Call for Papers "Neo-Liberal Governmentality: Technologies of the Self & Governmental Conduct"
Proposal for Rhizomes 10 (Spring 2005) Guest editor: Hai Ren (Department of Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University. Email: [email protected]). Deadline: Abstracts by October 30, 2004. Papers based on accepted abstracts by December 30, 2004. Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge invites submissions for its Spring 2005 thematic issue on "Neo-Liberal Governmentality: Technologies of the Self & Governmental Conduct." The modern state, following a Foucaultian understanding, is "a mechanism at once of individualization and of totalization," thus, the "art" of government deals with the inner link between the conduct of individual existence and the regulation of the lives of many (Colin Gordon, "The Soul of the Citizen"). Modern liberal style of government is associated with "reason of economy" (raison d'économie), which historically engages in constant competition with "reason of state" (raison d'état) that follows the "police" style of government. Classic liberalism regards the market as laissez-faire, that is, autonomous and self-sustaining. Its ideal political subject is "economic man" (homo conomicus), exemplified by Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Neo-liberalism, a twentieth century phenomenon, derives from classic or modern liberalism; it combines both the forces of the market and the state to rationalize "the conduct of life" (Lebensführung). The market allows the development of "life chances" when an individual treats his or her life conduct as an "enterprise" and accumulates "human capital." The market, for neo-liberalism, is no longer autonomous; it cannot function without the state, which functions primarily as the curator of market logic by promoting a neo-liberal mode of citizenship that focuses on the "ethic of responsibility," "virtues of life conduct," and "quasi-nihilistic motivation" that draws on the Protestant ethic (Gordon, "The Soul of the Citizen"). Thus, the development of neo-liberalism in the West (North America and Europe) reflects the changing relationship between the institutions of power, especially the state and the market (or economy), and the governing of political subjects. The special issue of Rhizomes invites submissions that draw on Foucaultian and other appropriate theoretical frameworks to address the link between the development of technologies of the self for ordinary and/or marginalized people and changes of governmental conduct, in terms of Western or/and non-Western historical experiences. How do governmental discourses that address the lived experiences of ordinary people, industrial masses, subalterns, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized populations, construct neo-liberal subjects? How do governmental discourses of marginalized others connect seemingly unrelated and/or incommensurable domains of social life such as capital accumulation and cultural representation? The special issue welcomes projects that trace neo-liberalism's genealogy, especially through comparative frameworks that consider the contemporary conditions of globalization. In what ways does neo-liberal logic of governance facilitate transnational flows of capital, population, information, and goods to create a mode of capitalism that might be called "neo-liberal capitalism"? In terms of the intersection between political economy and symbolic economy, how do we understand the issue of communication, which differentiates and connects information and noise, or sense and non-sense, in neo-liberal capitalism? Considering the influential works of Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, and Paolo Virno who propose "the multitude" as a new kind of political subject that replaces "the people," the conventional modern political subject governed by the nation-state, is "the multitude" a product of neo-liberal capitalism? How is it related to neo-liberal governmentality? The special issue is also interested in submissions that examine how the development of the culture industries shelters existing middle-class subjects and constructs new ones under the conditions of globalization. How does a middle-class person accumulate his or her "human capital" through the development of learning or education as an active lifestyle? Which human subjects are selected and objectified by governmental discourses that construct certain types of personal conduct as ideal for the development of citizenship? In light of the ground-breaking philosophical work of Alain Badiou who outlines a series of eventful procedures through which an individual becomes an ethical subject of truth, in what ways is Badiou's ethical subject incommensurable with or an alternative to the neo-liberal subject? As a full text online periodical, Rhizomes emphasizes multimedia to foster imaginative work that challenges typical critical forms. While submissions need not necessarily include developed multimedia, authors are encouraged to consider how their work might be enhanced by elements specific to the online medium. For additional information and submission guidelines, please visit the journal's website: http://www.rhizomes.net/home.html or email the guest editor: Hai Ren <[email protected]> _________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org/ Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://agd.polylog.org/cal/
