‘Self-transformative ethics and The Free University Movement’ Briohny Walker (University of Queensland) This paper draws on the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Michel Foucault to examine ethics as an embodied process of self-transformation, and selftransformative techniques as a basis for ethics. I will discuss this in the context of a notion of selfhood that is time-bound and deeply socially embedded, focussing on questions of oppressive socialisation and emancipatory education. Specifically, I look to the contemporary Free University Movement for inspiration and encouragement, drawing on my own experience as a co-founder and organiser of the Brisbane Free University, as well as conversations between other organisers around the world. In the distinction drawn between ‘ontological freedom’ and ‘moral freedom’, Beauvoir provides a vocabulary for the discussion of socialised oppression. Foucault’s middle period allows for an extension of this account, demonstrating the complexity, historical footing and contemporary prevalence of less visible modes of oppression. Beauvoir’s ethics – in particular, her concept of ‘existential conversion’, a process through which a person may become more able to self transform – provide in turn a means to address the challenges encountered in reconciling Foucault’s middle period with the ethics in his later work. What results is an account of oppressive socialisation that resonates with Foucault’s analysis of contemporary power relations, but additionally brings forth the possibility for an ethic that is able to operate within – or rather, through – the restricted agency available to a constructed self, using techniques of self-construction detailed by the later Foucault along with discussions of selftransformation central to Beauvoir’s work. The role of education within such an ethics is emphasised, with some forms of education aiding in an emancipatory ethical process of self-transformation, and others hindering it. The paper will conclude with investigations into the ethical critiques and emancipatory possibilities set out within the Free University Movement. Briohny graduated from Philosophy at University of Queensland in 2011 and the next year co-founded Brisbane Free University, a grassroots public education program. Briohny also researches and co-presents ‘Radio Reversal’, a historicopolitical philosophical talk show on 4zzz Community Radio.
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