DOCSLIB.ORG

Front Matter

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Front Matter The Contested Convergence of Precarity and Immaterial Labour by Greigory de Peuter DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School of Communication © Greigory de Peuter 2010 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2010 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions of Fair Dealing. Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, if cited appropriately. Approval Name: Greigory de Peuter Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Dissertation: The Contested Convergence of Precarity and Immaterial Labour Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Barry Truax Professor, School of Communication __________________________________ Dr. Yuezhi Zhao Senior Supervisor Professor, School of Communication __________________________________ Dr. Richard Gruneau Supervisor Professor, School of Communication __________________________________ Dr. Nick Dyer-Witheford Supervisor Associate Professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario __________________________________ Dr. Alison Beale Internal Examiner Professor, School of Communication __________________________________ Dr. Vincent Mosco External Examiner Professor, Department of Sociology, Queen’s University Date Defended/Approved: May 25, 2010 ii Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the “Institutional Repository” link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Last revision: Spring 09 Abstract Labour has tended to be a relatively neglected subject in critical scholarship on communication and culture. One pathway for working against this tendency is a current of analysis and activism confronting the problematic of precarity. Circulated at the start of the 21st century by autonomous activists in Europe, the concept of precarity is defined in this dissertation as experiential, financial, and social insecurity exacerbated by the flexibilization of employment under conditions of post-Fordism (e.g., contract-based employment, freelance work, self-employment). Precarity is, I contend, a valuable conceptual tool for struggling over the meaning of contemporary transformations in the world of work. It illuminates an underside that hegemonic discourses on media, information technology, and cultural work—such as those surrounding free agency, the creative economy, the flat world, and the creative class—have been criticized for downplaying. Historical political economic context is provided through a discussion of the uneven transition from Fordist to post-Fordist capitalism. Points of departure for the inquiry are drawn from streams of labour analysis within the political economy of communication and autonomist Marxism. The dissertation is structured in two main parts. The first section profiles select aspects of the multiform precarious immaterial workforce animating industries associated with the vaunted creative economy. It introduces a schema of precarious labour personas—the autonomous worker, the precog, and the cybertariat—to explore some of the manifold mechanisms and quotidian manifestations of precarization. The second part argues that although the flexibilization of labour since the 1970s was an attempt by capital to decompose the counter-power of segments of the working class, the spread of precarious working conditions in the post-Fordist core has not entirely exhausted dissent. Through creative public protest, experimental workers’ organizations, and policy proposals, working people within and beyond immaterial production milieus have begun to collectively respond to precarity. I argue that precarity and cognate terms are not only linguistic devices that workers themselves are using to name a qualitative feature of their labour and life conditions. These terms also signal a promising laboratory of labour solidarity, organization, and imagination within and against flexploitation. iii Dedication For my mom and dad. iv Acknowledgements This dissertation has made the passage from the immaterial to the material thanks to the generosity and intellect of many. I would like to thank David Black and Steve Kline, for being singular teachers who prepared me to undertake a doctoral degree; the protagonists of the anti-precarity movements in Europe, for circulating the concept that initially inspired this dissertation; Simon Fraser University, the School of Communication, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, for financial support; Jean McDonald, Sonia Singh, Kika Thorne, and Leah Vosko, for participating in the Toronto Precarity Forum; fellow collective members of, and participants in, Toronto School of Creativity & Inquiry, for a rich space for critical reflection; Adrian Blackwell, Roberta Buiani, Robert Gil, Heather Haynes, Tanner Mirrlees, Todd Parsons, Alessandra Renzi, Christine Shaw, and Scott Uzelman, for memorable conversations over the past few years on issues explored in these pages; Sharla Sava, for spurring me to begin writing; Marcelo Vieta, for comradeship at the library, and for being such a consistently uplifting interlocutor; Richard Day, for opening up “the palace” to me for a mellow writing retreat; Albert Banerjee and Katharine Perak, for their willingness to read work- in-progress and to talk through challenges; Enda Brophy, for reviewing practically the entire preliminary draft of the dissertation, and for many conversations over the years which have a virtual presence in the pages that follow; Yuezhi Zhao, for sage insight and institutional support, and for patience when time on my doctoral clock was devoted to other academic activities and organizing work; Rick Gruneau, for kindly agreeing to join the supervisory committee fairly late in the game; Nick Dyer-Witheford, for deftly balancing the positions of supervisor, co-author, and friend, for being such a consistent source of caring, cognitive labour, and for not forgetting the precarious side of graduate student life; my parents, for their unflinching support, and for taking care of their joyous grandson, Kieran, during crunch times; and finally, Sheila, for, of course, everything. While I am profoundly grateful to all of these individuals for their support and encouragement, for the shortcomings of this dissertation, only I can take responsibility. v Contents Approval""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ii! Abstract """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" iii! Dedication"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""iv! Acknowledgements """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""v! Contents""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""vi! List of Figures """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""ix Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1! Labour Blind Spot.......................................................................................................... 1 Post-Fordism.................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • When Fear Is Substituted for Reason: European and Western Government Policies Regarding National Security 1789-1919
    WHEN FEAR IS SUBSTITUTED FOR REASON: EUROPEAN AND WESTERN GOVERNMENT POLICIES REGARDING NATIONAL SECURITY 1789-1919 Norma Lisa Flores A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2012 Committee: Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Dr. Mark Simon Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Michael Brooks Dr. Geoff Howes Dr. Michael Jakobson © 2012 Norma Lisa Flores All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, Advisor Although the twentieth century is perceived as the era of international wars and revolutions, the basis of these proceedings are actually rooted in the events of the nineteenth century. When anything that challenged the authority of the state – concepts based on enlightenment, immigration, or socialism – were deemed to be a threat to the status quo and immediately eliminated by way of legal restrictions. Once the façade of the Old World was completely severed following the Great War, nations in Europe and throughout the West started to revive various nineteenth century laws in an attempt to suppress the outbreak of radicalism that preceded the 1919 revolutions. What this dissertation offers is an extended understanding of how nineteenth century government policies toward radicalism fostered an environment of increased national security during Germany’s 1919 Spartacist Uprising and the 1919/1920 Palmer Raids in the United States. Using the French Revolution as a starting point, this study allows the reader the opportunity to put events like the 1848 revolutions, the rise of the First and Second Internationals, political fallouts, nineteenth century imperialism, nativism, Social Darwinism, and movements for self-government into a broader historical context.
    [Show full text]
  • Misión Madres Del Barrio: a Bolivarian Social Program Recognizing Housework and Creating a Caring Economy in Venezuela
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks MISIÓN MADRES DEL BARRIO: A BOLIVARIAN SOCIAL PROGRAM RECOGNIZING HOUSEWORK AND CREATING A CARING ECONOMY IN VENEZUELA BY Cory Fischer-Hoffman Submitted to the graduate degree program in Latin American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s of Arts. Committee members Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof, Phd. ____________________ Chairperson Tamara Falicov, Phd. ____________________ Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, Phd. ____________________ Date defended: May 8, 2008 The Thesis Committee for Cory Fischer-Hoffman certifies that this is the approved Version of the following thesis: MISIÓN MADRES DEL BARRIO: A BOLIVARIAN SOCIAL PROGRAM RECOGNIZING HOUSEWORK AND CREATING A CARING ECONOMY IN VENEZUELA Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof, Phd. ________________________________ Chairperson Date approved:_______________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is a product of years of activism in the welfare rights, Latin American solidarity, and global justice movements. Thank you to all of those who I have worked and struggled with. I would especially like to acknowledge Monica Peabody, community organizer with Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (formerly WROC) and all of the welfare mamas who demand that their caring work be truly valued. Gracias to my compas, Greg, Wiley, Simón, Kaya, Tessa and Caro who keep me grounded and connected to movements for justice, and struggle along side me. Thanks to my thesis committee for helping me navigate through the bureaucracy of academia while asking thoughtful questions and providing valuable guidance. I am especially grateful to the feedback and editing support that my dear friends offered just at the moment when I needed it.
    [Show full text]
  • Capitalist Meltdo-Wn
    "To face reality squarely; not to seek the line of least resistance; to call things by their right names; to speak t�e truth to the masses, no matter how bitter it may be; not to fear obstacles; to be true in little thi�gs as in big ones; to base one's progra.1!1 on the logic of the class struggle;. to be bold when the hour of action arrives-these are the rules of the Fourth International." 'Inequality, Unemployment & Injustice' Capitalist Meltdo-wn Global capitalism is currently in the grip of the most The bourgeois press is relentless in seizing on even the severe economic contraction since the Great Depression of smallest signs of possible "recovery" to reassure consumers the 1930s. The ultimate depth and duration of the down­ and investors that better days are just around thecomer. This turn remain to be seen, but there are many indicators that paternalistic" optimism" recalls similar prognosticationsfol­ point to a lengthy period of massive unemployment in the lowing the 1929 Wall Street crash: "Depression has reached imperialist camp and a steep fall in living standards in the or passed its bottom, [Assistant Secretary of Commerce so-called developing countries. Julius] Klein told the Detroit Board of Commerce, although 2 'we may bump along' for a while in returningto higher trade For those in the neocolonies struggling to eke out a living levels " (New Yo rk Times, 19 March 19 31).The next month, on a dollar or two a day, this crisis will literally be a matter in a major speech approved by President Herbert Hoover, of life and death.
    [Show full text]
  • A Crisis of Commitment: Socialist Internationalism in British Columbia During the Great War
    A Crisis of Commitment: Socialist Internationalism in British Columbia during the Great War by Dale Michael McCartney B.A., Simon Fraser University, 2004 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of History © Dale Michael McCartney 2010 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2010 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for Fair Dealing. Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. APPROVAL Name: Dale Michael McCartney Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: A Crisis of Commitment: Socialist Internationalism in British Columbia during the Great War Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Emily O‘Brien Assistant Professor of History _____________________________________________ Dr. Mark Leier Senior Supervisor Professor of History _____________________________________________ Dr. Karen Ferguson Supervisor Associate Professor of History _____________________________________________ Dr. Robert A.J. McDonald External Examiner Professor of History University of British Columbia Date Defended/Approved: ________4 March 2010___________________________ ii Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users.
    [Show full text]
  • Changing Workplaces Review Final Report May 23, 2017
    Changing Workplaces Review Final Report May 23, 2017 Dear Clients and Friends, Today, the Government of Ontario released the Changing Workplaces Review final report and recommendations, labeling it an “An Agenda for Workplace Rights”. Touted as the first independent review of the Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Act in more than a generation, the review was commenced in February, 2015. For every Ontario employer, the recommended changes to the Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Act are far reaching and will have significant impact. The government has undertaken to announce its formal response to the report in the coming days, and may be aiming to table draft legislation modeled on all, or part, of the recommendations prior to the Legislature rising for summer recess (June 1, 2017). If that occurs we could see legislation make its way into force by late Fall or early next year. Sherrard Kuzz LLP will review the report and government response and distribute a comprehensive briefing note, as we did following the release of the Interim Report (see Sherrard Kuzz LLP homepage). In the interim, to review the report click here, and the summary report click here. Sherrard Kuzz LLP is one of Canada’s leading employment and labour law firms, representing management. Firm members can be reached at 416.603.0700 (Main), 416.420.0738 (24 Hour) or by visiting www.sherrardkuzz.com. MAY 2017 THE CHANGING WORKPLACES REVIEW AN AGENDA FOR WORKPLACE RIGHTS Summary Report SPECIAL ADVISORS C. MICHAEL MITCHELL JOHN C. MURRAY TABLE OF CONTENTS THE CHANGING WORKPLACES RECOMMENDATIONS ON Related and Joint Employer ..............................50 REVIEW: AN AGENDA FOR LABOUR RELATIONS ......................................
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Gender in Marx's Capital
    CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Volume 1 | Issue 4: 150 years of Capital 19-37| ISSN: 2463-333X Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Silvia Federici Abstract As interest in Marxism and Feminism is reviving and Marx’s views on ‘gender’ are receiving a new attention, some areas of agreement among feminists are emerging that also shape my approach to the subject. 1 First, while denunciations of gender inequalities and patriarchal control in the family and society can be found in Marx’s work from an early stage, it is agreed that Marx “did not have much to say on gender and the family” 2 and, even in Capital his views on the subject must be reconstructed from scattered observations. Nevertheless, Marx’s work has given a significant contribution to the development of feminist theory, although not primarily based on his direct pronouncements on the subject. Not only has his historical materialist method helped demonstrate the constructed character of gender hierarchies and identities.3 Marx’s analysis of capitalist accumulation and value creation have given feminists of my generation powerful tools to rethink the specific forms of exploitation to which women have been subjected in capitalist society and the relation between ‘sex, race, and class.’4 However the use that feminists have made of Marx has at best taken them in a different direction from the one he traced. 19 CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Key words: Gender, Marx, Labour-Power, Feminism, Wages for Housework Movement, Domestic Work, Reproduction Writing about gender in Capital, then, is coming to terms with two different Marxes and, I add, two different viewpoints on gender and the class struggle.
    [Show full text]
  • SPHERES of EXISTENCE Selected Writings
    C. L. R. James SPHERES OF EXISTENCE Selected Writings All & Bu by This selection first published 1930 by Allison and Busby Limited 6a Noel Street, London W IV 3RB Copyright © 1980 C. L. R. James and Allison & Busby Ltd All rights reserved ISBN 0 85031 292. 1 (hardback) ISBN 0 B5031 299 x (paperback) The publishers gratefully acknowledge the invaluable help they have received in compiling this selection from C. L. R. James, David Cork, Michael Dibb, Robert A. Hill, Selma James, John LaRose, Alan J. MacKenzie, Reinhard Sander, Richard Small. Set in Times by Malvern Typesetting Services and printed in Great Britain by Redwood Burn Ltd, Trowbridge & Esher Contents Biographical introduction l La Divina Pastora 2 Turner’s Prosperity \O\II"—* “After Hitler, Our Turn" I4 -kl;-I The Philosophy of History and Necessity: A Few Words with Professor Hook 49 5 After Ten Years 59 6 Dialectical Materialism and the Fate of Humanity 70 Two Young American Writers 106 Marxism and the Intellectuals 113 The West Indian Middle Classes 131 “Othello” and “The Merchant of Venice” 141 :5~oo=~4 Parties, Politics and Economics in the Caribbean 151 l2 On Wilson Harris 157 13 The Making of the Caribbean People 173 l4 Peasants and Workers 191 15 Black Power 221 l6 Discovering Literature in Trinidad: the Nineteen-Thirties 237 l4 Learie Constantine 245 I8 Paul Robeson: Black Star 256 Index 265 Here the impossible union Of spheres of existence is actual, Here the past and the future Are conquered, and reconciled, Where action were otherwise movement Of that which is only moved And has in it no source of movement—- T.
    [Show full text]
  • GLOSSARY of COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TERMS and SELECTED LABOR TOPICS
    GLOSSARY of COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TERMS and SELECTED LABOR TOPICS ABEYANCE – The placement of a pending grievance (or motion) by mutual agreement of the parties, outside the specified time limits until a later date when it may be taken up and processed. ACTION - Direct action occurs when any group of union members engage in an action, such as a protest, that directly exposes a problem, or a possible solution to a contractual and/or societal issue. Union members engage in such actions to spotlight an injustice with the goal of correcting it. It further mobilizes the membership to work in concerted fashion for their own good and improvement. ACCRETION – The addition or consolidation of new employees or a new bargaining unit to or with an existing bargaining unit. ACROSS THE BOARD INCREASE - A general wage increase that covers all the members of a bargaining unit, regardless of classification, grade or step level. Such an increase may be in terms of a percentage or dollar amount. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE – An agent of the National Labor Relations Board or the public sector commission appointed to docket, hear, settle and decide unfair labor practice cases nationwide or statewide in the public sector. They also conduct and preside over formal hearings/trials on an unfair labor practice complaint or a representation case. AFL-CIO - The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is the national federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of fifty-six national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million active and retired workers.
    [Show full text]
  • ARTICLES Rebel Or Revolutionary? Jack Kavanagh and the Early Years of the Communist Movement in Vancouver, 1920-1925
    ARTICLES Rebel or Revolutionary? Jack Kavanagh and the Early Years of the Communist Movement in Vancouver, 1920-1925 David Akers DURINGTHE1919VANCOUVERGENERALSTRIKE, the guardians of conventional 'law and order' in the city, the middle-class Citizens League, bemoaned the evils of "Kavanagh Bolshevism" and its "red-eyed vision of Soviet control."1 Jack Kavanagh — a member of the general strike committee, prominent "platform speaker" for the Socialist Party of Canada (SPC), and the provincial chairman of the One Big Union (OBU) in British Columbia — was a prime target for the establishment backlash against labour militancy in Vancouver.2 Red Scare hysterics aside, Kavanagh did, from October 1917, openly embrace the Russian Revolution and its "proletarian dictatorship," as he labelled the Soviet 'Vancouver Citizen, 25 June 1919. "On Kavanagh's role in the 1919 Canadian labour revolt, see Paul A. Phillips, No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in British Columbia (Vancouver 1967), 66-84; Martin Robin, Radical Politics and Canadian Labour, J880-1930 (Kingston 1968), 138-98; A. Ross McCormack, Reformers, Rebels, and Revolutionaries: The Western Canadian Radical Movement, 1899-1919 (Toronto 1977), 145-54; David J. Bercuson, Fools and Wise Men: The Rise and Fall of the One Big Union (Toronto 1978), 57-170; Gerald Friesen, '"Yours in Revolt' : The Socialist Party of Canada and the Western Canadian Labour Movement," in Labour/Le Travail, 1 (1976), 139-55; Dave Adams, "The Canadian Labour Revolt of 1919: The West Coast Story," in Socialist Worker, 161 (November, 1990). David Akers, "Rebel or Revolutionary? Jack Kavanagh and the Early Years of the Com­ munist Movement in Vancouver, 1920-1925, Labour/Le Travail 30 (Fall 1992), 9-44.
    [Show full text]
  • Temporary Employment in Stanford and Silicon Valley
    Temporary Employment in Stanford and Silicon Valley Working Partnerships USA Service Employees International Union Local 715 June 2003 Table of Contents Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Temporary Employment in Silicon Valley: Costs and Benefits…………………………………..8 Profile of the Silicon Valley Temporary Industry.………………………………………..8 Benefits of Temporary Employment…………………………………………………….10 Costs of Temporary Employment………………………………………………………..11 The Future of Temporary Workers in Silicon Valley …………………………………...16 Findings of Stanford Temporary Worker Survey ……………………………………………….17 Survey Methodology……………………………………………………………………..17 Survey Results…………………………………………………………………………...18 Survey Analysis: Implications for Stanford and Silicon Valley…………………………………25 Who are the Temporary Workers?……………………………………………………….25 Is Temp Work Really Temporary?………………………………………………………26 How Children and Families are Affected………………………………………………..27 The Cost to the Public Sector…………………………………………………………….29 Solutions and Best Practices for Ending Abuse…………………………………………………32 Conclusion and Recommendations………………………………………………………………38 Appendix A: Statement of Principles List of Figures and Tables Table 1.1: Largest Temporary Placement Agencies in Silicon Valley (2001)………………….8 Table 1.2: Growth of Temporary Employment in Santa Clara County, 1984-2000……………9 Table 1.3: Top 20 Occupations Within the Personnel Supply Services Industry, Santa Clara County, 1999……………………………………………………………………………………10 Table 1.4: Median Usual Weekly Earnings
    [Show full text]
  • Anti-Semitism 8C Zionism Fighting Racism
    Anti-semitism 8c Zionism Fighting Racism . Workplace Editors' Introduction This is the fourth issue of the tendency newsletter. We particularly wish to draw your attention to the conference call in the first pages of this issue. While a number of details remain to be work­ ed out (though it seems fairly certain that the conference will be held at a single site in Brooklyn on Easter weekend- April 1,2,3,1983), several meetings have already been held and workgroups assigned to the various tasks, rangi ng from funding to childcare to speakers arrangments. Participation at al l l evels is still welcome, anyone with a desire to either come to the conference or work on its preparation should contact either this newsletter or one of the individuals or groups listed as sponsors. It is our opinion that the success of this project will be dependent in lar ge measure on the Rreparation of the participants. To aid that preparati on, future issues of this newsletters or special editions will likely concentrate on readings for background and papers to be debated and discussed at the conference. Those who have suggestions within the areas outlined should immediately contact us. For those reading this generic newsletter the first time, we repeat from a previous issue: we want to circulate material that is of direct in­ terest and use to the political trend to which we belong. In part this will be descriptions and analyses of work area; in part it will be treatment of various strategic and theoretical questions and the debates around them ••• Our hope is to gradually overcome various questions of security and political diplomacy to the point where major areas of work can be analysed with suf­ ficent detail and candor so that a clear picture of various forces and pro­ grams will emerge.
    [Show full text]
  • Gray, Neil (2015) Neoliberal Urbanism and Spatial Composition in Recessionary Glasgow
    Gray, Neil (2015) Neoliberal urbanism and spatial composition in recessionary Glasgow. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6833/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Neoliberal Urbanism and Spatial Composition in Recessionary Glasgow Neil Gray MRes Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Geographical and Earth Sciences College of Science and Engineering University of Glasgow November 2015 i Abstract This thesis argues that urbanisation has become increasingly central to capital accumulation strategies, and that a politics of space - commensurate with a material conjuncture increasingly subsumed by rentier capitalism - is thus necessarily required. The central research question concerns whether urbanisation represents a general tendency that might provide an immanent dialectical basis for a new spatial politics. I deploy the concept of class composition to address this question. In Italian Autonomist Marxism (AM), class composition is understood as the conceptual and material relation between ‘technical’ and ‘political’ composition: ‘technical composition’ refers to organised capitalist production, capital’s plans as it were; ‘political composition’ refers to the degree to which collective political organisation forms a basis for counter-power.
    [Show full text]