Call For Papers Global Urban Humanities Designated Research Program of The Seoul
Institute
for ‘The Seoul Platform for Initiating Discourses on Equitable and Resilient Society(SPIDERS)’
The Seoul Institute (SI) is calling for papers on twelve designated topics related to fundamental
social change for the better. The twelve designated topics are outlined below. The papers should be
previously unpublished work free from plagiarism submitted in English (or Korean in the case of
Korean writers). The SI Editorial Board will select up to 20 papers (1 or more from each topic) on
the basis of abstracts and short biographies. The selected papers will be published online under a
Creative Commons license BY-NC-ND. The authors may also be invited for online forums to talk about
their works. The SI will pay the authors a one-time royalty of 5 million KRW (i.e. about 4,000 USD)
before tax and transaction fees after publishing the papers online by the end of February
2021.
Submissions are encouraged from all fields related to discourses on equitable and resilient society
for a ‘good-life oriented’ society, such as philosophy, political economy, social policy, sociology,
environmental studies, and politics.
The submission of papers will be conducted in three phases: an abstract, a short essay, and a final
manuscript. All writings should be in English (or Korean in the case of Korean writers).
I. The Principles and Value Orientations of Alternative Social Systems | |
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1 | Eco-Friendly Society: A World in Which Individuals Live a Good Life in Harmony with Society and Nature. |
2 | Reshaping Democracy in Accordance with the Principle of Autonomy |
3 | Rewriting Economics and Restructuring the Economy: A Paradigm Shift from Economic Growth to the Good Life |
II. New Social-Economic Policies and Institutions for the Good-Life-Oriented Society | |
4 | Money in the 21st Century and New Fiscal-Monetary Policies. |
5 | Green New Deal: Climate Crisis, Industrial Restructuring, and Just Transition |
6 | Cosmo-Local Production: Resetting the Relations of Production |
7 | Urban Commons: Reconstituting Space and the City |
8 | Insecure Employment I: Reshaping the Labor Market |
9 | Insecure Employment II: Making a Revision of Social Welfare Policies |
10 | Social Democratic Economy: Resetting Social Relations and Rebuilding Local Communities |
III. Alternative Political Economic Systems | |
11 | The Crisis of Political Economic System and its Future in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
12 | Alternative National Accounting: From an Account System of Money Costs to That of Social and Environmental Costs |
Tentative dates, deadlines, and procedures (subject to change).
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the shaky foundations on which our current
social system, i.e. the global liberal order, is built. Its modus operandi, the so-called
self-regulating market, not only malfunctioned but also accelerated the social
instability across the world. In the immediate aftermath of the outbreak, the
intricately interwoven global financial markets were sinking into total chaos and
panic. As the prices of most traded assets such as stocks, bonds, oil, and
commodity futures plunged, the markets were indeed teetering on the brink of
collapse. Job markets also greatly aggravated the chaotic situation. Amid growing
uncertainty of the global economy, hundreds of millions of people worldwide lost
their jobs. In the US, the guardian of the liberal world order, alone, the
unemployment insurance weekly claims soared to about 25 million at its peak in
May. The global trading market was no exception. The global supply chain, one of
the main pillars of the neoliberal globalization, for a short period at least, virtually
ground to a halt. Ironically, many of the world’s largest economies suffered this
disruption more than others did. Failing to procure necessary medical
equipment such as masks and ventilators on their own, they stood helpless to act
against the virus.
Running counter to the neoliberal mantra, the recent disaster has exposed that “free
markets” could not have managed to survive without heavy government intervention
that includes zero interest rates, unlimited quantitative easing, pandemic subsidy
programs, and the central banks’ unlimited bond-buying plans. Yet it is said that the
COVID-19 pandemic is just the tip of the iceberg. What if we are facing another
wave of external shocks, this time severer than COVID-19? Catastrophic ecological
disasters which may exterminate human species on Earth loom large. It is highly
unlikely that a society blindly pursuing profits and economic growth can cope with
them. It is not a cure for the problems but the root cause of them.
Although governments across the world have been playing crucial roles in dealing
with the pandemic and preventing societal collapse, their actions are still focused on
getting back to “normal”: the growth-oriented market society. The so-called “new
normal” mostly refers to an “untact” industry-centered market society. Indeed, they
succeeded in recovering their economies but only partially. For instance, the US
stock market indexes keep hitting record highs while its real economy remains in a
desperate situation akin to the Great Depression. Regardless of policymakers’
intentions, their actions aimed to combat COVID-19 and its negative social impacts
have widened the gap between the rich and the poor in terms of both wealth and
health. Whereas the wealthy have become richer with the governments’ unlimited
support for the financial sector, the vulnerable population, who lost jobs and income,
have been disproportionately suffered. As many statistical analyses have shown, the
latter was far more exposed to the virus than the former.
In order to brace for future disasters and emergencies, we need fundamental social
change - a transition from a profit-oriented society to a “good-life-oriented” one. The
former is exacerbating social problems as well as environmental crises. Unless
structural problems immanent in the liberal order are addressed, “state
interventionism” will fall short of what is required for the social change we need. In
other words, if atomized individualism, the sanctification of private property, the myth
of the invisible hand, and plutocracy remain intact, it is of no use for the state to
be in the driver’s seat. A new society needs a new philosophy, a new view of the
world that enables human beings to live in harmony with nature; that puts people
before profits; that replaces the unfair, unlevel playing field of the current society
with a fairer, level one; and that which lays the foundation for organizing the society
collectively in a more democratic way.
As the slogan of the World Social Forum which was put forward in opposition to the
neoliberal motto of “TINA” proclaims, “another world is possible.” And it is high time
to start building a new world. Considering the urgency of the climate and societal
crisis, there may not be another chance.
In light of what was mentioned above, the Seoul Institute (SI) on behalf of the City of Seoul is launching a project to put our heads together. The project, “Seoul Platform for Initiating Discourses on Equitable and Resilient Society (SPIDERS),” aspires to be a web of wisdom for a better future.