This event is part of a series of symposia, seminars and lectures, exploring the ‘present conjuncture’ throughout June.
Co-convened with Soundings: A journal of politics and culture and Identities: Global studies in culture and power this one day symposium assesses the present ‘conjuncture’: critically analysing the history and condition of the Labour party and wider labour movement in Britain; the political consequences of national and global social, economic, and ecological crises; and the nature of hegemonic, dominant and emergent political projects.
Speakers include:
John Cruddas, MP; Jeremy Gilbert; Jo Littler; Bill Schwarz; David Featherstone; Aaron Winter; Montel Gordon; Les Back;
9.00 – 9.30 Arrivals
9.30 – 9.45 Welcome/introduction
9.45 – 11.15 Panel 1: Progressive Possibilities? Learning from New Times and New Labour
11.15 – 11.30 Refreshments
11.30 – 13.00 Authoritarian Populism and the Current Conjuncture (convened by the journal Soundings: A journal of politics and culture)
This session engages with the relevance of Hall’s work for thinking about authoritarianism in the current political conjuncture. It argues that his interventions in this vein, such as the theorisation of authoritarian populism, are a fundamental part of the current lexicon of left debate, locating these interventions as part of broader interconnected geographies through which the left has sought to make sense of, and intervene in authoritarian formations. This session positions Hall’s work as a point of departure for understanding key contemporary issues such as the increasingly authoritarian tone of Labour under Keir Starmer’s leadership; the repression of diverse forms of protest including concerted attempts to criminalise solidarities against the genocide in Palestine; the fomenting of racialised and gendered divisions and the entrenching of impunity for the Police and armed forces personnel.
Adam Elliott Cooper, Queen Mary, University of London, ‘Enemies within: Nationalism’s Internal Outsiders’
Dave Featherstone, Soundings/ University of Glasgow, ‘Authoritarian populism and the fractured geographies of the UK State’
Jo Littler, Soundings/ Goldsmiths University:‘Model minority authoritarianism’
Bill Schwarz, Queen Mary, University of London, ‘tbc’
13:00 – 13:45 lunch
13:45 – 14:30 Plenary and Q&A: Prof Jeremy Gilbert: “Restoration: the return of the political class”
14:45 – 16:00 Panel 3: convened by the Journal Identities: Global studies in culture and power
16:15 – 17:00 Closing Address/Q&A
17:00 Close