Theories of Neoliberalism Syllabus

搬运的是做流行音乐和声音研究、新自由主义批判的学者 Robin James的课程syllabus https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WYh2biNcTGa3K3QAPq6P--j7HF8aQyh8y2BXDLlalLM/edit?usp=sharing

大家也可关注她的个人网站 https://www.its-her-factory.com

下贴课程介绍和schedule部分

Neoliberalism

Fall 2020

Instructor: Dr. Robin James Contact: rjames7@uncc.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Though people often dismiss "neoliberalism" as a term that has been overused to the point of meaninglessness, it really does have a precise meaning: neoliberalism is the overlapping set of ideologies and practices that aim to transform everything, especially traditionally non-economic activities like friendship, into private markets. In this class, we examine scholarship across philosophy, political theory, feminist/queer/critical race theory, and popular music and popular culture that defines what neoliberalism is, explores why it is harmful, and identifies alternatives and ways to resist it. We will focus primarily on 21st century texts that are critical of evolving neoliberalisms and won’t really cover the original 20th century architects of neoliberalism like Gary Becker or Friedrich Hayek. The course will focus primarily on two kinds of neoliberalism: the ones Foucault talks about in his 1970s lecture courses, which rely on probabilist models of the market, and the speculative post-probabilist ones used by contemporary finance capitalism. We will read authors such as Lisa Adkins, Melinda Cooper, Dale Chapman, Kara Keeling, Adam Kotsko, and Lester Spence.

This course is designed for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students from across the liberal arts & sciences.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this course is to give students a grounding in the theorization of neoliberalism in philosophy and across the humanities and social sciences. Other objectives include:

• To give students the foundations in theories of neoliberalism that they need for work in their own research projects.
• To identify some of the impacts of neoliberalism on popular culture and current events.
• To identify some of the impacts of neoliberalism on higher education and experiment with alternatives and ways to resist those impacts.
• To understand the various ways neoliberalism produces social inequality.
• To improve students’ ability to synthesize written and spoken discussion and ask questions that move that discussion forward in incisive directions.
• To develop students’ scholarly agendas and individual research trajectories.
• To strengthen students’ familiarity and facility with interdisciplinarity research methods.

COURSE MATERIALS

READINGS: There are no books to purchase for class. All readings will be made available as PDFs on Moodle or linked in the schedule below.

COURSE STRUCTURE

In order to accommodate UNCC’s requirement that students at all levels have online options available in Fall 2020 due to ongoing complications from COVID-19, this course is fully online. It is mainly asynchronous, but there is a synchronous meeting on Mondays from 5:30-6:30pm Eastern. The synchronous meeting is mostly optional (but highly encouraged!) for undergrads and required for graduate students. Graduate students who don’t have access to adequate WiFi or quiet space at home are invited to use my office in Winningham 102b for the synchronous course meetings; you can see Dr. Sullivan or Ms. Love-Dembovsky about arrangements for a key. You will need to bring your own laptop or one checked out from the library.

This course will be run as a seminar, so student discussions will constitute a significant portion of the class. There is a midterm project and a final project.

SCHEDULE

This schedule is subject to change; check back often.

7 Sept Introductory Activities, Neoliberalism and Education

• Harris, Kids These Days ch. 1
• Optional: McNutt, “Unpacking Neoliberal Schooling”
• Optional: Foucault, Birth of Biopolitics ch. 9

14 Sept Individual meetings with Dr. J

21 Sept Defining Neoliberalism

• Harvey, “Neoliberalism as Creative Destruction”
• Winnubst, from “Way Too Cool” (UNCC library ebook)
• Hall, “The Neoliberal Revolution” -- grad students only

25 Sept Lit Review Proposals (grads) & Self-Ethnography Weekly Work Schedules (undergrads) due to Canvas by 11:59pm

28 Sept Neoliberalism & Subjectivity pt. 1: “Freedom” and Work

• Chapman, The Jazz Bubble Introduction
• Spence, Stare In The Darkness CH 1
• Optional: Lordi, “Surviving the Hustle: Beyonce’s Performance of Work”

5 Oct Neoliberalism & Subjectivity pt. 2: Demonization

• Kotsko, Neoliberalism’s Demons chs. 3-4 (PDFs on Canvas)

12 Oct Neoliberalism and Health

• Cooper, “The Price of Promiscuity: The Chicago School Confronts AIDS”
• Reich, “Neoliberal Mothering and Vaccine Refusal”
• Optional: Cohen, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens”

19 Oct Online consultations w Dr. J about lit reviews/self-ethnographies

26 Oct Lit Reviews/self-ethnographies due

2 Nov Probabilist Neoliberalisms pt. 1: Foucault, normalization as technique of governance/exclusion

• Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, CH 11
• Mader, Sleights of Reason, CH 2
• Optional: Foucault, Birth of Biopolitics, CHs 10-11
• Optional: Du Bois, “Sociology Hesitant”

9 Nov Probabilist Neoliberalisms pt. 2: Ranciere & Beltran: aesthetic judgment as technique of governance/exclusion

• Ranciere, Disagreement, CH 5 -- grad students only
• Beltran, “Racial Presence vs Racial Justice”

13 Nov Final project proposals due to Canvas by 11:59pm (undergrads exempt)

Proposals must include:

• A statement of what your argument is (not your topic, but your argument; your argument is what you are saying about your topic)
• A discussion of how that argument relates to this class.
• A discussion of the significance of your argument for either/both the scholarly literature and/or society. (The who cares/so what question.)

16 Nov Post-Probablist Neoliberalisms pt. 1: Capacity-Value & Capitalist Delirium

• Cooper, Life As Surplus Intro & Ch 1
• Grad Students only: Puar, The Right To Maim Intro
• Optional: James, “Dancing With Myself”

23 Nov Post-Probabilist Neoliberalisms pt. 2: Time and Value

• Adkins, The Time of Money, Intro & Ch 3
• Viewing: Run Lola Run (Twiker 1998)
• Optional: Amoore, The Politics of Possibility CH 2

30 Nov Final project check-ins--individual meetings with Dr. J

• You only need to schedule a Zoom meeting with me if you have questions that you’d like to discuss. Otherwise, you should work some on your finals over Thanksgiving break but please please do take some time to rest and be around people who matter to you.

7 Dec Finance capital, race/gender, aesthetics

• Keeling, Queer Times, Black Futures CH 4 “Corporate Cannibal”
• Optional background materials
• Cheney-Lippold on gender and ‘modulation’ in control societies/contemp tech
• Snead on repetition
• Shaviro from Post Cinematic Affect

14 Dec Final worktime/consultations