Call for Contributors for March 2018 Issue, “Is It Time to Bury Neoliberalism?”

The Activist History Review invites proposals for our March issue, “Is It Time to Bury Neoliberalism?: Writing History in the Present Tense.”

In a recent roundtable featured in Dissent magazine, historian Daniel Rodgers questioned whether scholars and activists on the left should continue to use the term “neoliberalism” to describe the disintegration of mid-century social democracy in favor of centrist social legislation and the complete privatization of the economy. Rodgers warned that scholarly overreliance on neoliberalism as a frame of thought runs the risk of “crowding out other terms” and further isolating Americans outside of academia. While scholars Julia Ott, Mike Konczal, N.D.B. Connolly, and Timothy Shenk all brilliantly scrutinized Rodgers’ analysis, an exact definition for, and a proper reckoning with, neoliberalism remains necessary. As Rodgers resolved in his concluding remarks, “analytical words that gain political traction need powerful, visualizable, and experientially graspable legs, too.”

TAHR calls for papers that better define or illustrate neoliberalism. Is neoliberalism a coherent economic and cultural system reliant upon an open market and a globalized economy, or an over-distilled term for a complex political and social climate decades in the making? If academics and activists need to cast neoliberalism aside, how should it be done and what can be used in its place? For this issue, special attention will be given to proposals that historicize neoliberalism and critically analyze the concentration of wealth and dismantling of state-sponsored programs for economic and social equality in the mid-twentieth century.

Potential themes include, but are not limited to:

• Changing popular renderings of poverty
• Tasteful considerations of historiographical movements
• Public education and the welfare state
• The intersections of finance and party politics
• Grassroots opposition to or support of neoliberalism on the left and right
• The global breakdown of the Cold War order
• Racism, misogyny, and “reverse discrimination”
• Main Street vs. Wall Street in the historical imagination
• The relationship between neoliberalism and capitalism (e.g. “Reaganomics,” the Clintons and the New Democrats, and the Great Recession)

Proposals should be no more than 250 words for articles from 1250-2000 words, and should be emailed to Andreas Meyris by Monday, February 19th at 11:59 PM. Please also include a short bio of no more than 100 words.

* * *

Our collected volume of essays, Demand the Impossible: Essays in History As Activism, is now available on Amazon! Based on research first featured on The Activist History Review, the twelve essays in this volume examine the role of history in shaping ongoing debates over monuments, racism, clean energy, health care, poverty, and the Democratic Party. Together they show the ways that the issues of today are historical expressions of power that continue to shape the present. Also, be sure to review our book on Goodreads and join our Goodreads group to receive notifications about upcoming promotions and book discussions for Demand the Impossible!

* * *

We here at The Activist History Review are always working to expand and develop our mission, vision, and goals for the future. These efforts sometimes necessitate a budget slightly larger than our own pockets. If you have enjoyed reading the content we host here on the site, please consider donating to our cause.