Call for
Papers
Revealing
Geographies of the Super-Rich
New
Zealand
Geographical Society Conference 2010, with the Institute of Australian
Geographers
5-8 July 2010, Rydges
Hotel, Christchurch, New Zealand (details at:
http://www.nzgs2010.org.nz/ )
Organised by Iain Hay
and Samantha Muller, Flinders University,
South
Australia
It is six years since
Beaverstock et al. (2004) first
alerted geographers to the need to give consideration to the
super-rich, yet
geographers continue to ignore this important group. In the meantime,
and
notwithstanding the Global Financial Crisis, the pockets of these ten
million
people who hold investable assets exceeding US$40 trillion have filled,
while
the gap between the world’s poorest and wealthiest people has grown.
This
special session(s) will highlight our troublesome myopia and, through
explorations of the geographies of the super-rich, shed new light on
the
institutions, practices and cultural values of our society.
Papers may approach
issues surrounding the super-rich conceptually or empirically and from
any of a
variety of methodological stances. Amongst other topics, papers might
explore
the:
·
complex roles of the super-rich in shaping and
reshaping places;
·
creation and maintenance of divisions between
places for the poor and the wealthy;
·
changing face of human desires. In worlds
without financial limitation, just how do the super-rich choose to live
their
lives?;
·
problematic ‘everydayness’ of superwealth in
some societies;
·
cultural differences in aspirations and
expectations of the super-rich;
·
challenging links between gender and
super-wealth;
·
causes and consequences of new concentrations of
the super-rich in specific jurisdictions;
·
philanthropy of the super-rich and the impact of
the trillions of dollars they contribute; and
·
significance of increasingly separate economies
of the rich. As Kapur et al. (2005)
have observed, in many countries, the rich are now simply “so rich that
their
behaviour overwhelms that of the ‘average’ or median consumer.”
To be considered for inclusion in this
panel, email a copy of:
(a) your paper title;
(b) 250 word abstract (max); and
(c) five key words
to Samantha Muller (samantha.muller @flinders.edu.au)
no later than 19 March.
(NB - you will also have to register for the
conference and provide the organisers with the details they seek. Check http://www.nzgs2010.org.nz/
for all relevant information. )
With thanks Samantha Muller and Iain Hay
