From various sources, located in different countries across the globe, I have received the message, in inverted commas, below, signed by China Mills. It concerns the suspension, from Manchester Metropolitan University in Britain, of Ian Parker, one of the best known and most influential critical psychologists in the world today, who is also a practising psychoanalyst.
Needless to say, even when seen in the context of the increasing attempts, on the part of the Conservative government in Britain, to limit freedom of (critical) speech at universities (in what is one of the oldest democracies of the modern world), it still comes as a shock that this has actually happened. I shall let the letter from China Mills speak for itself; suffice it to say, on my own and Ian’s many other friends and colleagues’ behalf, that this is a person whose work is predicated on the possibility of creating the space for people, who are oppressed in many different ways in contemporary society, to assess their own relationship with power, and to act in an emancipatory manner.
The charge against Ian from the university makes absolutely no sense; in fact, it is couched in terms that are designed to hide, rather than reveal the true reasons for his suspension. It is of utmost importance that academics all over the world, and not only in the United Kingdom, see this for what it is, namely the creeping assault on fundamental democratic rights by those in power, who has everything to gain by silencing those who expose their repressive practices. Critical psychologist Desmond Painter of Stellenbosch University has also written something about this.
Here is the letter from China Mills:
“Dearest friends, something incredibly shocking has happened. Ian Parker has been suspended from Manchester Metropolitan University. It has happened suddenly and unexpectedly, and students and staff at the University have been given little to no explanation as to why.
Ian was suspended from work after having been unable to arrange, with barely 18 hours notice, for a union official to come with him to hear a charge that the university said amounted to ‘gross professional misconduct’. What this seems to mean is that Ian raised concerns within the University about the problem of secrecy and control in the department in which he works, and was suspended for doing so. Ian has had to leave his office and key, been told not to contact University staff and students, and his access to his email has been suspended. For his students Ian has simply ‘disappeared’ overnight, and while he is keen to continue supervising and teaching, he is not allowed to.
I could never fully express what effect Ian’s sudden, shocking and completely unjustified suspension might mean for students at MMU and for the wider international academic community. Ian’s suspension is happening against a wider backdrop in the UK where while universities are now charging students £9 000 a year (and much more for international students), they are also cutting essential resources, often meaning staff have to work harder and complain less. This means that those staff who defend the University as a space for open and democratic deliberation are often put under pressure to remain silent. In fact another member of staff at MMU (and another member of the University and College Union- the UCU), Christine Vié, is also being victimised, and has been made compulsorily redundant (and there is an ongoing campaign to defend her).
We are in shock, but only if we speak openly together will we be in a position to challenge and change what is happening to all of us. Openness and democratic debate are the hallmarks of good education. Yet secrecy and silencing are key issues here. Ian has been silenced but his work continues to speak. Yesterday I looked at the principle aims of ‘Psychology, Politics, Resistance’, which Ian helped to set up in 1994 as a network of people who were prepared to oppose the abusive uses and oppressive consequences of psychology, to support individuals to challenge exploitation, to develop a collective active opposition to oppression, and to make this a key element in the education of all psychologists. So, let’s act together, and follow Ian’s example, and speak out – tell as many people as we can, and come together collectively as an international critical community to call upon the management of MMU to come to a resolution of this problem and to reinstate Ian.
Messages of protest can be sent to the Vice-Chancellor John Brooks ([email protected]) and the Head of the Department of Psychology Christine Horrocks ([email protected]). These messages can be copied as messages of solidarity to the MMU UCU chair Pura Ariza ([email protected]) and it is imperative that, at the same time, support should be stepped up to support Christine Vié ([email protected]).
The postgraduate students at MMU are sending a letter to the Vice Chancellor, and there will be flyers and posters put up on campus, and call outs in lectures all next week. Please do send letters and emails, and tell as many people as you can.
We will keep you posted about further action, and do let us know if you have any ideas for how we can fight this together (because we can fight this together). Please feel free to email me [email protected]
In solidarity,
China Mills (alongside many of the students at MMU)”
There is an online petition against Ian Parker’s suspension: http://www.change.org/de/Petitionen/ian-parker-should-get-back-to-his-work# Please sign it.
First off, it would help to have some more details. What is involved in gross professional misconduct here?
Um, what are the reasons for the suspension? At the moment we are being asked to launch a defense against someone when we don’t know what the charges are or what the issue is, let alone what the case for the defence might be. I’ve tried to Google the issue, but nothing comes up at all.
I find this a bit weird, frankly. What hath Parker wrought, that Dare Not Speak Its Name?
It would be good to have more details, but I understand Ian Parker is not ‘allowed’ to comment, and the University isn’t. I gather that Parker is somewhat controversial in his thinking amongst many of his professional peers, and is inclined to Marxism. But know little else about him.
The following statement by MMU staff and students appears on the website of the petition in Ian’s favour:
“Ian Parker is one of the most respected and influential scholars in contemporary critical psychology and there are hundreds of psychologists following his work across the world. His exceptional critical scholarship not only made him an important figure in the international context, but also provided an invaluable insight into the most important issues the discipline of psychology faces today.
Ian Parker’s prolific impact on our understanding of psychological knowledge makes is difficult for us to understand why Manchester Metropolitan University would treat such a well respected scholar with such a disrespectful attitude. We believe his suspension will only damage the reputation of Manchester Metropolitan University, a place internationally known for its institutional freedom and support for critical scholarship.
As Ian Parker’s colleagues and students, we hope that Manchester Metropolitan University will not insist on its attitude and Ian Parker will get back to his work.”
To this I can add that, knowing Ian personally, I can vouch, not only for the quality of his scholarship (I reviewed his latest book in PINS last year), but also for his integrity as a person. MMU’s suspension of Ian has nothing to do with his work; it can only be a ‘political’ suspension. Witness the support he is getting from staff and students at MMU.
@Jean Wright – I hesitate to jump to conclusions but I do not think being ‘inclined to Marxism’ would constitute gross professional misconduct today, even on a grey and rainy day in Manchester.
@Paul Whelan. I agree, but simply put in the info. for whatever it may (or may not) be worth… No doubt a grey (and rainy!) issue.
@ Bert – The statement is simply a supportive one, which is fine. But have we any idea what the problem is?
I agree with those who feel we do not have enough information, and notwithstanding the solid reinforcement from Bert in the last piece and not with any intention to doubt Bert on this score… one assumes this is real since you don’t usually do this… so… Calling on us to leap around and parry blows in the name of liberty is all very well nonetheless we have a minimalist story in which all the players are [apparently] holding on to silence.
Please elaborate on this reference to issues of ‘control and secrecy’ to which your ‘China’ missive refers, and why this otherwise random event [perhaps] should encourage this curious behaviour on the part of this otherwise unknown[to me] Institution: and this notwithstanding that my paternal grandmother was born in the
place [ ie: Manchester].
What were the circumstances that gave rise to his querying the idea of secrecy and control’ referred above?
Whenever a Left Whinger drones on about democratic principles, or bleats over injustices and the usual old chestnut ‘freedom of speech’, then you simply KNOW they were up to no good. We don’t need any details here. The jury is in as far as I am concerned. Based on past Lefty indignation and rolled out platitudes, we can take an educated guess (as opposed to a psychoanalytical one) here and pretty much bet our bottom dollar that the ‘esteemed’ psychologist in question was up to no good.
One of the clues is how China Doll states that Parker merely ‘questioned’ authority. These left-loons never reason quietly when their libbie hackles are raised; they stomp feet, gnash teeth, pull hair, threaten, shout and scream and when none of these actions work, they attempt to disrupt, raze, strike and generally force their worthless opinions on the rational and unsuspecting decent folk out there.
My money is on MMU management doing the right thing here. I little more digging and I’m 100% sure we’ll uncover the truth is slightly different to what we’re being force fed by the tenured class.
Blogroid, I am as much in the dark as you are, except for what I know from China Mills’ letter, AND, importantly, my own acquaintance with Ian Parker, who is a wonderful human being, and would certainly not object to ‘secrecy’, etc., unless it was something serious. The problem is that Ian cannot, at present, answer any e-mails while the whole thing is sub judice as far as Union representation of him is concerned. If I find out something else I will certainly inform you. Any suggestion that Ian is just another ‘leftie’ who would stir up ‘trouble’ as soon as there is no response to his/her ‘agitation’, is ludicrous. I have been in contact with several of Ian’s other friends in this regard, and they are as convinced as I am of the likelihood that this is an attempt to silence him because his questions have struck a nerve.
Nobody is disputing that Ian Parker is a gentleman and a scholar, albeit one with whom I’d disagree with vehemently starting with methodology and the suitability of his theoretical framework along these lines. We still don’t know why he was suspended, though.
While I am dismissive of what appears to be sub-par “left whinger” ideas, I would not condone anyone censoring them or the people who hold them. We need a bit more information, though. Whether he is a wonderful human being or not is immaterial.
Come on Bert, this half-cocked agitprop stuff isn’t worthy of you.
As a professional philosopher you surely don’t expect anyone to accept an argument based on what a suspension “seems to mean”.
You will also appreciate that there are many actions that may be defined as “gross professional misconduct” and that even people with good academic and research credentials are capable of such misconduct. Even those who are your mates. So why all the red herrings?
You have rushed into print in a partisan way without saying anything of substance that will allow the reader to judge the merits of the case.
Poor show. Try harder.
To all those commenting on the lack of information-
This is precisely the problem! The university has forbidden Ian from talking about the reasons for his suspension or contacting any of his collogues or students about this. As a student of Ian I know as much as you do- Ian has just disappeared from the university without any explanation from officials as to why this was done. This is of-course hurting us as students who depend on his supervision. This secrecy plays into the hand of the authorities as it obstructs our ability to act. We should at the very least (!!) demand an explanation for this. The very demand of not talking about the issue is weakening us all and is against human and workers’ rights. The university is currently targeting UCU (university and colleges union) activists and tries to hinder resistance by keeping us all in the dark. The only comment Ian was allowed to make appears in this link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Discourse-Unit/147733115241781
Please support the students of MMU in our struggle to get Ian back or at least be provided with a reasonable explanation as to why he was so abruptly removed from MMU- what are the allegations that justify such a harsh treatment and such a blow for our studies? why was it not possible to investigate this while Ian is still in place?
In solidarity
anat
Anat is making an excellent point – at the very least MMU should lift this convenient silence.
Isn’t it strange that MMU, and NOT Ian Parker, has forced silence on the issue. In such circumstances only a fool wouldn’t ask ‘why?’ and ‘who is benefiting from the silence?’. Silence itself is a message that carries meaning.
Far more important though is the fact that students are clearly being robbed of their education. I can only imagine how the sudden absence of a lecturer will interrupt your studies, especially post-grad students who work with specific supervisors for specific reasons.
I think people should take note of these issues and at the least demand public clarification, as well as support for the students who are suffering because of this.
How do we support something that we don’t know anything about? All well and good giving us facebook pages but we still don’t know WHY he was suspended. Next thing you know, we find out that he has done something really awful and we blithely signed a petition on a halfa**ed blog.
@ Momma Cyndi- yes, this is precisely the point. The university has the power to make the accusation (‘gross professional misconduct’, who knows what that means) and prevent Ian from speaking or commenting. This creates a dynamic of guilty until proven innocent and make people believe that if there is smoke there is fire. I can tell you as an MMU student that these are not any criminal charges- but this is the internet so why should you believe me? In other words, that’s a catch 22- if Ian doesn’t speak to clear his name he won’t be ‘proven innocent’, you already believe he is guilty because the only one who can speak, the university, says so. If he does speak he is guilty of violating the suspension conditions and bringing the university into ‘disrepute’. There is no way to win.
This is why it is up to us as students, colleagues and the general public to speak up and demand to hear a full account from both sides. The only ones benefiting from this secrecy policy are the university authorities and our only way to fight this is to demand transparency and let them know we will not be silenced!
Isn’t it normal to have a forced suspension, with loads of hush-hush on both sides, pending the outcome of a formal investigation?
For the life of me, I cannot see the difference between immediately suspecting the man is ‘guilty’ and immediately suspecting he has been fitted up. Bert and others have expressed dismay at developments and expect an explanation.
Why not wait for one to emerge, as it certainly will. At this point, there is nothing to convince anyone coming to the matter with an open mind.
Ian’s integrity is beyond reproach. That is all.
Those people wanting to know more about Ian Parker’ suspension and the “culture of bullying” at MMU can read about it in this article in The Independent newspaper: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/manchester-metropolitan-bullying-university-bans-worldrenowned-professor-who-spoke-out-8223782.html
Greetings,
I really like your article. Good piece of work on the look of your website.
Thank you