An interdisciplinary conference exploring the economic and socio-political dynamics of ‘neoliberalism’ in relation to the contemporary ‘crisis’ of capital and set against a foundational concern with the capitalist world system.
This conference will take place on 2-3 July 2013 at the University of York (UK) and is funded by the British Academy, Centre for Modern Studies (York) and University of York pump priming.
The conference is organised by Dr Nick Gane, Department of Sociology and Dr Claire Westall, Department of English and Centre for Modern Studies.
In the wake of the global financial crisis there has been notable and widespread academic, political and public interest in what is meant by ‘neoliberalism’ – where it sprang from, what its relationship with liberalism is/was, what its economic impact has been/is, what it means for political institutions and their decision making, and how it determines our labouring lives. With big-name public intellectuals – such as David Harvey, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Slavoj Žižek and Stuart Hall – having written on and exposed neoliberalism’s place within capitalism’s development and on-going crises, it seems important that we continue to bring neoliberalism under closer scrutiny by probing its everyday manifestations and its large-scale ambitions, and by working to pinpoint its contradictions and weaknesses. Given that ‘neoliberalism’ is notoriously hard to define, this event seeks to address and track its historical emergence and account for its role in relation to the current economic and political climate. It will do so by placing key critical voices from the social sciences, arts and humanities in dialogue so that socio-cultural understandings of neoliberalism, and the capitalist world system, are offered in direct relation to economic thinking, models, claims and critiques. In short, this interdisciplinary conference will explore and examine the economic and socio-political origins and consequences of ‘neoliberalism’ in relation to the contemporary ‘crisis’ of capital and as set against a foundational concern with the capitalist world system.
A set of key questions underpins the event:
If you wish to speak at this event please contact the organisers (Nick Gane & Claire.Westall@york.ac.uk) by 25 February 2013.
Tuesday 2ND July – all sessions in V/045 (Vanburgh College, Heslington West) Registration & Coffee from 9.30am
10.15am WELCOME & CONFERENCE INTRODUCTION
Dr Claire Westall (University of York) & Dr Nick Gane (University of York)
10.30am OPENING PLENARY
PROFESSOR JODI DEAN (Hobart and William Smith Colleges)
‘Neoliberalism and Communicative Capitalism’
Introduction: Dr Claire Westall
11.30 BREAK
11.45am PANEL 1 – NEOLIBERALISM AND ITS (POWERFUL) SUBJECTS Chair: Dr Alex Beaumont (University of York)
PROFESSOR ROSALIND GILL (King’s College, London): ‘Neoliberalism, Power and Subjectivity’
PROFESSOR NICKY MARSH (University of Southampton): ‘Risk and Failure: Norbert Wiener, Milton Friedman and William Gaddis’
12.45 LUNCH
2pm PANEL 2 – SILICON TECHNOLOGIES & DIGITAL DATA AS NEOLIBERAL TOOLS Chair: Dr David Beer (University of York)
DR TIZIANA TERRANOVA (Universita Di Napoli L'Orientale): ‘Silicon Neoliberalism: Competition and Subjectivity in the Culture of the Corporate Social Web’
DR CLARE BIRCHALL (King’s College, London) ‘Data Goes Pop: Transparency as Neoliberal Tool’ 3pm BREAK
3.20pm PANEL 3 – NEOLIBERALISM, THE STATE & CLAIMS FOR DEMOCRACY Chair: Dr Will Davies (University of Warwick)
PROFESSOR NICK COULDRY (Goldsmiths College): ‘Voiceblind: On Some Paradoxes of the Neoliberal State’ PROFESSOR MICHAEL GARDINER (University of Warwick): ‘Neoliberalism, Child of the Keynesian State’ 4.20pm BREAK
4.30pm PANEL 4 – KNOWLEDGE REGIMES, ‘PUBLIC’ EDUCATION AND NEOLIBERAL UNIVERSITIES Chair & Respondent: Roger Burrows (Goldsmiths College) With open-‐floor discussion & debate
PROFESSOR ADAM TICKELL (University of Birmingham): ‘The University in Neoliberal Times’
PROFESSOR MARC LEVINE (University of Wisconsin-‐Milwaukee): ‘The False Promise of the Entrepreneurial University: Neoliberalism, Academic Commercialism and Urban Economic Development’
PROFESSOR JOHN HOLMWOOD (University of Nottingham): ‘Knowledge Regimes, Public Higher Education and the Future of the Social Sciences’
CLOSE DAY ONE 6.30PM SPEAKERS DINNER 7.30PM RED CHILLI, YORK CITY CENTRE
Wednesday 3rd July – all sessions in Bowland (Berrick Saul Building, Heslington West) Registration & Coffee from 9.30am
10am PANEL 5 – WORLD-‐SYSTEMATICS, ZOMBIE NEOLIBERALISM AND ‘THE END’ Chair: Professor Werner Bonefeld (University of York)
PROFESSOR STEPHEN SHAPIRO (University of Warwick): ‘Neoliberalism’s Absent Cultural Fix: Credit, World-‐ systemics, and the Circuit of Capital’
DR MARK FISHER (Goldsmiths College/University of East London): ‘How to Kill a Zombie: Strategizing the End of Neoliberalism’
11am BREAK
11.15am PANEL 6 – DISASTER, POSTCAPITALISM & THE BIO-‐SOCIAL OF NEOLIBERALISM Chair: Professor Jason Edwards (University of York)
DR ANTHONY CARRIGAN (Keele University): ‘Disaster Postcapitalism’
PROFESSOR THOMAS KEMPLE (University of British Columbia): ‘The Bio-‐Social Sources of Neoliberalism’ 12.15pm LUNCH
1.15pm PANEL 7 – DEBTS, RENTS & RECONFIGURATIONS OF PUBLIC/PRIVATE SPACES Chair: Dr Gareth Millington (University of York)
PROFESSOR COUZE VENN (Goldsmiths College): ‘The Commodification of Debt and Capitalist Accumulation Through New Forms of Rent’
DR ROWLAND ATKINSON (University of York): ‘Control, the Private Home and Public Space’ 2.15pm BREAK
2.30pm PANEL 8 – LABOUR, PRECARITY AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMIES OF NEOLIBERAILSM Chair: Dr Simon Parker (University of York)
DR LIAM CONNELL (University of Winchester): ‘Flexible Labour and the Crises of Work: Fictional Precarity’
DR WILL DAVIES (University of Warwick): ‘The Revenge of the “Social”: Neoliberalism from “Socialist Calculation” to “Social Analytics”’
PROFESSOR WERNER BONEFELD (University of York): ‘From Adam Smith to Ordoliberalism: On the Political Form of Market Liberty’
3.45pm BREAK
4pm CLOSING PLENARY
PROFESSOR JAMIE PECK (University of British Columbia): ‘Explaining (with) Neoliberalism’
Introduction by Nick Gane (University of York)
5pm OPEN CONFERENCE DISCUSSION & DEBATE 6PM CLOSE & THANKS
This event is not for profit. There is no conference fee, only a registration form.
If you wish to attend please complete this Neoliberalism registration form (MS Word , 16kb) and return by 7th June 2013 to carole.nicolson@york.ac.uk (places are now limited).
For further information about the event please contact the organisers (Nick Gane & Claire.Westall@york.ac.uk).
Download the Conference Poster here: Neoliberalism poster (PDF , 6,999kb)