A 9a. edição da Summer School in Political Philosophy and Public Policy, evento anual organizado pelo Centro de Ética, Política e Sociedade (CEPS) da Universidade do Minho, será realizada entre os dias 3 e 5 de julho deste. O tema deste ano é Democracia de Cidadãos Proprietários e a Alternativa Socialista, com os professores William Edmundson (Georgia State) e Alan Thomas (York). Tanto Edmundson como Thomas publicaram, recentemente, trabalhos importantes sobre os fundamentos teóricos e as possibilidades práticas de uma democracia de cidadãos proprietários (ver aqui e aqui). As inscrições podem ser feitas até o dia 15 de março.
Property-Owning
Democracy and the Socialist Alternative
Keynote Lectures:
William Edmundson
(Georgia State University)
Alan Thomas
(University of York)
Invited Speakers:
Raul Magni-Berton
(Sciences Po Grenoble)
When: 3-5 July
2018
Where: Auditorium
of the Instituto de Letras e Ciências Humanas (ILCH), University of Minho
Organization:
This event is co-organized by the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society of
the University of Minho and the Philosophy Department of the University of
York.
Convenors:
Roberto Merrill, Daniele Santoro, Alan Thomas
Contact: 9thsummerschool@gmail.com
Description
In recent years there has been a
resurgence of interest in issues at the intersection of political philosophy
and public policy. In particular, attention has increasingly turned to the
question of what kind of institutions and policies would be needed in order to
create a significantly more just society.
Following past summer-schools on
topics such as justice between generations (2010), democratic virtues (2011),
radical democracy (2012), basic income (2013), predistribution and
property-owning democracy (2014), the ethics of banking (2015), the commons
(2016),the philosophy of work (2017), the 9th Summer School will be dedicated
to property and capital in property-owning democracy and socialism.
Originally prompted by John
Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971, 1999), and later on in Justice as Fairness. A
Restatement (2001) the concept of property-owning democracy has gained interest
in the last decade as an an alternative to welfare-state capitalism.
According to Rawls, the aim of
property-owing democracy is “to disperse the ownership of wealth and capital,
and thus to prevent a small part of society from controlling the economy, and
indirectly, political life as well. By contrast, welfare-state capitalism
per¬mits a small class to have a near monopoly of the means of production”
(2001: 139). The widespread ownership of
productive assets, as well as of human capital, is thus not about assisting the
most disadvantaged by means of welfare policies and redistribution, but instead
to enable citizens to realize their life-plans in a condition of relative economic
equality and reciprocity. The idea of a property-owning democracy bears
important similarities with other attempts among liberal democratic socialists
and left-libertarians to contain the perverse effects of market concentration
of wealth and ensure a pre-distributive
entitlement to citizens irrespective of their working status. At the same time,
property-owning democracy has been criticized for assuming that the capitalist
system can be effectively reformed to ensure social justice. These topics are
of growing interest within academia, where they features prominently in recent
debates in philosophy, history, law, political science, and economics. In this
summer school we will discuss insights emerging from philosophical reflection
on the nature of these topics and think about the normative principles guiding
the organization of a property-owning democracy and its socialist alternative,
as well as its possible public policies, such as the allocation of capital
grants.
Format
The course features two keynote
speakers, who will each deliver two lectures, and several invited speakers. In
addition, we invite the participation of PhD students, postdoctoral scholars
and established researchers to present their ongoing work on the topics of this
year’s school. This year we will also host a symposium on Professor William
Edmundson’s book, John Rawls: Reticent Socialist, Cambridge University Press,
2017.
Participation
If you intend to participate,
send an e-mail to 9thsummerschool@gmail.com with your name, institutional
affiliation, and a short biography by May 15, 2018. If you would like to
present your research (whether in the general session or in the symposium on
Professor Edmundson’s book), please send also a title and an abstract of
300-500 words.
Registration fee
The registration fee for presenters
or attendance only is 100 Euros. A reduced fee of 70 Euros applies to
participants with an affiliation from countries with a developing economy (for
a list see here).
We will provide a participation certificate to all participants.
Payment by bank transfer to:
IBAN – PT50003501710016732263015
Bank: CGD
Swift code: CGDIPTPL
Name of the recipient:
Universidade do Minho
Address of the recipient: Largo
do Paço, 4704-553 Braga
NIF: 502 011 378
A proof of payment must be sent
to Ms. Ana Maria Pereira: apereira@ilch.uminho.pt
by June 15.
More information on the school
program and accommodation can be found on the Centre’s webpage.
