[Commpsych] "the Oz CP brand"

Tue Mar 13 10:32:08 WST 2007

Hi David

As always your postings serve to stir thought. I have pondered your comments
and Adrian's' original message for some time trying to work out exactly what
I wanted to say (if anything) and have decided that I do want, and need to
reply in the hope that the questions that you posed receive the discussion
they deserve. 

My first thought is that I am not convinced that there is any such thing as
an "Oz" brand of CP - it is different in many ways to the North American
model but that too is heterogeneous and it is too simplistic to think of it
as a single orientation - many of us (my self included) fall into this trap
of homogenisation. But back to Oz - there are distinct differences in
orientation, belief, priorities etc across and within the various states and
so the notion of a single form of Australian CP is misleading. (I don't
think that this is what Adrian intended to suggest though). It raises the
importance of language and the perceptions that are created as a function of
the terminology employed. 

Your wider, and in my view more important questions, relate to the fact that
we are at times all players in promoting a particular reality or knowledge.
It is interesting that education has embraced so fully the terminology of
the marketing guru's and that we are expected to support this ideology. We
even promote it through the material we teach, the books we set, the agendas
we fail to challenge. Incidentally there is a parallel debate at the moment
in Australian politics about the 'values' we promote and teach in our
schools - Howard is on the record as condemning the left wing ideologies
that some academics promote without recognising that his own agenda
establishes and endorses a set of values that exclude or marginalise members
of the Australian community. 

Promoting the cultural dominance of one particular set of beliefs over
another in a domestic or an international market is questionable and can
only result in a 'one size fits all' that serves the interests of no-one. It
is far more important to celebrate the diverse interpretations of CP
nationally and internationally and to engage in more frequent debate that
challenges the proponents of these various iterations to become the best
practitioner/researcher/person he or she can be. 

Perhaps this is too idealistic though??? 

Thank you for making me think

dawn

____________________________________________

Dawn Darlaston-Jones, PhD

Lecturer

Behavioural Science

College of Arts & Sciences

University of Notre Dame

19 Mouat Street (PO Box 1225)

FREMANTLE

Western Australia WA 6160

Tel: +61 8 9433 0567

Fax: +61 8 9433 0544

e-mail ddarlaston-jones at nd.edu.au

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  _____  

From: commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au
[mailto:commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au] On Behalf Of David Fryer
Sent: 12 March 2007 18:42
To: commpsych at lists.curtin.edu.au
Subject: [Commpsych] "the Oz CP brand"

Perhaps it was a throwaway or tongue in cheek comment but the suggestion
that "It is important to get the Oz CP brand out there", stimulates lots of
interesting critical questions. Everyone will no doubt think of different
ones but here are some which occur to me:

*	What is imported ideologically, from where, with what implications
for whom by referring to an Oz or any other 'brand' of community psychology?

*	Is it really an attraction of an international conference for some
that it is an international market place for selling their brand of CP? 

*	Which are the biggest selling 'national brands' (the 'Coca Cola' and
'Pepsi Cola') of CP?

*	How are these 'brand leaders' of CP marketed?

*	What are the implications for the 'local brands' of CP (the 'Irn
bru')

*	Who are the international jet setting members of the Boards of
Directors of the leading brands of CP, how did they get there and why are
they often men?  

*	Who are the stays at home producers and 'consumers' of the 'brand',
why do they stay there and why are they often women? 

*	Is there just one "Oz CP brand"?  Is the Victoria 'brand' the same
as the Notre Dame 'brand' by virtue of both being geographically based in
Australia? Is there a Head Office?

*	What makes something an 'Oz brand' of CP? If one learns community
psychology in the USA but teaches it in Australia, does that make it an Oz
or a US brand?

Most interestingly, as community psychologists, how should we position
ourselves with regard to exhortations to 'grow the business', 'incentivise
knowledge transfer activities', 'develop . . markets for our intellectual
assets' and embrace 'corporate marketing' as a "drivers of growth"? (all
phrases taken from a  policy document recently adopted by my own
University)? Shouldn't we be alert to, and resist, such governmentality in
case it leads us to come to regard, present and police our own community
psychology theory and practice in terms of discourses ideologically
incompatible with community psychology? 

David

  _____  

From: commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au on behalf of Adrian Fisher
Sent: Sun 11/03/2007 23:48
To: commpsych at lists.curtin.edu.au
Subject: [Commpsych] Lisbon 2008

Dear list members

Just a quick reminder of Lisbon 2008, the Second International Community
Psychology Conference, a long way off but save your pennies. The website is
under construction, but some basic information is available at www.2iccp.com

I note the great work that Grace Pretty has done as College Chair to
negotiate with APS to be allowed to be sponsors of the conference. It is
important to get the Oz CP brand out there.

Grace and I are on the Organising Committee and Chris Sonn is on the
Scientific Committee.

Regards.adrian

Adrian Fisher PhD

Associate Professor

School of Psychology

Victoria University -- Footscray Park

PO Box 14428

Melbourne VIC 8001

Australia

PH: +613-9919-5221

Fax: +613-9919-4324

www.staff.vu.edu.au/commpsych

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