Near the end of 2007 I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ursula Franklin regarding her political and religious beliefs, as well as her lifelong activism and social criticism. I first heard her speak in 1995 at a conference around community access to the information highway (oh what weird words we used back then). At the time I was just starting to look at critical perspectives on technology, and Ursula's work influenced me quite a bit. Her definition of technology as being "how we do things around here" helped me understand the cultural impact of technology where others tend to miss this crucial influence.

In this interview we cover quite a bit of ground, starting with the analysis of the rise of techno-fascism, and the destructive impact of a society that is driven by the machines of war, which we contrast to the role of feminism and pacifism in moving towards a more socially just society. This discussion was an extension of the ideas in her latest book, The Ursula Franklin Reader: Pacifism as a Map, which was published by Between The Lines.

I recently interviewed Professor Daniel A Bell, who teaches in the philosophy department at Tsinghua University in Beijing, regarding the revival of Confucianism in modern day China. As some of you know I've studied Chinese history for some time now, explicitly Chinese political theory, in part because I feel it is relevant and applicable to global geopolitics. In this interview, Prof Bell and I are able to really get into some substantive issues with regard to the way in which China is changing, and the role Confucian, and to a lesser extent Taoist thought is affecting contemporary society.