+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##http://concept.lib.ed.ac.uk/article/view/9308The Old Oak2023-12-28T14:11:21+00:00Margaret Petriem.petrie76@gmail.com<p>This film is the third in a trilogy of films set in the Northeast of England from Director, Ken Loach and Scriptwriter, Paul Laverty. All three films give voice to the experience of working-class communities dealing with the devastating and lasting impact of policy over the last four decades, which has preserved the interests of an elite at the expense of the interests of a much wider public. The first film <em>I Daniel Blake</em> highlighted the punitive cruelty of the current welfare system, no longer protecting people in adversity from poverty, homelessness or hunger. The second <em>Sorry We Missed You</em> highlighted the rise of the gig economy, and the erosion of terms and conditions which protect workers in employment. This third film explores the struggle to maintain hope and solidarity in working-class communities in the context of relentless attacks on living standards and quality of life. This is illuminated through the relationship of TJ, a pub landlord struggling to maintain his rundown business, and Yara, a Syrian refugee placed in the community with her family, along with other refugee families, by local authorities.</p>2023-12-28T14:06:15+00:00##submission.copyrightStatement##