WIN 2015 Course on Alternative Economies (Cultural Studies and Postcapitalist Futures)-Seattle Campus

Cultural Studies and Postcapitalist Futures BCULST 593/HUM 595
5 CR
Mon 5:45 – 10:00 pm
CMU 242, UW Seattle

How do we imagine a world beyond Capitalism? To the extent that we see capitalism as all-encompassing, as having no ‘outside,’ it becomes difficult to imagine that “another world is possible.” In such a world, only two models are possible – to give up hope entirely, or else imagine that the only way to enable another world is through a singular, world-straddling, ruptural revolutionary moment. But does the recognition of the multiple ways capitalism shapes our lives necessarily lead to just these two options? Another way of thinking about our relation to capitalism as structure is to think of its structuring capacities as akin to the modes by which heteronormativity and patriarchy shape our lives. In this understanding of structure, we can take a page from queer and feminist theorists, and look for the spaces of dissident subjectivity and sociality that let us constitute our possibilities for alternatives in the here and now.

This course draws on the work of J. K Gibson-Graham and the Community Economies Research Network to provide a postmodern Marxist reading of economic subjectivity. Our aim is to creatively examine and experiment with the multiple modalities and spaces through which we can enact and practice the ‘economic’ for a practical politics of change. The course will combine theoretical readings on economic subjectivity with experiments creating and feeding alternate economies. Our aim is to combine theory and practice in our efforts at constituting alternate economies.

Instructor: S. Charusheela(“Charu”) is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at University of Washington Bothell, where her research and teaching interests focus on gender, political economy, globalization, and development. Charu is the editor of Rethinking Marxism and serves on the Executive Committee of the Cultural Studies Association.

For more information, please contact the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Graduate Office at 425.352.3406 or visit www.uwb.edu/culturalstudies

Register (via HUM 595, SLN 21622, Seattle Time Schedule)

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