Progressive Geographies

Media Theory – launch issue of new online, open access journal edited by Simon Dawes.

Media Theory is an independent, online and open access journal of peer-reviewed, theoretical interventions into all aspects of media and communications.

Vol 1 No 1 (2017): Manifestos

Contributions from W.J.T. Mitchell, M. Beatrice Fazi, Rob Shields and others.

Speaking Volumes – series of short contributions at Cultural Anthropology organised by Franck Billé. I have a piece in it on ‘terrain’. All open access.

Speaking Volumes by Franck Billé

Having engaged with the recent volumetric turn in architecture and political geography, anthropologists are increasingly concerned with realms such as air, oceans, riparian environments, and outer space, as well as with their social, political, and cultural reverberations. This Theorizing the Contemporary series, which grew out of a panel at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, brings into dialogue these converging interests in volumetric sovereignty and more-than-human geographies. The contributors suggest that this theoretical confluence can be especially illuminating for border processes and phenomena that extend beyond the two-dimensional.

Posts in This Series

Introduction: Speaking Volumes

by Franck Billé

Buoy

by Aihwa Ong

Clotting

by Elizabeth Cullen Dunn

Downwind

by Jerry Zee

Electric

by Gökçe Günel

Fissure

by Klaus Dodds

Geometries

by Sarah Green

Lag

by Tina Harris

Remnants

by Yael Navaro

Sectional

by Franck Billé

Seepage

by Jason Cons

Spectrum

by Helga Tawil-Souri

Surface

by Clancy Wilmott

Terrain

by Stuart Elden

Voluminous

by Lauren Bonilla

Warren

by Caroline Humphrey

Philosophers Edouard Machery (Pittsburgh) and Stephen Stich (Rutgers) and anthropologist H. Clark Barrett (UCLA) have been awarded a $2,569,563 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund their project, “The Geography of Philosophy: An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Exploration of Universality and Diversity in Fundamental Philosophical Concepts.”

Here’s a description of the project:

Throughout the history of philosophy, many thinkers have urged that some fundamental philosophical concepts are universal–used by all rational people. Historians and anthropologists have often been skeptical of these claims. Recently, cultural psychologists and experimental philosophers have begun to explore empirically whether fundamental philosophical concepts are shared across cultures. The results of these studies have been fascinating, provocative and equivocal. The goals of this project are (i) to move this exciting endeavor forward by dramatically expanding the methodologies, the range of cultures considered, and the cultural and disciplinary diversity of the investigators engaged in the inquiry; (ii) to motivate and enable researchers around the world to become involved in cross-cultural, interdisciplinary research on philosophical concepts by sponsoring workshops in Africa, Asia and South America where our research teams can interact with scientists and scholars in the region; (iii) to present our findings both in scholarly publications and in an integrated format accessible to non-specialists; (iv) to foster discussion about the implications of the findings for venerable philosophical debates and for practical contemporary issues.

SELRES_bbda2248-51b5-4625-a682-52ce67fab19bSELRES_2629ebb8-d49d-4310-b045-caad2c60c133The grant will fund work on the project from 2018-2021.SELRES_2629ebb8-d49d-4310-b045-caad2c60c133SELRES_bbda2248-51b5-4625-a682-52ce67fab19b

From Daily Nous (and thanks to dmf for the link)

Damien Cahill and Martijn Konings, Neoliberalism – now out with Polity

For over three decades neoliberalism has been the dominant economic ideology. While it may have emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis of 2007-08, neoliberalism is now – more than ever – under scrutiny from critics who argue that it has failed to live up to its promises, creating instead an increasingly unequal and insecure world.

This book offers a nuanced and probing analysis of the meaning and practical application of neoliberalism today, separating myth from reality. Drawing on examples such as the growth of finance, the role of corporate power and the rise of workfare, the book advances a balanced but distinctive perspective on neoliberalism as involving the interaction of ideas, material economic change and political transformations. It interrogates claims about the impending death of neoliberalism and considers the sources of its resilience in the current climate of political disenchantment and economic austerity.

Clearly and accessibly written, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars across the social sciences.