Seminars take place 3:30pm - 5:00pm on Wednesdays in Room 501, Level 5, Ken Edwards Building (unless otherwise stated).

Forthcoming seminars

Details of forthcoming seminars will be posted here.

Previous seminars

Routes out of crisis: the A, B and C of the present conjecture
Presenters: David Harvie, Keir Milburn, Gareth Brown and Emma Dowling
Assigned Respondent: Dimitris Papadopoulos
Date: 14 March 2012

Situating the Female Gaze: Understanding (Sex) Tourism Practices in Thailand
Presenter: Erin Sanders, Middlesex University
Assigned Respondent: Valerie Fournier
Date: 7 March 2012

Western Economies and the Problem of Oil
Presenter: Professor John Urry, Lancaster University
Assigned Respondent: Ming Lim, University of Leicester
Date: 29 February 2012
Further information (abstract):
Western economies and especially the US economy became utterly locked into 'black gold' since the first oil gusher appeared in 1901. And yet oil generates GHGs and is changing climates, it seems to be running out (Chief Economist of IEA says peak oil occured in 2006), and there is no viable plan B to deal with decline. Oil shortages and price increases have already helped to generate the Great Crash of 2007-8 - this was in part an 'oil-crunch' according to former Govt Chief Scientist. This talk will examine how economies and societies became so oil-dependent that they cannot start to deal effectively with oil decline (per capita oil globally peaked in 1979). Some future scenarios will be examined.

'Artistic licence? A sceptical assessment of recent theorisations of creative industries and labour'
Presenter: Paul Thompson, University of Strathclyde
Assigned Respondent: Jo Grady, University of Leicester
Date: 1 February 2012

How Culture Constitutes Markets: a case Study of German Wine Markets
Presenter: Elke Weik, University of Leicester
Assigned Respondent: Jo Grady, University of Leicester
Date: 30 March 2011
Further information (abstract):
The paper draws on Zelizer’s (1988) contention that markets are constituted by economic, social and cultural factors. In order to determine how cultural factors shape a market, and what role a certain class of social actors – lobbyists – play in market constitution, I present a case study of the German wine market. This market is currently undergoing a forced reconstitution triggered by new EU legislation. I use Bourdieu’s (2010) field concept as a frame of analysis to understand how actors’ position in the field transmits cultural ideas into political strategies and proposals.
Keywords: Culture, markets, Bourdieu, ideal types, wine

The Ethics and Emotions of Fieldwork with Friends

Presenter: Jo Brewis, University of Leicester
Assigned Respondent: Mark Stein, University of Leicester
Date: 9 March 2011

The Moral Necessity of Austerity Examined

Presenter: Matthew Clement, University of the West of England
Assigned Respondent: Stephen Dunne, University of Leicester
Date: 23 February 2011

TBC

Presenter: Chris Carter, St. Andrews University
Assigned Respondent: TBC
Date: 16 February 2011

TBC

Presenter: Carl Rhodes, Swansea University
Assigned Respondent: TBC
Date: 9 February 2011

TBC

Presenter: Kenneth Weir, University of Leicester
Assigned Respondent: TBC
Date: 2 February 2011

“There will be no class today.” An exploration of the links between campus activism and extremist action in the 1960s and 1970s

Presenter: Laura Freeman, University of Leicester
Assigned Respondent: Steve Vallance
Date: 19 January 2011

Purposive accounting? The case of the Argentinian empresas recuperadas cooperatives

Presenter: Alice Bryer, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Assigned Respodnent: Kenneth Weir, University of Leicester
Date: 1 December 2010

‘Bottled Magic’: the Business of Self-Knowledge

Presenter: Alan McKinlay, University of St. Andrews
Assigned Respondent: Simon Lilley, University of Leicester
Date: 24 November 2010

An Afternoon of Practical Criticism

Chair and Organiser: Peter Armstrong, University of Leicester
Presenters: Thomas Basbøll, Copenhagen Business School, Armin Beverungen, Bristol Business School and Susan Kinsey, University of Wolverhampton
Date: 17 November 2010
Time: 2:30-6:30

New Labour and Trade Unions: collaborators in Neo-Liberalism Together?

Presenter: Jo Grady, University of Leicester
Assigned Respondent: Catherine Casey, University of Leicester 
Date: 3 November 2010

School of Management ‘Film Club’ – Brassed Off (1996)

Presenters: Jo Grady, University of Leicester and Chris Grocott, University of Birmingham
Assigned Respondent: Open Discussion
Date: 27 October 2010
Time: 3:30-6:00

Transitional Spaces: The Phenomenology of the Away Day

Presenter: Rina Arya, University of Wolverhampton
Assigned Respondent: Stephen Dunne, University of Leicester
Date: 13 October 2010

Signs of the Times: How Language, Law and Social Dynamics Interact in Public Signage

Presenter: Gerlinde Mautner, University of Vienna
Assigned Respondent: Nick Ellis, University of Leicester
Date: 6 October 2010

Information on forthcoming and previous conferences