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 held 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/projects/neoliberal-agenda-symposium/
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?
Inside this issue
Associated with neoliberalism are certain mindsets. From Neoliberalism to Authoritarianism by Alexander Neupert-Doppler illuminates the relations between today’s political authoritarianism and neoliberalism, together with its roots in social psychology.
Following the topics presented in our symposium, the mindsets and aspects of the human condition inside neoliberal contexts are most vividly reflected in recent novels. No Such Thing as Society by Molly Slavin gives a comparison of different scenarios of that condition, as they are narrated in crime stories from different cultural backgrounds.
Continuing with the topics of the symposium, a new kind of human condition was announced, the importance of creativity in neoliberal contexts. A new class of so-called “creaworkers” was assumed to emerge, together with their accompanying new neoliberal concepts, aimed to lead to new ways of sociocultural diversity, freedom, and self-realization. Parasites of Innovation by Benda Hofmeyr deals with these aspects.
A human condition also rests on very basic facts, such as housing. It was an important topic of our symposium. Housing is an essential human need. How it is structured in a neoliberal context, as well as its dynamics will come into play? The Failure of Neoliberalism: The Case of Housing by Mike Berry examines the dynamics of that market, and the increasing inequalities such dynamics generate.
Next to housing, there is a basic human need for identity and belonging, expressed by the existence of public spaces deserving the name, and by cultural heritage. Both aspects have been looked at in our symposium. This is important, since both public space and cultural heritage are essential for an eidos of the urban, and urban life. How are public space, cultural heritage, and the city in general treated, in a neoliberal context?
Neoliberal Urbanism: Public Space, Liberty, Equality, and Community by Judit Bodnar examines the situation of the public space and its destruction by various practices of commodification, in the overall context of a neoliberal city development.
The Neoliberal City, Democracy and Participation by John Michael Roberts illuminates neoliberal city development and its underlying dynamic, together with cultural heritage. Based on the case example of an important public space and a monument in London, the de facto-annihilation not only of cultural heritage is looked at, but also the possibility of direct participation on behalf of the citizens.
Karlsruhe in November 2024
Ulrich Gehmann & Andreas Siess