From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.
NAIT: Education/Training for Aboriginal Youth.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

This is the opening of a conference that is covering both our communication mediums (media, e-networking, art, literature and music) and the framing of what we are communicating. The intent of this weekend is to provide both information and space for the social justice movement to be more effective at influencing Canadian politics. Our hope is that this presentation will be a non-traditional keynote. Instead of just a speech, this night will be a multi-media presentation which ties together art, culture, media and political discourse.

PPT Presentanion link

David Cooper: How Accounting Represents the Modern World I draw on examples from government, corporate and NGO discourses to illustrate how accounting language is permeating more and more of public debate. Particularly notable in Canada and several other countries (especially UK and Australia) has been the rise of the influence of auditor generals, who now report not simply on government finances but also on the state of bureaucratic record keeping and the performance of all government activities. Perhaps even more pervasive are the discourses of accounting firms, and especially the Big Four. They provide advise about privatizations, contracting out and the re-structuring of large parts of society, not just industry, finance and the economy but also the marketization of education and healthcare. Mike Power talks about an audit society and the pervasiveness of the mentality of financial audit (in quality, teaching assessment, medical assessment). We are all more aware of our vulnerabilities- the environment, personal safety, our pensions and old age, and our economic livelihood.

Accounting invests heavily in legitimate, authoritative and objective representations of the performance of large organizations. Accounting is an example of how we increasingly trust in numbers and are attracted by an appeal to objectivity and the apparent rigor of science. What is to be done? Puncture the pretensions and claims of accounting's objectivity and impartiality. Be more aware. Nationalize the audit function. Rebecca Sullivan: Gender and/of the Media In this talk, I will look at the ways that the media, both informational and entertainment, perpetuate gender stereotypes through its narrative and visual frames. Using theoretical concepts from feminist media studies in the context of some recent examples in political reporting, I will suggest ways of looking and reading the media that exposes assumptions about gender roles and sexual positions. The goal here is to provide some understanding of mainstream media's industry practices and aesthetic conventions as concerns gender representations in order to suggest alternative ways of media interaction and activism.

Dennis Soron The Politics of the Popular: Reframing the Debate Media, advertising and entertainment industries have increasingly grown in economic and cultural influence throughout much of the world. At present, they rank among the fastest-growing and most dominant sectors of the global economy, and are a looming presence in our everyday lives, providing the basic repertoire of images, narratives, and fantasies through which collective values are articulated and expressed. This talk wades anew into longstanding debates about the relationship between popular culture, and progressive social change, attempting to steer a course between moralistic pessimism and native optimism. It does this, in part, by arguing that the transformative potential of cultural expression is related not simply to its symbolic content, or to the formal features of the technologies that disseminate it, but to the social contexts in which it is created, experienced, and integrated into "popular" life.

Nora Young Games, Groups, and Good Deeds: How Pop Culture and New Technology Can Open Minds and Further Innovation Contemporary technologies offer a host of new ways to connect, create, organize, and communicate. They also offer savvy pop culture creators opportunities to bring people together to collaborate and innovate by using entertainment. Nora Young talks about some of the best new uses of tech and pop culture to foster innovation, from street theatre to video gaming for the greater good.

Did Martha and Henry ever talk out loud? Dissecting the political narrative of the Klein revolution and it's impact today. The Klein revolution created the story that Albertans are one big family, all in this together and all in agreement about where we're going. No room for whiners in this family and no room for dissenting views. It's a political narrative that helped stifle dissent, eroded democractic debate and left the Tories more firmly in control. Ed Stelmach is writing the next chapter.

Leslea Kroll and Heather Zwicker read excerpts from Leslea's recent play Swallow. Set on the shore of a toxic tailings pond, Swallow featured two sisters, displaced migrant workers from the fictional submerged island of Aluvut. Staged one month prior to the drowning deaths of 500 ducks in Northern Alberta, Swallow invited audiences to consider the environmental impacts of the tar sands industry. Leslea and Heather invite discussion on the ways in which language frames our perceptions, and how cynicism and apathy can be actively channelled through creative commentary.

This talk draws on citizenship theory and empirical research of Internet use to propose a new perspective on civic engagement as it emerges amidst everyday life. The objective of the argument is to identify the ways in which users employ the Internet to form and enact positions of political and civic nature. Even though this sometimes happens in small and apparently banal forms, the practices of citizenship immersed in everyday life represent a reservoir of energy that should be properly understood and appreciated by political and civic organizations.

PPT Presentation link

The Right has successfully forged a (pardon-the-expression) synergy between voters and their subconscious yearning for the simple, the familiar and the safe. When the real issues are complex, unfamiliar and risky, the Left faces a disadvantage that is difficult to counter through reasoned debate. 'Framing' issues in ways that resonate with hopes and fears may have debased political discourse, but it sure has translated into votes. Should the Left also go-for-the-gut? What would that look like?

Why is it that people often vote against their best interests? How is it that radical ideas of yesterday become the "common sense" of today? What can progressive citizens do to promote our common sense? The answer lies in the human mind. Together we'll survey key insights from the cognitive sciences - psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy - to discover how the workings of our brains can shape the future of progressive politics.

PPT Presentation link

Podcasts give more people access to media production. This new way of consuming information may be changing the message, the impact of the message, and the way it is consumed. How is this new medium affecting the message?

The vast majority of Canadians support the idea of public healthcare. Is this an example of our success in framing the issue? Or is it just that Medicare carries itself because it is so obviously important. The record is mixed. We have succeeded in defending publicly funded health care but have allowed the privateers to gain ground on two-tier health care. One problem: not all Medicare activists use the same frames or use them systematically - something the right does well. To win the framing war, we need to be much more strategic and much more thorough.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall what happened to diversity and freedom of expression? How did market-realism establish its ascendancy in Western culture?

What is the nature of public art and what does its various manifestations say about our public space and urban areas? What role can artists play in the political process? Can art effect change today? Through the examination of various forms of public art, from sanctioned civic works to graffiti and other forms of street art, artist Ian Mulder will examine these questions with slides and examples through history and in contemporary practice. He will look at the broad range of actions available to artists, and how their opposition and complicity works to create the city spaces and public art monuments within them. Ian will speak of his own experience working with communities, arts organizations, and city government here in Canada and abroad.

From the 2008 Parkland Institute / Community Service Learning speaker series.

How progressives can win with framing. Successful conservative frames like ‘tax relief’ didn’t appear magically; they were built upon years of effort in spreading the word, discussing values, and observing how the message resonates with the public. A brief presentation on the basics of framing will set the stage for a goal-driven, small group framing exercise on topics selected by participants.