"Contesting Capitalism: Practices and Strategies"

University of Leicester, May 18, 2005

Collective for Alternative Organization Studies (CAOS)

University of Leicester Management Centre

Call for Papers

Following the success of CAOS inaugural workshop in June 2004, we are
organising a second event to coincide with Katherine Gibson (University of
Massachussetts) and Julie Graham’s (Australian National University) visit
to the University of Leicester Management Centre. We are inviting papers
from all disciplines within social sciences and humanities on the theme of
‘Contesting Capitalism’.Building on the ethos of CAOS, we would
particularly welcome contributions that go beyond critiques of capitalism
and dare to offer alternatives. We want to respond to those who believe
that ‘there is no alternative’ by waving the weight of evidence to the
contrary. By documenting the alternatives created by those who refuse to
be trapped by the supposed omnipotence of global capitalism, we hope to
open up a space where the very possibility of non-capitalist practice can
be taken seriously.

However, we recognise that neo-liberal fundamentalism has become immune to
empirical evidence. It tends to close the space for imagining alternative
organisation by re-inscribing any existing alternative within an
inevitable path towards failure or cooptation. Thus contesting global
capitalism not only requires pointing to evidence of alternatives, but
also developing strategies for re-thinking organising that do not
systematically condemn alternatives to the suffocating grip of global
capitalism. To borrow a phrase from Gibson-Graham, we need to develop
conceptual frameworks that challenge capitalocentric representations of
the economy. This entails destabilising the presumed hegemony, totality
and unity of capitalism by pointing to its historical, social, political
specificities and contingencies. Thus we need to dispel the myth of a
singular capitalist essence and instead reveal the multiplicity of
concrete practices that make up capitalisms. The explosion of Capitalism
into a set of fragmented, multiple, contingent sites of capitalisms, in
turn, opens up the space for (recognising) non-capitalist practices.
Alternatives no longer have to establish themselves against, defend
themselves against, or resist, some a priori hegemonic force of
capitalism.

If we follow Gibson-Graham, breaking free of ‘capitalocentrism’ also means
thinking differently about the ‘economy’. Thus we need to develop a
vocabulary of economic (and organisational) difference by freeing
‘exchange’, ‘work’, and ‘organisation’ from the capitalist grip within
which they have been trapped as ‘commodity market’, ‘waged labour’ and
‘capitalist enterprise’. This may involve for example abandoning the
concepts that have dominated our understanding of the economy and
organisations (e.g. management, performance, competence, growth…) and
choosing others (e.g. justice, dignity, sustainability, values…)

In short, we invite contributions that propose to engage with any of the
following themes:

· Exploring past and present alternative forms of organising, highlighting
the very possibility of alternatives, and the extent of their contribution
(e.g. alternative forms of work, alternative forms of exchange,
alternative organisational forms: cooperative, communes…)

· Exploding the myth of capitalism as an omnipotent and monolithic force,
and highlighting the breaks, disjunctures, differences in the making of
contemporary economies.

· Reconceptualising ‘organisation’ and the economy, or to paraphrase
Gibson-Graham developing a vocabulary of ‘economic / organisational
difference’.

CAOS is an open community and invite participation from all those who
share our commitment to broaden the imagination and practice of
organisation. We welcome contributions from academics at all levels, as
well as from those involved in shaping alternatives (activists,
politicians, NGO workers and others). We would also like this openness to
be reflected in different types of sessions; some may follow the paper
presentation format, whilst others may take the form of more open
discussion forum.

Abstracts or proposals for discussion forum of no more than 500 words
should be sent as email attachments to Prof Colin Williams (e-mail:
c.williams@le.ac.uk) by Friday 31st January 2005. Notification of
acceptance will be sent by the end of February.

We hope you will be many to answer this call and we look forward to seeing
in May.