Jan Masschelein

The Public and its University: Beyond Learning for Civic Employability?

Instead of asking how universities can contribute to active citizenship and democratic participation (and seeking for ways to improve their contribution), this article asks what it is that universities, due to their specific mission, have to offer. After describing the transition of the historical university (and its focus on modernisation) to the entrepreneurial university (focused on innovation), the authors discuss the current framing of the universitys public role in terms of civic employability. The notion ‘strategies of immunisation’ is introduced to point to the implications of the current focus on citizenship. Finally, an alternative conception of the public role of the university is introduced: the university can be regarded as a space and time to constitute a public by gathering people around matters of concern, and to make something a public concern for people.

Un-contemporary Mastery. The ordinary teacher as philosopher

The feature films of the Belgian directors the Dardenne brothers are one of the most lauded bodies of work in contemporary world cinema (They have twice won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival). Their films can be seen as educational cinema in a number of ways. On one hand, they investigate in an intriguing way the contemporary reality of education and, more particularly, the actual relationship between adolescents and adults. Their films can be seen as empirical philosophical studies that ask questions of essential educational situations and matters: What does it mean to be a child, an adult, a father, a son, a mother, a daughter, a teacher, a schoolmaster, a pupil? What does it mean, not in general, but in the concrete (and sometimes extreme) situations and conditions that society presents today? (See Masschelein 2011, in press).

Community forests as heterotopia. The case of the Mu community forest – Ngoc Son – Ngo Luong Nature Reserve, Vietnam

This paper examines issues of culture and power in regard to the Mu sacred forest, Vietnam, a community forest. The research uses Foucault’s notion of ‘heterotopia’ as a heuristic tool to interpret forest management. It appears that the Mu sacred forest can be understood as a space of ‘self reflective construction’, but also a space that might dissolve, destabilize, interrupt and suspend power. The moment of power suspension frees people from their usual frames. They can escape to some extent from authority and repression. This suggests that sustainable forest management can be promoted through acceptance of local culture and that community forest can be a ‘space of suspension and learning’.

Das Ethos kritischer Forschung

Theoretische und philosophische Debatten uber padagogische Forschung be schaftigen sich haufig mit methodologischen Problemen und mit Fragen der Gultigkeit („validity“) und Reliabilitat („reliability“) von Forschungsergebnissen. In diesen Debatten tritt der Forscher selbst meistens nicht in den Blick. Das Hauptanliegen unseres Beitrages hingegen liegt in einer Erkundung padagogischer Forschung (und vor allem: kritisch-padagogischer Forschung), die den Forscher zum Ausgangspunkt nimmt. Das heist aber weder, dass wir eine psychologische Betrachtung bzw. ein psychologisches Profil vorstellen wollen, noch dass wir eine Typologie von Forschern aus soziologischer oder kultureller Perspektive versuchen. Vielmehr ist es unsere Absicht, eine kleine Analyse der Figur des kritisch-padagogischen Forschers in ethisch-politischer Hinsicht zu bieten. Dazu mochten wir zuerst verdeutlichen, was wir in diesem Kontext unter ‘Ethik’, ‘Politik’ und deren Verbindung verstehen wollen.1

The five million hectare reforestation programme in Vietnam – lessons and policy implications

The nationwide five million hectare reforestation programme (5MHRP) was adopted by the Government of Vietnam as a comprehensive policy to address deforestation and poverty in the mountainous regions all over Vietnam. The programme started in 1998 and ended in 2010. It received significant national and international interests. Scholars and practitioners have commented on the effectiveness and/or ineffectiveness of the performance of the 5MHRP and its relevant policies, but there have been no or only few documents consolidating either theoretical or practical lessons learnt from the implementation of this programme. Synthesising from large archival records and empirical studies on the results of the implementation of the 5MHRP, this paper discusses the specific achievements and limitations of the programmes. It especially questions the effectiveness and efficiency of the supported policies in relation to forest management and livelihood improvement of the people living in mountainous areas. It finally draws out seven key lessons learnt and five policy implications which are hopefully to serve as references for policy makers when setting up future programmes, strategies and policies for mountainous development in Vietnam.