The SSLIS Seminar | The Political Economy of Public Libraries: There are Alternatives to the Status Quo
The Political Economy of Public Libraries: There are Alternatives to the Status Quo – Siobhan Stevenson
Arguably, public libraries have experienced more change in the first quarter of the twenty-first century than they did throughout the entire twentieth century. Much of this is crisis driven i.e., the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Great Recession from late 2007 to mid 2009, a global pandemic, and unprecedented climate events. More significantly however is the fact that these events unfold against the backdrop of a global neoliberal governance regime where the accumulation demands of capital trump all other human needs. Concomitant with the near hegemony of neoliberalism is information capital’s ownership of the perpetually innovating and ubiquitous technologies that have, and continue to have, a profound influence on what it means to be a citizen, a worker and a consumer in 2025. Public libraries have pivoted repeatedly to respond to the local impact of these global forces and in so doing have moved ever further away from their original Enlightenment commitments and democratic purposes – all in a bid to remain relevant. But relevant to who? And to what social project? The purpose of this talk is to demonstrate the explanatory potential of a political economy perspective for questions of relevance to the field while also challenging our assumptions about (1) the role of the public library in society given its status as an institution of the capitalist state and source of legitimation for the status quo, and (2) the health of public librarianship as a professional practice given the library's current evolution. One of the theoretical requirements of the study of political economy is surfacing our ability to envision a different kind of world and our own formidable class power. This talk will close with reflections on where public librarians might best be deployed if the goal is a healthy democracy through education.
Siobhan Stevenson’s webpage at University of Toronto: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/faculty-profile/siobhan-stevenson/
Zoom: https://hb-se.zoom.us/j/66891319632
Language: English
Chair: Sofia Lindström Sol
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