[csaa-forum] FW: [ACS] CfP: The consultariat and the occupiers (Crossroads 2012, Paris, July 2-6, 2012)

[Melissa Gregg]

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From: Kirsten Forkert <kforkert at GMAIL.COM>
Reply-To: Kirsten Forkert <kforkert at GMAIL.COM>
Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:17:40 +0100
To: "ACS at uta.fi" <ACS at uta.fi>
Subject: [ACS] CfP: The consultariat and the occupiers (Crossroads 2012,
Paris, July 2-6, 2012)

CfP: Crossroads in Cultural Studies, Paris, July 2-6, 2012:
Call for paper proposals for panel entitled "The consultariat and the
occupiers"

The consultariat and the occupiers

This panel takes as its starting point the neoliberalization of
certain aspects of progressive politics and their conversion into
managerial and technocratic procedures (equality as a Human Resources
box-ticking exercise) which are generally focused on individual
achievement rather than collective emancipation. One consequence is
that progressive politics becomes seen as the domain of what Paul
Gilroy has termed the Œconsultariat¹ (management consultants, think
tanks, social entrepreneurs, policy wonks, etc.) with the risk of
eclipsing, or even entirely severing links to vital social movements.

Within this context, what happens to initiatives and actions that fall
outside a managerial or technocratic framework, or as journalist Paul
Mason put it in his analysis of the ŒOccupy¹ movement, activities that
have little in common with the ³besuited young people who populate the
think tanks of Labour, the SPD, the US Democrats etc.²? Aside from
right wing backlash (as in the Tea Party in the US, or the English
Defence League¹s claim to speak as the authentic voice of the British
working class), what popular social movements are beginning to emerge
(such as some of the recent public square demonstrations and
occupations, many of which have developed in part as a response to the
failings of neoliberalized progressive politics)? How do we understand
them and engage with them?

We are seeking papers which examine the consequences of the
neoliberalization of progressive politics, which explore alternatives,
or which reflect on our role as academics in relation to these
phenomena. Theoretical and empirical contributions are welcome, as
well as contributions from activists.

Please send 150-word abstracts to Peter Conlin (peterconlin at gmail.com)
or Kirsten Forkert, University of East Anglia (kforkert at gmail.com) by
21 November.

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