October 4-6, 2012, Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, Belgium
Confirmed speakers include
Gareth Dale (Brunel University, UK)
Andrew Levine (University of Maryland, USA)
Frédéric Lordon (CNRS, France)
Katharina Pistor (Columbia University, USA)
Frank Vandenbroucke (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Philippe Van Parijs (UC Louvain, Belgium)
What has happened to the wealth of nations and to their sovereignty? In
Europe and the US, the symbiosis of democratic political systems and a mixed
capitalist economy has long been regarded as the best way to increase
stability and prosperity. However, the nature of this symbiosis seems to be
undergoing a radical change. What seems to be truly new is the extent to
which processes of decision-making are dominated by markets, technocrats and
non-democratic financial institutions.
This development raises a number of questions. If democratic policies are
increasingly geared toward the demands of the markets, is this accidental or
due to inherent features of democracy and/or markets? Will states and groups
of states that deliberately released the force of the market be able to
preserve their democratic nature and the values bound up with the very idea
of democracy, or are we entering the era of so-called post-democracy? Has
the market, in its turn, become a locus of political power in its own right
or does it put pressure on the political sphere without modifying its
nature? What kind of thing is a market at any rate? Does it make sense to
attribute political power to something that operates completely anonymously
and cannot be held accountable?
We now invite abstracts for papers that address one or more of these
questions from a contemporary perspective and/or by reconsidering the legacy
of thinkers such as Smith, Hegel and Marx.
Papers should be suitable for 30 minutes presentations (+ 15 minutes
discussion). Please send an abstract of about 500 words to:
democracymarket2012@gmail.com
no later than May 15. Those who submit abstracts will be notified by June
15. Unfortunately, we cannot provide for travel and lodging costs. For any
questions, please contact democracymarket2012@gmail.com
The conference is hosted by the Leuven Centre for Global Governance
Studies’ and ‘Research in Political Philosophy Leuven(RIPPLE)of the
University of Leuven.
For information about the host institutions see
http://hiw.kuleuven.be/eng/
http://www3.kuleuven.be/ripple/
http://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/
Organizing Committee
Prof. dr. Karin de Boer (KU Leuven)
Prof. dr. Antoon Braeckman (KU Leuven)
Dr. Lisa Herzog (University St. Gallen)
Dr. Matthias Lievens (KU Leuven)
Dr. Nicholas Vrousalis (KU Leuven)
