Workshop/CfP - Managing Racial Capital, 30 June – 1 July 2017, Germany

Following Cedric Robinson’s concept of racial capitalism, the international workshop symposium “Managing Racial Capital,” departs from the assumption that racism is not simply a by-product of the capitalist logic of accumulation and unequal distribution, but that racialist ideologies lie at the very foundation of capitalism itself. We contend that the same holds true for management as well. Thinking of management broadly as modes of organization that are geared towards efficiency and control and which rely on (scientifically determined) systems of classification and standardization, the symposium investigates the ways in which racialized populations are managed under racial capitalism through processes such as labor organization (including slavery and other forms of unfree or coerced labor), labor importation, immigration control, trade agreements, treaties, criminalization and incarceration, emancipation and access to civic society, spatial organization such as urban planning and infrastructure, public health regulations, property and land rights, etc.

The symposium aims to bring together established and emerging scholars whose work touches on the intersections of race and management. The first day, June 30, will feature a full program with invited speakers. On the second day, July 1, there will be two graduate workshops led by Colleen Lye (UC Berkeley) and Nirmala Erevelles (University of Alabama) respectively.  At the workshops, PhD and advanced MA students will have the opportunity to briefly present their projects (5-10 minute presentations) and to more fully engage with the speakers and their work.  Whereas the talks will be open to all, spots in the workshops are limited.  If you want to participate, please send a brief description of your PhD dissertation or MA thesis project (ca. 300 words) along with a CV to managingracialcapital@gmail.com by May 22, 2017.