Call for Papers — Neoliberalism since the Crisis

University of Leeds, 9-11 September 2015

This is a call for papers for a series of panels on ‘Neoliberalism since the Crisis’, being oganised by Damien Cahill and Alfredo Saad-Filho as part of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) Conference being held at the University of Leeds, UK, September 9-11, 2015.

Despite the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression and persistent stagnation in most countries, neoliberalism seems to have defied many of its critics who predicted that the crisis would lead to neoliberalism’s demise. Indeed, almost a decade after the onset of the global crisis, neoliberalism remains firmly entrenched as a set of economic relations and state institutions, and as a hegemonic ideology.

Nonetheless, as has been the case throughout its history, neoliberalism has been subject to persistent dissent across the world since the onset of the crisis. Most obviously this can be seen in the rise to power of anti-neoliberal parties and movements in several of the world’s ‘peripheral’ economies but, also in the emergence of a new generation of social movements in several countries.

During the same period, scholarly analyses of neoliberalism have burgeoned. Critics inspired by Marxism and other traditions of political economy have drawn attention to the uneven development of neoliberalism, interrogated its origins and examined the links between neoliberalism, financialisation, inequality, social reproduction and crisis. Yet, there remains little explicit engagement between these theoretical traditions, a settled definition of neoliberalism remains elusive, and the search for alternatives remains poorly theorised.

The proposed series of panels will investigate neoliberalism since the onset of the current global economic crisis. Paper givers are encouraged to reflect upon the distinctiveness of neoliberalism and its dynamics, consider the modalities of resistance to neoliberalism since 2007, and critically interrogate existing scholarly analyses of neoliberalism. Papers addressing similar topics will also be welcomed.

We hope to publish a selection of the papers either as an edited book, or as a special journal issue.

The submission deadline for abstracts is April 1, and they should be submitted through the conference website AND to Alfredo Saad Filho (as59@soas.ac.uk) and Damien Cahill (damien.cahill@sydney.edu.au).