Professorial Lecture on 'Science and Ideology in Early Soviet Linguistic Theory', by Professor Craig Brandist, Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, given Wednesday 28 January 2009.

The Pecresse law (11.08.2007) aims to give French universities a degree of autonomy and freedom (also known as ' loi LRU', i.e loi relative aux libertés et responsabilités des universités).Its introduction has generated a massive discontent and a high level of opposition among students and academics alike. As part of her undergraduate dissertation on 'Toulouse 2008: Ideology, Tactics and Organisation of Student Movements 40 years after May 68' (supervised by Dr Natalya Vince), Rosalind Parkin studied the reception of the Pecresse law in Toulouse, focussing on students' opposition to the law. A good level of French is necessary to understand the text of the law itself as well as the arguments developed by Association Générale des Etudiants de Toulouse or Democratie et Socialism, a think-tank on the left of the Socialist Party (PS). Undergraduate and PG students are most likely to benefit from such sources.