A prominent international figure in critical social
psychology, Ian Parker, has been suspended from his post at Manchester
Metropolitan University (MMU). Ian's colleagues and students have been given
little to no explanation as to why he has been suspended, and the university
has prohibited him from contacting them and from using his university email.
However, it appears that the suspension is, ironically, related to an earlier
email he sent protesting against arbitrary and secretive management practices at
the university.
Ian Parker is one of the most highly respected critical
theorists in psychology. He has authored numerous books on social psychology,
psychoanalyis, critical psychology, qualitative methodology and discourse
analysis, and is at the centre of an extensive network of critical
psychologists around the world. There have been protests against his suspension
from academics in, amongst others, Canada, Turkey and South Africa. Ian's
students have written to the vice-chancellor and have put posters and flyers up
on campus. They suggest that concerned academics should email the
Vice-Chancellor of MMU, John Brooks (c.j.green@mmu.ac.uk),
and the Head of the Department of Psychology, Christine Horrocks (c.horrocks@mmu.ac.uk). These messages
can be copied as messages of solidarity to the MMU UCU chair Pura Ariza (p.ariza@mmu.ac.uk).
There is also a petition about this -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ian-parker-should-get-back-to-his-work
An update from the organisers of the petition:
ReplyDeleteHello,
Ian’s union representatives at MMU know that public pressure is a real help, but that he must not actively disobey the instruction to keep the disciplinary process ‘private and confidential’ as the university demand while the investigation takes place. Apart from the petition at http://chn.ge/Q3IV1R , the Times Higher Education Supplement in the UK has picked up the story (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421442&c=1), and messages of protest are being sent to the Vice-Chancellor John Brooks (john.brooks@mmu.ac.uk) and the Head of the Department of Psychology Christine Horrocks (c.horrocks@mmu.ac.uk). These messages are being copied as messages of solidarity to the MMU UCU chair Pura Ariza (p.ariza@mmu.ac.uk) and vice-chair Christine Vié (c.vie@mmu.ac.uk). It is imperative, at the same time, to step up support for Christine Vié who has been targeted for redundancy at MMU (http://www.manchestertuc.org/solidarity/414-christine-vie-victimisation-at-mmu.html).
In solidarity,