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Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance and more...
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Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance and more...

...plus new BG palm oil video, art for universal basic income event, and MA and PhD opportunities

Nov 17, 2022
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Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance and more...
maxhaiven.substack.com

Hello,

Just in time for Elon’s Twitter meltdown, I’m very pleased to share the results of a multi-year project Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance.

Also in this email (below)

  • A new, short video about palm oil, courtesy of the Berliner Gazette

  • Some upcoming events

  • Some information about working with me on MA and PhD projects


Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance

I’m excited to share with you a project that has been several years in the making. Back in 2016 my friend and colleague Enda Brophy and I won some funding to explore the intersection of debt and new technologies. Along with Benjamin J. Anderson and, together we undertook several activities which have culminated in the release of volume 45 of TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies on the topic of "Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Technofinance,” detailed below.

Exhibition view from Berliner Gazette’s exhibition SILENT WORKS (silentworks.info), Berlin, 2020

2019: Digital/Debt/Empire short interventions

One of the first manifestations of our collaboration was a special stream of the New School for Social Research’s online platform Public Seminar in 2019. It included:

  • Art, Research and Action Against Debt’s Digital Empire,
    Max Haiven, Enda Brophy, Benjamin Anderson (April 4, 2019)

  • Stolen Land, Standing Ground, and the Viral Spectacle of White Entitlement,
    Alyosha Goldstein (April 4, 2019)

  • Artist-as-Debtor, Debt-as-Creator,
    Noah Fischer (April 15, 2019)

  • Academia, Grassroots Organizations, and Debt,
    Ann Larson (April 22, 2019)

  • The Violence of Abstraction,
    Alberto Toscano (May 9, 2019)

  • Debt: A Lever of Dispossession,
    Iolanda Fresnillo (May 22, 2019)

  • (Sur)real Estate, Speculative Capital and Housing Displacement,
    Cassie Thornton, (May 22, 2019)

  • Accumulation by Education: White Property and Racialized Debt,
    Iyko Day (June 14, 2019)

2019: The Digital/Debt/Empire symposium

In April of 2019 we held a three-day event of public talks, symposia and workshops in Vancouver, including presentations and participation from Brenna Bhandar, Glen Coulthard, Iyko Day, Noah Fischer, Alyosha Goldstein, Iolanda Fresnillo, Peter James Hudson, Anne Larson, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Jerome Roos, Cassie Thornton and Alberto Toscano.

2022: Zero Credit: Countering the Dreams of Techno-Finance

In 2022, TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies published its 45th issue, mostly made up of a section edited by Benjamin Anderson, Enda Brophy and I (Max Haiven) and made up of some very compelling work

I’ve linked here to PDFs of these articles, which are unfortunately otherwise paywalled.

  • “Introduction: Zero Credit” (Benjamin Anderson, Enda Brophy, Max Haiven)

Themed articles

  • “‘Into Human Flesh and the Human Heart’: On Promotionalism and the Long Con of Fintech Credit-Scoring” by Alison Hearn

  • “Notions of the Possible: Smart-Contracts and the Obscene Sign of (Racial) Freedom” by Ian A. McKenzie

  • “#buildbanksbetter: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), Public Banks and Money’s Potential as a Non-Scarce Medium of Communication and a Source of Local Self-Determination” by Matthew Tiessen

  • “Dangerous Play in an Age of Technofinance: From the GameStop Hunger Games to the Capitol Hill Jamboree” by Max Haiven, A.T. Kingsmith, Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou

  • “Capitalist Telepathics, Psychic Debt and the Search for Collective Intelligence” Jacquelene Drinkall

Themed commentaries and roundtables

  • “The Pandemic as Financial Laboratory” by Verónica Gago and Luci Cavallero, translated by Liz Mason-Deese

  • “COVID-19 and the Care of the Financialized Self” by Kelly Gates

  • “The End of Abstraction? The Triumph of Abstraction? A Prospective Dilemma” by Franco Bifo Berardi, translated by Enda Brophy


Palm Oil video

I was very glad to contribute some thoughts on how palm oil’s story can reveal the intersections of imperialism and extractive violence for the Berliner Gazette’s 2022 project After Extractivism.

The 18-minute video was based on a piece of writing that is available in English and German.

It is based on material in my recent book Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire, available from Pluto Press.

Image
https://projekte.berlinergazette.de/after-extractivism/

Some recent and upcoming talks and events

  • Panel discussion, “Empire and Ecology,” After Extractivism conference, Berliner Gazette, October 2022.

  • Book event, Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire, Hosted by Lakehead University’s Sustainable Food Systems Lab and RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, October 2022.

  • Online lecture, “Palm oil and sacrificial capitalism,” Marxist Education Project, October 2022.

  • In-person workshop (Thunder Bay) “Poster, zine and booklet making” at RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, November 19, 13h00-16h00.

  • Invited talk “Palm oil’s ghosts and money’s art,” School of Fine Art and Music Annual Lecture Series, University of Guelph, November 24, 16h00.

  • Event: “Art for UBI (Manifesto) Berlin/online book event.” Hosted by the The Institute of Radical Imagination and RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab as part of the Magma Editions Berlin salon series. Sunday, November 27, 13h00

  • Invited talk, “Palm oil and the empire of sacrifice,” Aesthetics of Empire Research Cluster annual lecture, Linnaeus University, Sweden, December 2022.


Information for students interested in working with me on MA and PhD projects

I welcome inquiries from prospective students who might be interested in pursuing projects with me as part of pursuing a graduate degree. I can supervise students in three programs at Lakehead University:

  • Social Justice Studies MA program

    • Options: research project, creative project or coursework

    • 2y program

    • Application deadline: late January

    • Online options available but not fully guaranteed.

  • English MA program

    • Options: research project, creative project or coursework

    • 2y program

    • Application deadline: late January

    • Online options not guaranteed

  • Joint PhD in Educational Studies program, Social/Cultural/Political Contexts of Education stream) - to be confirmed

    • 4-5y program

    • Application deadline: late November

    • Program mostly but not entirely online

These opportunities come with a number of benefits

  • Work on projects at RiVAL: The ReImagining Value Action Lab, including:

    • Research into the radical imagination and social movements

    • Research into the imaginary landscapes of late capitalism at its intersections with colonialism and other systems of domination

    • Research into art and activism

    • Research into anti-colonial and anti-capitalist dreaming

    • The development of our new tabletop games initiative

    • Experience working on the VAGABONDS publishing project

  • Canadian citizens and permanent residents are guaranteed paid Graduate Assistantships and partial funding that helps offset the cost of tuition (some funding is available but not guaranteed for international students).

  • We will support you in applying for additional funding.

  • The possibility in some programs to work in whole or in part remotely.

If you might be interested, please check out the program information at the links above and get in contact: mhaiven at lakeheadu dot ca

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