What comes after neoliberalism? Looking back to the role of the state in Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Hegel, Gramsci and Polanyi, in The Great Recoil (Verso, 2021), Paolo Gerbaudo fleshes out the contours of the different statisms and populisms that inform contemporary politics.
Neoliberalism, the ideology that presided over decades of market globalisation, is on trial, while state intervention is making a spectacular comeback amid lockdowns, mass vaccination programmes, deficit spending and climate planning. The central issue in dispute is what mission the post-pandemic state should pursue: whether it should protect native workers from immigration and the rich against redistributive demands, as proposed by the right’s authoritarian protectionism; or reassert social security and popular sovereignty against the rapacity of financial and tech elites, as advocated by the left’s social protectivism. Gerbaudo argues that it is only by addressing the widespread sense of exposure and vulnerability that socialists may turn the present phase of involution into an opportunity for social transformation.
The Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Department of Politics and International Relations are organising a full programme of research seminars with visiting speakers this semester. You can find more details of these events on the Centre for the Study of Democracy Seminar Series Eventbrite page.
Speaker
Dr Paolo Gerbaudo is Reader in Digital Culture and Society and the Director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King’s College London. His work focuses on the transformation of politics in the digital era. He is the author of a number of books, amongst which Tweets and the Streets (Pluto Press, 2012), The Mask and the Flag (Hurst & Company, 2017) and, most recently, The Digital Party (Pluto Press, 2018).
Book your place
All are welcome to attend the seminars but registration is required via Eventbrite.
Events take place on Tuesdays 4-5.30pm either in the Westminster Forum, Level 5, 32-38 Wells street, University of Westminster, W1T 3UW, or online.
Please note that for in person events, places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. For the online events, once you book your ticket, a link to the talk will be sent to you closer to the date.
