Coming up against capitalism: Economic interventionism and the appropriation of diversity
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2012-02-09
Author(s)
Abstract
At the end of the 1980ies, the liberalization of the national markets resulted in a growing global competition between the national economies. In Switzerland, these transformations accelerated the crisis of the machine and watch industry, which locally resulted in high unemployment rates. In order to respond to these economic developments, the government (on both the national and local level) implemented several measures with the twofold aim of transforming the Swiss territory into an internationally appealing business location and of creating the conditions of an industry that capitalizes on local diversity.
In our presentation, we will show how, reacting to the global transformations of the political economy, key actors in Switzerland - representing specific political-economic interests and ideologies - invested resources in the "redesigning" of Swiss capitalism. Our focus is on how these changes resulted in a political and economic appropriation of linguistic and cultural diversity that transformed local multilingualism into an economic resource but, at the same time, came up against limits inherent in the logic of capitalism itself.
For this presentation, we are drawing on ethnographic data collected in the framework of two sociolinguistic research projects investigating the promotion of Swiss economy. Our analysis will critically highlight three points: First, the historical and ideological conditions of the commodification of diversity on both a national and local level, i.e., the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne. Second, the discursive construction of diversity as an economic resource, i.e., as a marker of distinction and as a unique selling proposition, but also as an instrument giving access to the multilingual international markets. Third, while the commercialization of diversity is conceived as an emblematic feature of late capitalism, the economic appropriation of diversity reproduces similar forms of social inequality which sociolinguists have observed in modernism.
In our presentation, we will show how, reacting to the global transformations of the political economy, key actors in Switzerland - representing specific political-economic interests and ideologies - invested resources in the "redesigning" of Swiss capitalism. Our focus is on how these changes resulted in a political and economic appropriation of linguistic and cultural diversity that transformed local multilingualism into an economic resource but, at the same time, came up against limits inherent in the logic of capitalism itself.
For this presentation, we are drawing on ethnographic data collected in the framework of two sociolinguistic research projects investigating the promotion of Swiss economy. Our analysis will critically highlight three points: First, the historical and ideological conditions of the commodification of diversity on both a national and local level, i.e., the bilingual city of Biel/Bienne. Second, the discursive construction of diversity as an economic resource, i.e., as a marker of distinction and as a unique selling proposition, but also as an instrument giving access to the multilingual international markets. Third, while the commercialization of diversity is conceived as an emblematic feature of late capitalism, the economic appropriation of diversity reproduces similar forms of social inequality which sociolinguists have observed in modernism.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Refereed
No
Event Title
Designing and Transforming Capitalism
Event Location
Aarhus, DK
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
209672