Events
9th Annual Wheelwright Lecture: David Ruccio
2016 9th Annual Wheelwright Lecture in Political Economy
David Ruccio (Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame)
“Utopia and the Critique of Political Economy”
In my 2016 E. L. Wheelwright Memorial Lecture paper, I want to present for discussion the thesis that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels had a much more positive assessment and appreciation of “utopian socialism,” especially the work of Robert Owen, than we find in traditional, “scientific” interpretations of Marxism (emanating from both inside and outside the Marxian tradition).
I also intend to connect that debate over utopian socialism to the rich, long history of intentional communities in Australia, beginning with Herrnhut in 1853. Finally, I plan to argue that, while Marxian theory is not a utopianism (unlike, for example, neoclassical economics), it does have what I consider to be a “utopian moment,” which is based on the idea of ruthless criticism.
In my view, it is the twofold critique of political economy—the critique of capitalism and of mainstream economic theory—that needs to be recaptured and rethought, since it is particularly relevant to the debate about the causes and consequences of the crash of 2007-08 and the ongoing crises of capitalism in the world today.
The previous Wheelwright Lectures have delivered by Walden Bello (2008), Jim Stanford (2009), Fred Block (2010), Sheila Dow (2011), Diane Elson (2012), Susan George (2013), Leo Panitch (2014), and Erik Olin Wright (2015).
Eastern Avenue Auditorium, University of Sydney
18 October, 2016 – 6:00pm (drinks and bookstall in the Foyer beforehand from 5:15).
Entrance: Free
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Call for Papers: From Economic Rationalism to Global Neoliberalism?
From Economic Rationalism to Global Neoliberalism?
A Workshop for Early-Career and Postgraduate Researchers
RMIT, Melbourne, Fri 2nd December, 2016
Hosted by The Australian Sociological Association’s (TASA) Sociology of Economic Life thematic group and Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT
CALL FOR PAPERS
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Michael Pusey’s seminal text of economic sociology, Economic Rationalism in Canberra. Pusey’s book helped instigate a national conversation and publicised the concept of ‘economic rationalism’. It was ranked by TASA as one of the 10 most influential books in four decades of Australian sociology and described by The Age as a ‘celebrated analysis of how economic rationalism came to dominate policy making in Canberra’.
Today, the idea of ‘neoliberalism’ has entered into widespread use in the academy, society and social movements, evoking many of the free market, anti-statist notions critiqued in Pusey’s work. Despite short-lived claims that the 2008 global recession would bury neoliberalism, the politics of free markets and austerity seems as dominant as ever, in Australia and globally. Moreover, scholarship and debate about neoliberalism has exploded in the last quarter of a century.
In this context, this workshop offers a chance for emerging scholars undertaking studies of neoliberalism and economic rationalism, as it manifests in Australia and globally, to present their research at a day-long event in Melbourne. Held the day after TASA’s annual conference in Melbourne, this workshop will offer Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students and Early-Career Researchers (i.e., within five years of their PhD award) the chance to present their research in a supportive environment of peer-to-peer discussion and mentorship from leading scholars, including Michael Pusey who will read papers and provide extensive feedback.
We invite abstracts of 100-150 words and a brief (i.e., 50 words or less) biographical note, which should include reference to your HDR/ECR status. Authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to submit full papers of between 4000-7000 words (double-spaced) including tables, notes and references. We welcome research that focuses on any aspect of neoliberalism or economic rationalism within sociology as well as cognizant disciplines such as political science, political economy, geography, etc. Accepted papers will receive critical feedback by a senior scholar (who will also act as discussant) and at least one ECR/HDR peer at the workshop. Authors of accepted papers are expected to make a brief presentation of their paper at the workshop.
We plan to submit selected papers as a special section for the Journal of Sociology or a similar journal in the field (where they would be subject to the normal refereeing process). Please note that, as we cannot offer financial subsidies for participants, we particularly encourage those presenting papers at the 2016 TASA conference to submit papers for this workshop. (Note that TASA conference abstracts are due by 17th June, 2016 – for details, visit http://conference.tasa.org.au/).
Authors of accepted papers will be expected to be available for the full day of the workshop. We welcome papers exploring the following, and other, topics and questions related to the theme of the workshop:
- What is the nature of economic rationalism and neoliberalism today, in Australia or elsewhere?
- Are economic rationalism and neoliberalism the same thing?
- Should we understand contemporary economic policy making as a form of zombie economics?
- Is the term ‘neoliberalism’ useful?
- Is there a distinctively Australian variety of neoliberalism?
- How has the nature of the market, individuals, and society changed since the late 1970s?
- What are the implications of relying on markets and money to measure values? What happens to values when they are translated into a form that is legible to markets?
- Have economic rationalism and neoliberalism been successful? In what ways?
- Is it correct to argue that neoliberal economic reform represents a political project that shifts income and power to corporations and elites?
Please submit abstracts, following the specifications above, to tom.barnes@acu.edu.au or elizabeth.humphrys@uts.edu.au (co-conveners of Sociology of Economic Life thematic group, TASA) no later than Mon 27th June, 2016. (Authors of accepted abstracts will be asked to submit full papers for peer review within approx. 2-3 months of notified acceptance.) If you have questions, feel free to contact us.
The post Call for Papers: From Economic Rationalism to Global Neoliberalism? appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).
Shadow Banking and Alternative Finance in China
The recent growth in the scale and different forms of shadow banking and alternative finance mechanisms in China poses many questions of understanding, from its sustainability; different forms of credit growth; to the role of local government financing, and the tensions between financial reform policy and practice.
While shadow banking and alternative finance are not new in China, its growth in scale and diversity after 2009 poses old problems of understanding economic, social and political relations in China in new ways. This is because informal financial relations in China, much like the concept of state capitalism, cuts across many of the traditional dualisms of state and market, formal and informal, official and unofficial relations in China.
The workshop, to be held on 27 May at the University of Sydney, will act as a forum for researchers from across various disciplines to share their perspectives and research on questions arising from these topics.
Programme
8:30am – 9:00am Welcome and introductory remarks
Jeffrey Riegel (China Studies Centre, Director, USYD)
9:00am – 10:00am China’s rising leverage challenges
Opening keynote by Guonan Ma (Bruegel, EU-based think tank & ACRI-UTS)
10:00am – 10:30am Morning break
10.30am – 12.30pm Panel 1
Too important to fail? The politics of banking reform in China
Stephen Bell (University of Queensland) & Hui Feng (Griffith University)
Digital disruption with Chinese characteristics: Internet Finance and regulatory dilemma
Hui Feng (Griffith University)
Implications of the internationalisation of the RMB for banking in China
Kathy Walsh (ANU)
Towards a Money View of liquidity relations in China
Michael Beggs & Luke Deer (USYD)
12:30pm – 2:00pm Lunch
2:00pm – 3:00pm China’s shadow banking and small and medium enterprises
Afternoon keynote by Kellee Tsai (HKUST) Discussant: Vivienne Bath (USYD)
3:00pm – 3:30pm Afternoon break
3:30pm – 5:00pm Panel 2
China’s informal finance, an enterprise perspective
Hans Hendrischke (USYD) and Wei Li (USYD)
Shadow banking and underground banking in China
David Chaikin (USYD)
Microcredit, (under)development and (de)marginalisation in rural China
Nicholas Loubere (ANU)
5:00pm – 6:00pm Concluding remarks and discussion about publication plans
Luke Deer (USYD) to lead the discussion
Tickets are available HERE
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Yanis Varoufakis, ‘Political Economy: The Social Sciences’ Red Pill’
Yanis Varoufakis, 'Political Economy: The Social Sciences' Red Pill'
To mark his appointment as an Honorary Professor within the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, we are delighted to announce the hosting of Professor Yanis Varoufakis.
Date and Location:
Friday 20 May 2016,
Lecture Theatre 315, Eastern Avenue,
4:00pm – 5.30pm
Please register HERE
All welcome!
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Robert Austin, Rise and Demise: Latin American and Hispanic Studies
Robert Austin (University of Sydney), 'Rise and Demise: Latin American and Hispanic Studies in Australasia From Boom to Postmodernity'
This is the sixth seminar in the Semester 1 series of 2016 organised by the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Date and Location:
19 May 2016, Darlington Centre Boardroom, 4:00pm – 5.30pm
All welcome!
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Elizabeth Humphrys, ‘Australia under the Accord (1983-1996)’
Elizabeth Humphrys (University of Technology Sydney), 'Australia under the Accord (1983-1996): Simultaneously Deepening Corporatism and Advancing Neoliberalism'
This is the fifth seminar in the Semester 1 series of 2016 organised by the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Date and Location:
Note the time change!
5 May 2016, Darlington Centre Boardroom, 4:30pm – 6.00pm
All welcome!
Yulia Maleta, Advocating an Ecofeminist Sociopolitical Economic Model
Yulia Maleta (University of Sydney), 'Advocating an Ecofeminist Sociopolitical Economic Model'
This is the fourth seminar in the Semester 1 series of 2016 organised by the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Date and Location:
21 April 2016, Darlington Centre Boardroom, 4:00pm – 5.30pm
All welcome!
Roundtable on Building Alternatives to Neoliberalism in Latin America
Building Alternatives to Neoliberalism in Latin America: Roundtable with Marta Harnecker, Michael Lebowitz and Luis Angosto-Ferrández '
Date and Location:
13 May 2016, University of Sydney, Quadrangle Lecture Theatre [N205], 12:30pm – 2.00pm
All welcome!
Rodrigo Acuña, Venezuela Foreign Policy and Latin American Unification
Rodrigo Acuña (Macquarie University), 'Venezuelan Foreign Policy and Latin American Unification'
This is the third seminar in the Semester 1 series of 2016 organised by the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Date and Location:
7 April 2016, Darlington Centre Boardroom, 4:00pm – 5.30pm
All welcome!
Donna Baines, Moral Projects and Compromise Resistance
Donna Baines (McMaster University), 'Moral Projects and Compromise Resistance: Resisting Uncaring in Nonprofit Care Work'
This is the second seminar in the Semester 1 series of 2016 organised by the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.
Date and Location:
24 March 2016, Darlington Centre Boardroom, 4:00pm – 5.30pm
All welcome!
