One-day Conference: Anthropology of the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism, Paris, May 3rd 2011

by Keith Hart

International Study Day Anthropology of the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism 3 mai 2011, 10h-17h, musée du quai Branly, 37 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris, Cinema Theater Convened by Jonathan Friedman (IRIS/EHESS) & Laurent Berger (LAS/MQB) Programme 10h-10h15 Jonathan Friedman (IRIS-EHESS) & Laurent Berger (LAS-MQB) « Introduction: Towards an anthropology of the crisis in capitalism » 10h15-11h Paul Jorion     […] →Read more

The Americo-Middle Eastern superstate

by Keith Hart

John Young wrote to the nettime-l list in response to a version of the previous post that I sent there. Here is my reply: John wrote: “A commendably hopeful essay. So far the Egyptian initiative has lofted a Mubarak stooge in his place and the elevated overt military control. These are not hopeful yet, and […] →Read more

The second American revolution?

by Keith Hart

Saul Wainwright commented on the previous post in this series, CLR James and the idea of an African revolution: “I have been wondering about how to tie the Egyptian revolution into the larger world system. I was not aware that CLR thought there would be two more revolutions, one being Russian and other being American. […] →Read more

Tahrir Square 11th February 2011

by Keith Hart

Tahrir Square, Cairo after Mubarak left Delacroix or what? (the date is a palindrome!) These scenes remind us that we need not be defined by our differences, we can be defined by the common humanity that we share. →Read more

The Human Economy: Goldsmiths workshop videos

by Keith Hart

A workshop on The Human Economy was held at Goldmiths London on the afternoon of 26th January 2011. It involved all three editors and several contibuting authors and was organized by Professor Catherine Alexander, who is one of them. The editors each spoke about their own involvement in the international project and their vision for […] →Read more

CLR James and the idea of an African revolution

by Keith Hart

Events in Tunisia and Egypt have brought back the issue of revolution to international debate. Already I can feel my book, which was once called The African Revolution and has since become Africa’s Urban Revolution, moving with the times. It is too early to say whether North Africa’s “revolutions” will change the world as profoundly […] →Read more

The human economy: an ongoing international project

by Keith Hart

Podcast of a lecture and discussion at LSE on 27th January 2011. →Read more

Classes for and against a liberal revolution

by Keith Hart

You may well ask how these separate factors might generate sustainable forms of enterprise capable of raising African economies to new levels in the near future. Economic success is always a contingent synthesis of existing and new conditions. There is no model of successful enterprise, just many stories of economic innovation waiting to be discovered […] →Read more

Cultural sources of a liberal revolution in Africa

by Keith Hart

The classical liberal revolutions were sustained by three ideas: that freedom and economic progress require increased movement of people, goods and money in the market; that the political framework most compatible with this is democracy, putting power in the hands of the people; and that social progress depends on science, the drive to know objectively […] →Read more

What might sustain rapid development in Africa soon?

by Keith Hart

Expectation of rapid economic improvement soon in Africa seems counter-intuitive at this time, especially given Africa’s symbolic role as the negation of ‘white’ superiority. Black people have played this role for centuries as the stigmatized underclass of an unequal world society organized along racial lines; and never more than now, when American and European dominance […] →Read more