Why “The Next Day”?

Summary

In this episode, Carolina and Vidhya reflect on the tension among learning from the past, meeting immediate needs in the present, and both imagining and building a better future. We discuss evaluation’s origins as a tool for capital and grapple with our status as members of the professional/ managerial class. Folx with our training and current positionality find uncertainty “risky.” Whose interests do we ultimately serve? Could a solidarity economy offer evaluators a safety net or better fallback position from which to make collective demands—by organizing ourselves or joining existing movements that serve the working class?

⁠⁠⁠Episode 3 transcript⁠⁠

Notes

• 8:19, 19:50, 20:36: The correct author⁠⁠⁠⁠ and date of publication are ⁠⁠Edward Suchman⁠ and 1967.

• 21:12: Vidhya meant ⁠⁠The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996⁠⁠⁠

• 24:44: Modern Family is racist in that there are no regular Black or indigenous characters. Additionally, although there IS an Asian adoptee and a Colombian immigrant character, the Asian adoptee is not old enough to speak for much of the show’s run. Jokes are made at Asians’ expense, including hers. Plots about the Colombian immigrant largely reinforce stereotypes about Latine women.

References

• ⁠⁠⁠Appreciative Inquiry⁠⁠⁠ (Youtube playlist)

• The nonprofit industrial complex is “a set of symbiotic relationships that link political and financial technologies of state and owning class control with surveillance over public political ideology, including and especially emergent progressive and leftist social movements” (Rodriguez, 2006)

• ⁠⁠⁠Debating Colonial Legacies of Development Studies⁠⁠⁠ (recorded conference session)

• ⁠⁠⁠“Why is Evaluation So White?”⁠⁠⁠ (90-min webinar)

• ⁠⁠The Professional Evolution of Michael Scriven⁠⁠ (oral history describing intentions of The May 12 Group)

• ⁠⁠Recapturing Moral Discourse in Evaluation⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Capitalism and the Logic of Deservingness: Understanding Meritocracy through Political Economy⁠⁠⁠ (PhD dissertation)

• ⁠⁠Just Transition⁠⁠⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Black Power⁠⁠⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Ethnic Studies: Born in the Bay Area from History's Biggest Student Strike⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Student Socialist Movement in France⁠⁠⁠ (encyclopedia entry)

• ⁠⁠Evaluation Roots Reconsidered: Asa Hilliard, a Fallen Hero in the “Nobody Knows My Name” Project, and African Educational Excellence⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Unearthing Evaluation’s Roots⁠⁠⁠ (AEA 365 blog entry)

• ⁠⁠Evaluation and Social Justice—Seeking multicultural validity: A postcard from the road⁠⁠ (conference presidential speech)

• ⁠Positivism⁠⁠ (electronic book)

• Scientific management brought the scientific method into managerial practice to address the loss that capital incurs through “inefficiency” in labor productivity

• ⁠⁠⁠What “Capitalism” Is and How It Affects People⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠Social Darwinism, Race, and Research⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Reclaiming Abundance Under Capitalism⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠Better Living Through Evaluation? Images of Progress Shaping Evaluation Practice⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠From Colonial Administration to Development Studies: A Postcolonial Critique of the History of Development Studies⁠⁠ (book chapter)

• ⁠⁠Diversity in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠The Evaluative Research Design⁠⁠ (book by Edward Suchman)

• Justin Laing of ⁠⁠Hillombo Consulting⁠⁠⁠ (credit for “people of oppressed nations”)

• ⁠⁠⁠What Is Orientalism?⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Perry Preschool Project⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠The Negro Family: The Case for National Action⁠⁠⁠ (government report)

• ⁠⁠⁠War on Poverty⁠⁠⁠ (encyclopedia entry)

• ⁠⁠⁠Temporary Assistance for Needy Families⁠⁠⁠ (government website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Affirmative Action⁠⁠⁠ (government website)

• ⁠⁠⁠This⁠⁠⁠ was the closest to a critical review of ⁠⁠⁠Modern Family⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠Epistemic Violence⁠⁠⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Charles Mills⁠⁠⁠ (obituary)

• ⁠⁠Righting Wrongs⁠⁠⁠ (Gayatri Spivak article)

• ⁠⁠⁠Mission Statements as Strategic Management Tools⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠What is Scientism?⁠⁠⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Eugenics & Scientific Racism (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Base and Superstructure⁠ (video)

• ⁠⁠⁠The CIA & the Frankfurt School’s Anti-Communism⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠The Ruling Class and the Buffer Zone⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠On the Origins of the Professional-Managerial Class⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠What Do We Mean By Solidarity Economy?⁠⁠⁠ (website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Measuring Regenerative Economics⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠What is the Extractive Economy?⁠⁠⁠ (article)

• ⁠⁠⁠National Labor Relations Act⁠⁠⁠ (government website)

• ⁠⁠⁠Neoliberal Globalization⁠⁠⁠ (encyclopedia entry)

• ⁠⁠⁠Project 2025⁠⁠⁠ (plan by Heritage Foundation)

• ⁠⁠⁠Study Finds Untapped Potential in Native American Art⁠⁠⁠ (article about Juanita Espinosa)

Music

“Inspired” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)⁠ ⁠⁠Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0⁠⁠⁠

Contact us

• Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://themay13group.net⁠⁠⁠

• LinkedIn:

• Carolina:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carodela⁠⁠⁠⁠

• Vidhya:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidhyashanker⁠⁠⁠