The Neoliberal Agenda
Our forthcoming issue will focus on the ideology of a neoliberal market and its consequences, in particular the destruction of space and community. This will affect living spaces and the individual within society. To use the metaphor of an ecosystem, the worldwide conditions generated by a recent neoliberal market constitute the encompassing socioeconomic and cultural ecosystem we all live in today.
The Ideal Spaces Foundation is holding a symposium on the neoliberal agenda, co-hosted by the international film maker, author, and visual artist Dr. Allan Siegel; please have a look at https://www.idealspaces.org/news/symposium-neoliberal-agenda/
The neoliberal agenda is not in any manner confined to an economic sphere. ‘The neoliberal world view’, says Allan Siegel, ‘permeates the interactions of peoples’ daily lives, and is embedded within a geographical network of diverse institutions and governing agencies. The ideology and practices of neoliberalism impacts economic, governmental and social practices’, he says, ‘and the fallout from its ideas filters through the social spaces of home and work and undermines dimensions of the public sphere’.
It is an agenda that does not need democracy, nor community, the demos. It centres upon the individual’s capabilities and on competition, instead of cooperation; its basic assumption regarding society is, what is best for the subject is also good for the society. To cite Siegel again, ‘the neoliberal ethos promotes the privatization of public services and space and undermines the communal aspects of social life, thereby diminishing democratic ideals and political interactions. It negates the concept of the demos, and interactions between citizens.’
In terms of world view, it is not (only) about the reign of a free market. It is the eidos of a complete privatization, alongside the belief that this is good for all, and for the best of society in the end. In its original Latin meaning, ‘privatization’ comes from privare, to bereave – who is bereaved, who gains, and what is the overall societal outcome and why and how should this be the best for all?
Is this all? Are there other concepts, also of liberalism, that could work? And if so, how, under which frame conditions? Liberalism is not confined to unleashed market forces and a neoliberal agenda, freedom is more than a free market, the demos is not confined to voters, and true entrepreneurship is not just capitalism. What about new perspectives, and solutions to overcome the existing ecosystem?
All these are the topics we want you to write about – we invite all academics, artists and scholars to contribute to this issue.
The deadline for any contributions is October 31, 2024.
For any details on the submission process please refer to https://urban-eidos.com/submission/. In case of any question please do not hesitate to contact the editorial office via mail@urban-eidos.com.
Archive of past calls
Polis and Democracy – the idea of the city for free citizens
Democracy, and the related ideas of free citizens and human rights, are no self-evident achievements. Worldwide, democracies are in retreat, in favor of authoritarian and autocratic regimes. Inclusion of citizens on an equal basis is essential for democracy, next to the capability for true dialogue and a community allowing for diversity in public discourse and positions.
It was an idea that originated in Western culture, and one of its origins has been the Greek Polis. In its democratic versions, it is a human habitat where free citizens vote and discuss with equal rights and duties, to actively influence their own lives – and not just getting influenced as it is the case for the majority today, influenced and effectively steered by just a few in power, no matter if on the political level or that of multinational corporations.
The community of free citizens was a reality and a dream, at the same time, a dream reflected in many utopias. One of the habitats of such a community is the city. Today, the majority of all people worldwide live in cities. As regards the basic human condition, for Aristotle, the human being was a zoon politikon, an animal living in the Polis. For human beings, it is ‘natural’ to live in that way. A Polis means community, i.e. true inclusion, and in its democratic variants, deliberate participation in molding the habitat where I, as a free citizen, am living.
What about these features today, even in pro forma democratic states? Is a ‘parliamentary’ democracy still truly democratic in the sense of active, direct participation? What about the habitat, the city? What are the forces molding it? What about its architectures and their suitedness for communal living, and communities? Is a revival of city, community and direct democracy possible? Even more: is the ideal of direct democracy and cities suited to it still up to date, in times of socially and politically fragmented societies consisting of millions of people, the primate of neoliberal economy, and the Internet?
We aim to address these and other questions in our upcoming issue of Urban Eidos. Therefore, we invite submissions from scholars, architects, practitioners, and artists who wish to engage with the concept of the ‘free city for free citizens’. Contributors are welcome to approach this topic through the lens of specific case studies, reports on concrete projects, or from a broader, theoretical/historical perspective. We look forward to receiving a wide array of contributions.