'Kelvin Mason is a human geographer and activist. His research interests include activism, Wales, the environment and justice, particularly in the context of climate change. He is engaged in transformative social movements, edits the Wales page of Peace News, contributes to Red Pepper, Planet and other radical magazines, and is active in the Participatory Geographies Research Group (of the Institute of British Geographers), particularly via the ‘fuller geographies’ project. He lives in and is committed to Aberystwyth in West Wales but (in early 2014) is unable to find paid employment locally.'
I just bought a hard copy of The Para-Academic Handbook which is also available as a download. It looks great and I look forward to reading chapters by other contributors... Naturally, though, I re-read the chapter by Mark Purcell and myself first! Modesty forbids me commenting, as they say (who are they?). But I am going to copy and paste my bio, which I like and which is as true in mid-2015 as it was in early 2014. I'm getting used to it but really do need to work on an economic strategy for para-academic activist survival! How long I can keep up my commitment to a largely indifferent Aberystwyth is, frankly, open to question...
'Kelvin Mason is a human geographer and activist. His research interests include activism, Wales, the environment and justice, particularly in the context of climate change. He is engaged in transformative social movements, edits the Wales page of Peace News, contributes to Red Pepper, Planet and other radical magazines, and is active in the Participatory Geographies Research Group (of the Institute of British Geographers), particularly via the ‘fuller geographies’ project. He lives in and is committed to Aberystwyth in West Wales but (in early 2014) is unable to find paid employment locally.'
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I'm getting more involved with a Gonzo geography project in parallel with a group in Aberystwyth protesting about the demolition of their day centre to make way for a shopping mall development, including a Tesco. What particualry draws me to this protest is the absurdist ethic of justice in play. The group turn out every week - the day centre has already been knocked down, there is no battle left for them to win... Nevertheless, they continue to point out the injustices they and others have suffered to make way for Tesco et al. Every Saturday they are rewarded by people in passing cars tooting their horns. Lately, an ad hoc performance art collective have been turning up to decorate the 8ft wooden fence around the Tesco site with graffiti, consulting with the protesters about images, poems, slogans etc. The council, whom the protesters blame for the development, instigated a community art project to decorate the fence, employing an artist. The protesters rejected this act of recuperation and letters in the Cambrian news have pointed out that there is already a community art project! See my facebook page for more photos etc.
This one-day forum at Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Thursday 23 April) is a co-operation between artists, physical and social scientist, and activists. It begins an exploration of fracking and extreme energy from diverse perspectives:
In the light of Ceredigion becoming the first frack-free local authority in Wales and the Welsh Government having nominally declared a moratorium, we ask: what does that mean? What is the science and technology of fracking? Where is energy policy made and contested? And how do we imagine fracking: how do we experience it emotionally and so represent the process and its effects? Extreme energy technologies such as fracking could shape the physical, human and cultural geography of the future. Participants in this forum will produce a public depiction of fracking. |
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December 2022
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