Neoliberal Regimes and Institutions of Knowledge Production

Neoliberal Regimes and Institutions of Knowledge Production

April 27-28, 2012 
Room 100, Classroom Office Building, 800 East Third St.

Neoliberalism has become a remarkably widespread political and economic perspective, so much so that over the past three decades many institutions have altered their practices to incorporate neoliberal principles. Yet not all institutions are adopting the same neoliberal principles, nor are these institutions all easily or eagerly accommodating neoliberal transformations. By asking how different institutions respond to neoliberalism in institutionally specific ways, we are also following Wendy Brown, David Harvey and Phil Mirowski in taking neoliberalism to be fundamentally distinct from earlier forms of capitalism. This conference will explore the uneven processes of neoliberalization comparatively, focusing on how different institutions respond to neoliberalism. Because neoliberal philosophy and policy places so much emphasis on transforming the ways in which knowledge is owned, produced and circulated, this workshop will focus on institutions that centrally engage with creating, labeling, and circulating knowledge: certification regimes, universities, corporate research parks, courts, and administrative legal regimes. Key questions will include: how have institutional practices surrounding knowledge production, management, and dissemination been reworked in response to neoliberal policies, and what new discourses or institutional logics accompany these changes? 

Tim Bartley (Indiana University) [Abstract]
David Caudill (Villanova) [Abstract]
Nick Cullather (Indiana University) [Abstract]
Rosemary Coombe (York University) [Abstract]
Andrew Herman (Waterloo) [Abstract]
Stephanie Kane (Indiana University) [Abstract]
Stuart Kirsch (University of Michigan) [Abstract]
Becky Mansfield (Ohio State University) [Abstract]
Bonnie McElhinney (University of Toronto) [Abstract]
Tad Mutersbaugh (University of Kentucky) [Abstract]
Wes Shumar (Drexel University) [Abstract]
Bonnie Urciuoli (Hamilton College) [Abstract]