04:30 PM to 07:10 PM W
Blue Ridge Hall 127
Section Information for Spring 2023
CULT 80 Neoliberalism and Its Discontents
Spring 2023
Professor Paul Smith <<psmith5@gmu.edu>>
Over the course of more than half a century neoliberalism has gradually turned itself into the dominant ideology and hegemonic practice in global capitalism. As an ideology it has come to be seen as “common sense” and as a practice it arguably reaches into every nook and cranny of our cultural, political, economic and personal lives. But what is it exactly? This course will treat neoliberalism as an intellectual and political project based in free market capitalist theory, its rise associated most often with the names of Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. We will then look at the ways that the theory was turned to practice—famously at first in Chile and in Great Britain, and then pretty much everywhere. We will also look at various foundational and critical definitions of neoliberalism by thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu and David Harvey. Bourdieu in particular will be taken as a guide as we turn our attention to various characteristics of neoliberalism as it is imposed upon us today. Those characteristics will be examined under several different rubrics, such as neoliberalism and governance, neoliberalism and private property (privatization), neoliberalism and austerity, neoliberalism and social justice, etc. Then we will look at neoliberalism in action today, again under several different rubrics, such as neoliberalism and the environment, neoliberalism during COVID, neoliberalism’s culture of futility, etc. We’ll finish up by talking about neoliberalism at home, so to speak, specifically in the university, and even more specifically at our own university. Throughout the course we will be mindful of the dialectics of hegemony and resistance in the everyday practice of neoliberalism.
This is primarily a doctoral class but any MA students enrolled will be welcomed and accommodated: i.e. small adjustments to the reading assignments will be made, and assessment tasks will be tailored for them.
Possible readings include:
# classic texts by J.S.Mill, Hayek and Friedman
# seminal critiques by Bourdieu (“The Essence of neoliberalism”) Michel Foucault, Harvey (A Brief History of Neoliberalism), and Manbiot.
# and also assorted other texts such as
Bernards. A Critical History of Poverty Finance: Colonial Roots and Neoliberal Failures
Buchanan. (on private property and liberty)
Cohen ed. Economics after Neoliberalism
Dutta et al. “Neoliberal failures and the managerial takeover of governance”
Giroux. Neoliberalism’s War on Higher Education
Kaltwasser. “Chile: from 9/11 to the end of neoliberalism”
Klein. Shock Doctrine
New Formations # 80-81 on “Neoliberal Culture”
Schofeld et al. “Anti-racism in the age of enterprise”
Slobodian, Globalists
Smith. Millennial Dreams
Vallelly. Futilitarianism
Vernon. “Heathrow and the making of neoliberal Britain”
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Credits: 3
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
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