Here’s information on two upcoming seminars at the University of Essex
Centre for Work, Organization, and Society. Cheers, Stevphen
18/6 Seminar on Revaluing the Social in Contemporary Capitalism
Monday June 18th, 2012 @ 3PM
University of Essex Room 4SB.5.3
Centre for Work, Organization and Society
(http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/research/emc)
Seminar presentations by: Jason Read (University of Southern Maine) /
George Tsogas (Cass, City University) / Stevphen Shukaitis (University
of Essex)
Abstracts
General Relations: Transindividuality from Ontology to a Non-Economic
Critique of Political Economy
Jason Read (University of Southern Maine)
In the Grundrisse Marx writes “Only in the eighteenth century, in ‘civil
society,’ do the various forms of social connectedness confront the
individual as a mere means towards his private purposes, as external
necessity. But the epoch which produces this standpoint, that of the
isolated individual, is also precisely that of the hitherto must
developed social (from this standpoint, general) relations.” The
contradiction Marx grasped between the increased interconnectedness of
economic production and social isolation has only deepened into the
twenty-first century: it is the era of commons, of digital connections,
but also the era of neoliberal individuation, isolation, and precarious
fragmentation. How then to make sense of an era of connection and
isolation. I argue that the concept, or rather the problem, of
transindividuation, makes possible a conflictual understanding of the
genesis of both individuals and social relations. I say problem, or
problematic, rather than concept, because transindividuality needs to be
grasped in its broadest sense as an ontology of relations (Simondon,
Spinoza); a critique of political economy (Marx, Virno, Stiegler); and a
constitution of political subjectivity (Balibar, Negri). It is by
thinking the interrelation of the ontology, economy, and political that
we can think the constitution and transformation of the present.
Cognitive capitalism, organization, and the labour theory of value
George Tsogas (Cass) & Stevphen Shukaitis (Essex)
We address the reasons and methods for renewing a transfusion of ideas
between Marxism and organisation and management theorising. We put
forward a dialectical approach to the search for O&M theories, by
stepping outside disciplinary confines. The Marxian labour theory of
value is put forward as the territory for such synthetical exchange to
commence. For that task, we make the most of the autonomist Marxist
tradition, inasmuch as it offers us a coherent explanation of the social
foundations of post-Fordist, contemporary (cognitive) capitalism. We
question the contemporary significance and relevance of the Marxian
labour theory of value, in an era of deep capitalist crisis, and reach
the assertion of the negation of value creation in cognitive capitalism:
consumption precedes production and creates – rather than destroys –
value. Our aim is to bring to the forefront of O&M theoretical enquiry
fundamental questions on the nature of labour, exchange relations and
forces of production in contemporary, cognitive capitalism.
--
26/6 Seminar: Rise of the Flashpublics
Tuesday June 26th, 2012 @ 4PM
University of Essex Room LTB4
Centre for Work, Organization and Society
(http://www.essex.ac.uk/ebs/research/emc)
Rise of the Flashpublics: State-friended Social Media, User-Generated
Discontent, and the Affective Transfer
This presentation examines recent entanglements of social media and
political dissent to explore mutations in network sovereignty. Using a
number of recent examples (including the US State Department organized
Alliance of Youth Movements, the uprisings in Iran and Egypt, KONY 2012,
Occupy Wall Street, and the US police networks), it argues that we are
witnessing a convergence of sovereign and network powers, one that
expresses new modes of control while setting the conditions for new
forms of evaluation and antagonism. Network alliances and coalitions
have become key actors in constructing a public (now as “State-friended”
movements) and dissuading dissent movements (“State-enemied” ones). More
specifically, counter-radicalization can take place via creating what I
call flashpublics (quickly mobilized networked alliances that distract
and prevent other emergent networks). At the same time, these coalitions
depend on social media spectators/participants, which are affective
transfer points that exceed network capture.
Bio: Jack Z. Bratich is associate professor and department chair of
Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University. He is author of
Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture (2008) and
coeditor, along with Jeremy Packer and Cameron McCarthy, Foucault,
Cultural Studies, and Governmentality (2003). His work applies
autonomist social theory to such topics as audience studies, social
media, and the cultural politics of secrecy. He is a zine librarian at
ABC No Rio in New York City.
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