Hi Wilf,
Criticism is always welcome - even if I don't like it . On the page length, yeah, you are right although I think 8 pages would be more like it (more later).
Hmmm, good point and it's a part of academic writing that I think has been ingrained in me. The language is complex because I try and use it in a very precise manner, which was not easy. The ideas are complex because I think the reality is complex and we have gotten into too much drek by assuming that things will be easy.
The final reason, and it gets back to your comment on the length,was that the conference itself is billed as "academic" and that is the genre. Okay, that's a cop out in some ways despite the fact it's true . Let me put it this way - I tried to aim the language, and paper, at a very specific audience using the language and form I did to start a discussion. If somebody doesn't know about Habermas, that's cool - you don't have to and, o be quite honest, I wasted too much time learning his stuff.
Forgive me, but I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here. What in the frak is wrong with saying you don't know something? There is something really wrong with any culture that requires people to act as if they know and, in reality, don't. Honestly, it really burns my bu&& ! I see it in too many of my students and colleagues and, while I actually do understand where it comes from (and I could explain it in excruciating academic detail), I think it is one of the stupidest things we, as a species, have come up with!
Wilf, thank you! BTW, my grandfather left school after grade 3 (around 8) and was an NCO. My father-in-law never graduated from high school and was an NCO. They were two of the smartest people I ever knew. Tell you what, why don't you shot me off an email and we'll see if between us we can come up with a version you think is accessible.
Marc
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