SESSION: Marketization and its discontents

Session organisers: Christian Berndt (University of Frankfurt), Marc Boeckler (University of Mainz), Peter Lindner (University of Frankfurt)

Half a century of radical market orientation under neoliberal policy programs and radical critique of the market as a capitalist device for uneven accumulation processes notwithstanding, our knowledge of the fragility of market arrangements remains very limited. Reactions to the current economic crisis illustrate this very well. Mainstream economists appear to have been caught completely wrong-footed, wondering “how [they] got it so wrong” (Krugman 2009) whereas from a political economy point of view the current situation serves as yet another empirical evidence for the crisis tendencies besetting capitalism. Approaching the market from a god’s eyes view, both positions have little to say about how concrete markets are continuously stabilized, maintained and reshaped or retreat, fail and fall apartTo broaden our understanding of the assemblage  and disassemblage of markets is the central concern of this session. It conceives of marketization (1) as arrangements of people, things and socio-technical devices that format products, prices, competition, places of exchange and mechanisms of control; (2) as a deeply ambivalent endeavor, never complete and always prone to failure, variably establishing linkages and cutting others; (3) as an inherently uneven process, incorporating and expelling places, people and things, exposing existing socio-material relations to new structures of inclusion and exclusion, poverty and wealth; (4) as an innately geographical project, relying on ongoing differentiations between market outside and inside and creating contested borderlands which are always subject to reassessment and reconfiguration.

In this context our aim is to attract contributions which address critical junctures in the making of markets where established linkages break, devices fail to work, competition ends, places of exchange collapse and new spaces for arguments about the legitimate boundaries of markets open up. Possible topics may include but are not restricted to:

*Public discourse: What crisis, whose crisis?

*Political battles: Re-negotiating the limits of marketization and commodification *Locating economic crises: places and devices of demarketization *Case studies on the disassemblage of markets *Frontier regions of marketization as fields of struggle about the legitimacy of markets *Demarketization and new borderlands of global capitalism *Ruptures and adjustments between markets and market models *Calculative spaces and the limits of calculation *The critical dynamics of virtual market places *From “market failure” to the “failure of (neoclassical) economics”

*The diversity of demarketization

*Heterodox theorizing of the market and its other

For more information about the AAG see *here*

ECONOMIC DEGROWTH TODAY

Call for the Second International Conference on Degrowth

Barcelona, Spain, 25-28 March 2010

ICTA (Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona), and Research & Degrowth

This is a preliminary call for a second conference on socially sustainable economic degrowth, linking economic, environmental and social perspectives, with emphasis on practical policies & concrete proposals.

Thirty years ago, Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen published a book in French (edited by Jacques Grinevald and Ivo Rens) with the title “Demain la Décroissance” (Degrowth Tomorrow) (1979). We say, “Aujourd’hui la Décroissance” (Degrowth today). To see the Call for Papers click *here*

For more information about Degrowth, see Simplicité volontaire et décroissance . The narration is in French – the images are rooted in a universal language:

Anthony Nocalla II

In the first of the In the Spotlight posts, which I’ll be using to highlight some of most influential and inspirational individuals I know, past and present, I want to draw attention to Anthony Nocella II.

Anthony is an author, educator, and peacemaker working on his Ph.D. at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a professor of Criminology, Sociology, and Peace and Global Studies at Le Moyne College and SUNY, Cortland. He also teaches Life Skills at a New York youth detention facility and is the Executive Director of the Central New York Peace Studies Consortium.

I’m fortunate enough to be working with Anthony in several areas, but do so largely through my capacity as Chief Editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies (JCAS). Anthony’s tireless energy and commitment to build peace through dialogue for humans, other animals and the Earth is truly magnificent. 

Without doubt Anthony is certainly playing an increasingly influential role within the most interesting initiatives and collaborations that are emerging from the (more radical and progressive) academic and activist communties. For more information about his research and current commitments please visit his main webpage: PEACE BUILDING .

In The Guardian

Bolivia has enacted what animal rights activists are calling the world’s first ban on all animals in circuses.

A handful of other countries have banned the use of wild animals in circuses, but the Bolivian ban includes domestic animals as well.

The law, which states that the use of animals in circuses “constitutes an act of cruelty”, took effect on 1 July with operators given a year to comply, according to the bill’s sponsor, Ximena Flores.

Read on… Bolivia Bans All Circus Animals!

Lib Now! the ICAS Blog

Lib Now! (short for Liberation Now!) hosted by the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) is a worldwide animal advocacy informational source providing the latest on campaigns, events, classes, workshops, trainings, publications, films, and other resources in, on, and for higher education.

 This video link with Dr. Steve Best, University of Texas, El Paso and President of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) and Tom Regan speaking on animal rights and social justice, is one of many excellent discussions which can be found on this site.

Now in its sixth year, the Journal for Critical Animal Studies was established for the purpose of fostering academic study of critical animal issues in contemporary society. While animal studies are increasingly becoming a field of importance in the academy, much work being done under this moniker take a reformist or depoliticized approach that fails to mount more serious critique of underlying issues of political economy and speciesist philosophy.

The Journal for Critical Animal Studies is an interdisciplinary journal with an emphasis on animal liberation philosophy and policy issues. This journal was designed to build up the common activist’s knowledge of animal liberation while at the same time appealing to academic specialists to address the important topic of animal liberation. We encourage and actively pursue a diversity of viewpoints of contributors from the frontlines of activism to academics. We have created the journal for the purpose of facilitating communication between the many diverse perspectives of the animal rights movement. Thus, we especially encourage submissions that seek to create new syntheses between differing disputing parties and to explore paradigms not currently examined.

The Journal for Critical Animal Studies is open to all scholars and activists. While the research and perspectives will differ, the editing of the pieces will be peer-reviewed for quality and originality. We encourage and actively pursue a diversity of viewpoints and topics.  The journal was established for the purpose of fostering academic study of critical animal issues in contemporary society. While animal studies are increasingly becoming a field of importance in the academy, much work being done under this moniker take a reformist or depoliticized approach that fails to mount more serious critique of underlying issues of political economy and speciesist philosophy.

As the current Editor-in-Chief I would welcome any feedback on the Journal generally (articles, topics, themes, format etc.) and would also openly welcome submissions to the Journal to be considered for peer-review.

The latest issue, which is free to access and download, can be found *here*. The links in the left-hand margin will provide more detail on JCAS, Archived issues, the Editorial Board, Guidelines for Authors, Suggested Topics, and other relevant publications.

Please also take a moment to have a look at the incredible Institute for Critical Animal Studies and the key departments, programs, and centers it devlops in order to  focus on critical animal studies and to eliminate from higher education all aspects of animal oppression.

These presentations, given as part of the TED CommunityTalks, are superb!

1. Schools kill creativity

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

2. Chris Jordan pictures some shocking stats

Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics — like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day.

3. James Nachtwey’s searing photos of war

Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, war photographer shows his life’s work and asks TED to help him continue telling the story with innovative, exciting uses of news photography in the digital era.

4. Hans Rosling’s new insights on poverty

Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide. Then he does something really amazing.

5. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on aid versus trade

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, sums up four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade on the closing day of TEDGlobal 2007, and shares a personal story explaining her own commitment to this cause.

I recentlyenjoyed the wonderful BBC4 Documentary, “1959- The Year That Changed Jazz Forever“. The producers of the documentary write: ”1959 was a watershed moment for America – socially, politically and economically. In that same year four, now iconic, jazz artists each made albums that would change the music forever. Miles Davis recorded Kind Of Blue – an album that defined cool and has gone on to be the best selling and best know Jazz LP of all time. Ornette Coleman, a man Miles derided, made the prophetically titled “The Shape Of Jazz To Come” – a record that musically mirrored the USS’s forays in to space. Dave Brubeck returned from a CIA sponsored tour and recorded Time Out featuring the huge hit Take Five. And the politically active Charles Mingus produced Ah Um containing direct attacks on the racist leaders of the age. Together these records re-wrote the jazz rulebooks – both in terms of the music they contained and the way they were marketed.”

For my money, Fables of Faubus, written by Charles Mingus, is one of the standout protest songs of that era, and of all time. This is an excellent video:

What is it?

What caused it?

What should we do about it?

Sessions on

* Causes of the credit crunch – poor regulation or deeper problems?

* The Third World: crisis on top of crisis

* Radical responses: Keynesian, radical ecologist, socialist and more

* Action in the city: jobs, housing, transport, building, environment.

Thursday 7 May,

6 – 9 pm

 in Fusion

Sheffield University Students’ Union

Western Bank, S10

Fully licensed bar

Organised by Sheffield University Students’ Union and academics from the two Sheffield universities

PROGRAMME