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SoSe 15: Neoliberal Culture

Simon Schleusener

Comments

This seminar will explore the intersections between American culture and the development of capitalism in the context of what is now commonly referred to as "neoliberalism." While neoliberal policies - such as privatization initiatives, fiscal austerity, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the deregulation of markets - have been implemented in the U.S. since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the neoliberal discourse has a much longer history. In the course of the seminar, we will analyze the terms, premises, and effects of this discourse, focusing primarily on its articulation in the realm of cultural production. Considering material from different types of media, we will discuss, for instance, the literary works of Ayn Rand, movies such as Wall Street (1987), The Social Network (2010), or The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and various examples from contemporary television. Moreover, we will engage with texts by authors like David Harvey, Jim McGuigan, Walter Benn Michaels, Gilles Deleuze, and Richard Sennett, examining and "testing" a number of theoretical concepts related to the culture of neoliberalism. ---------- Requirements: Active participation, oral presentation, final paper. ---------- Suggested introductory reading: Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Verso, 2007. ----- Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Winchester: Zero Books, 2009. ----- Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979. New York: Picador, 2008. ----- David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. ----- Jim McGuigan, Cool Capitalism. London and New York: Pluto Press, 2009. ----- Walter Benn Michaels, The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality. New York: Henry Holt, 2006. ----- Richard Sennett, The Culture of the New Capitalism. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 2006. close