Programme
In this workshop, we will explore the question of what comes after neoliberalism in the EU
Thursday, June 22
Thursday's discussion will centre on the draft book manuscript, where Marija explores the transformations in the EU’s understanding of consumption, corporation, products and industry. She suggests that in recent years the EU has hesitantly embarked on a path towards a new imaginary of political economy – ‘shared prosperity’ - pointing to collective action and the sharing of power and resources (rather than ‘markets’ and private gain) as a new route to prosperity. However, delivering on shared prosperity is a race against time. The emerging imaginary has to compete with the resurrected neoliberal route to prosperity, which despite being exhausted both as a strategy of prosperity and as (integrative) ideology, has recently regained traction – threatening to further erode the already weak trust in democratic institutions. Unless the EU succeeds in developing timely an alternative to the neoliberal imaginary of prosperity, that can provide a credible prospect of a liveable future whilst addressing the fallout from decades of privatisation, the real alternative to the imaginaries of prosperity – nativist imaginaries – will grow stronger, as these imaginaries offer a soothing response to the loss of the future: a return to glorious past.
Friday, June 23
On Friday morning, in a roundtable format, we will discuss the implications of the book for developing new imaginaries of prosperity around concepts such as beyond extractivism, post-growth, sufficiency, the role of profit, the ethics of enough etc. In the discussion, will aim encourage active participation of all present.