A problem of interpretation

I found a couple of interesting passages in the text "Done and To Be Done" (The Castoriadis Reader, p. 380-1) that concern education. Castoriadis lists some of the points of investigation that he finds interesting for a future follow up, among which:

"There is still the prescriptive/normative dimension, namely, the contribution these considerations can bring to a reflection on a form of education oriented toward autonomy"

And then:"Finally to be treated more amply than I have done so far [mentions two works] is the passage of the psyche and the heteronomous social individual to reflective and deliberative subjectivity (that is, the elucidation of the two different modes of sublimation)". (Ibid., emphasis in original)

It is not all clear what "these considerations" refer to. It could be matters of class, caste etc. which he'd just talked of -- or his work in general. But my main question to you, my knowledgeable colleagues, concerns the point about two modes of sublimation. What do you think: is he talking about 1) the passing from the unsocialized psychical monad to the socialized individual on the one hand, and 2) the passing from the state of heteronomy to autonomy in the case of a given individual, on the other? If so, my impression is that he has said quite a lot about the first, and almost nothing about the other. In other words, more work to be done.

An ongoing discussion

F. Theodoridis and myself are having an ongoing discussion further dow, on The formal norm of human beings - for your information. More participants are welcome!
Ingerid S.

Workers' management in Yugoslavia

The economist Peder Martin Lysestøl has recently published a text - in the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen - pointing out the very scant documentation of Eastern European experiments that in fact had something going for them. According to him, the neoliberal powers that be want to erase any historcial knowledge and memories from socialism/communism except the bad ones. Research and documentation on the socialist economies is one area that suffers. He mentions workers selv-management in Yugoslavia during the 1950's and 60's, where the workers did have significant influence, combined with a remarkable economic growth. As anyone with some personal knowledge of the former Eastern bloc knows, some things at least were worth defending under the former system. It would be reasonable to document the various experiments that were after all performed. But, as Lysestøl notices, there is no funding for research in these areas.

I would be interested to know more about the workers' management economy in Yugoslavia. What kind of self-government was involved?

Ingerid S.

Castoriadis in English

There seems to be a general interest for Castoriadis networks and symposia using English as their working language. Even though the Nordic Summer University (NSU) does not really facilitate international participation - being a network to support research cooperation in the Nordic region - the network group Creation, Rationality and Autonomy has gathered quite an international participation (more than any other network group in the NSU).

It would be interesting to collect some information on other working initiatives out there. Of course, there is competence in teaching Castoriadis in Greece, France and Belgium - and Italy, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland and more ... see the Teaching Castoriadis section at Agora International (where there is a also lovely contribution by Ian Pirie, who used to teach some Castoriadis at the East London University).

But what about English speaking milieus working with Castoriadis's thought today? We know there is quite a milieu for Castoriadis studies in Australia (La Trobe University and other places). But also in the USA there are niches for CC-studies. Where? And what about the UK?