Macquarie University

Neoliberalism and Its Discontents - FOAR707

This unit introduces students to key themes and theorists in contemporary social and political theory. In particular, it will explore competing diagnoses and responses to the winding back of the post-war compromises between democratic states and corporate capitalism. Rather than taking a serial approach to the study of social and political theories, this unit will focus on their, at times diametrically opposed, configurations of this broad problem-complex. Organized as a workshop series, the unit will draw from leading contemporary social theorists, such as: Jurgen Habermas, Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, Axel Honneth, Rainer Forst, Etienne Balibar, Luc Boltanski, Wendy Brown, and Raewyn Connell. Examining a problematic that is of foundational importance in much current social and political research, this unit is relevant to students across the humanities and social sciences. It will extend and complement the existing MRes unit 1703, ‘Social Theory and Policy’ POIR 704 'Global Political Economy' and can be taken as a progression or as a stand-alone unit.