-----Original Message-----
Neoliberal politics over the past four decades has linked democracy
to the extension of markets and competition across the public,
private and charitable sectors. These developments have been
sustained through the extension of individual debt, 'humanitarian'
wars and the normalisation of 'exceptional' acts of sovereign power
including torture and illegal drones. Despite sustained economic
crises, disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and marked increased
in inequalities both within nation states, and between nation states,
neoliberal regimes have flourished. The collapse of the world
financial system in 2008 was rearticulated as a crisis of the state.
Debts incurred by global financial institutions became sovereign
debts while citizens have borne the brunt of the risks generated by
the confluence of debt, war and discipline.
These crises have increasingly put in to question the claim that the
state is a bulwark of democratic politics, the last outpost for the
expression of the sovereign will of the people against the incursion
of market mechanisms. States function to regulate and protect actors
in markets, extend the remit for markets, and limit the possibility
for democratic revolt against the consequences of these freedoms.
However, this recognition also opens the possibility of exploring
other avenues, other directions and possibilities for the expression
of democratic politics. These may involve political actors both below
and above the state, as well as the possibility of reconfiguring
parts of the state.
This conference investigates neoliberal rationalities, practices and
regimes with particular attention to the current conjuncture. It also
theorises the limits of the the different theoretical accounts of
contemporary capitalist politics, while investigating the news sites
and agents of democratic politics. Papers might address any one of
these or related topics:
- SPECIAL STRAND: Wendy Brown on neoliberal politics
- Neoliberal 'Democracies'
- Marxist critiques of Neoliberalism
- Critical Theories of Neoliberalism
- The Politics of Debt
- Neoliberal property regimes
- Reconstruction after Invasion: Market and State in Afghanistan and
Iraq
- The Outsourced State
- Foucault on Neoliberal Governmentality
- Thinking Resistance: From Cairo to Wall Street
- Democracy beyond the state
Keynote Speaker: PROFESSOR WENDY BROWN, UCLA Berkeley
The deadline for abstract submission is 18th October 2013, though as
space is going to be limited, we would recommend earlier submission.
The conference fee is £160. This includes refreshments, lunch on
Thursday and Friday and conference dinner on the Thursday evening.
There are a limited number of places available for graduate students
and for people who have no institutional affiliation at the reduced
price of £80. If you wish to be considered for one of these places
please contact Ian Sinclair <[log in to unmask]> as
soon as possible.
Please note: the conference fee does not include accommodation and,
unfortunately, we are unable to offer travel grants or other forms of
financial assistance. If you have any questions about the conference
or require further information please contact Ian Sinclair:
[log in to unmask]
Online registration for the conference will be open within the next
week, and available through the conference website:
http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/research/cappe/conferences,-seminars,-events/calendar/conflict,-revolt-and-democracy-in-the-neoliberal-world2
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