Laura Dresser

The Politics of Knowledge in Theory and Practice

ABSTRACT The authors, former graduate students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, discuss their work with a grassroots community organization (the Homeless Action Committee) engaged in direct action organizing around issues of homelessness, poverty and economic development in Ann Arbor between 1989 and 1994. They find that the group developed an innovative approach to collective intellectual work as an integral part of its political activity. The work of the Homeless Action Committee is put forward as a model for progressive intellectuals seeking engagement with the theory and practice of Freirean pedagogy, emphasizing critical consciousness and political action challenging oppression.

Sectoral Strategies of Labour Market Reform

For good or ill, the sheer economic and political weight of the U.S. make its solutions to employment and training problems important to European policy-makers. Before considering some of the ways it might be changing, we characterise the ‘American model’ of labour market regulation, and ask how it is performing.