The Social Contract Research Podcast

In this seminar Professor Peter Gratton (History and Political Science, Southeastern Louisiana University) explores the uses and abuses of the social contract idea, reflecting in particular on the ways in which the social contract can be considered a con. The talk is followed by Q&A. A video version of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qilCZ99h0z0&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork The seminar took place over Zoom on 22 March 2022, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1

In this seminar Associate Professor Jessica Whyte (Scientia Fellow in the School of Humanities and Languages (Philosophy) and the School of Law, University of New South Wales) explores neoliberal ideas of freedom in relation to the notion of sovereignty: the sovereignty of consumers and the sovereignty of the market. The talk is followed by Q&A. A video version of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxg0IRj3qIc&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork The seminar took place over Zoom on 17 March 2022, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1

In this seminar Professor Gerald Moore (Acting Director, Centre for Culture and Ecology, Durham University, UK; Chair, Collège scientifique et industriel, Institut de Recherche et d'Innovation) explores the role of addiction and intoxication in the founding and maintenance of human societies. The talk is followed by Q&A. A video version of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iEm6DwTw9w&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork The seminar took place over Zoom on 8 March 2022, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network    To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1 

In this episode Chris is joined by Andrew Lacenere, Founder and CEO of Albatross Designs and the brains behind a new website naturalcontract.com, the aim of which is to create "a more fair and just society by acknowledging the meaning and power of the world’s natural assets, and specifically identifying the minimum level of respect and protection these assets deserve". Chris and Andrew talk about Andrew's personal journey and the vision of naturalcontract.com, the natural contract and capitalism, the zero waste movement, civil disobedience and the prescience of Michel Serres. A video version of this conversation is available at Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uixRkqM2D_g&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork https://www.naturalcontract.com/ - "Negotiating a lasting agreement between Society & Nature" Albatross Designs    Homepage: https://albatrossdesigns.it/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlbatrossSailing/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albatross_sailing/?hl=en The Social Contract Research Observatory:  multilingual desktop version: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vTQQmn-VCUJAZIga4yJMKKhMa2Qgmq_3e5dOraX_AdeMQH_ywbRHZuOns-xgRDqStvE_8maXHYumN29/pubhtml?gid=375695677&single=true mobile version (English only): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vTodRjiCvel0XwgV2A8sg_RpgNUIA8HLfZur54-MAVP5ttnZTLqFH4zgSzCKou4ACN7Wh6lwzjK35EK/pubhtml?gid=375695677&single=true

A conversation with Wayne Swan, former Treasurer of Australia (2007-2013), Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (2010-2013), and currently National President of the Australian Labor Party.  In this interview Wayne Swan draws together his reflections on the social contract over the years, from his 2012 article "The 0.01 Per Cent: The Rising Influence of Vested Interests in Australia" (https://www.themonthly.com.au/rising-influence-vested-interests-australia-001-wayne-swan-4670#mtr) and his book "The Good Fight" (https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/current-affairs-politics/The-Good-Fight-Wayne-Swan-9781743319352) to his latest concerns about Australia's post-COVID recovery.    Topics of conversation include: What is Australia's social contract? The social contract, vested interests and big money. The Americanization of Australian politics. News Limited and media vested interests in Australia. Trust, civility and the social contract. A social contract that transcends party politics? Capitalism and the social contract. COVID and the social contract What's at stake for the social contract at the next election?   The conversation took place on 4 November, 2021, as part of the Social Contract Research Network's "Rewriting the Social Contract" project.  To find out more about the Social Contract Research Network, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network A video version of the conversation is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om_51Pbli7Q&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork SCRN YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw 

What is Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's idea of the "social contract"? This episode compares his use of the term in publically available speeches (https://www.pm.gov.au/media) to an answer he gave to a question about the social contract asked by SCRN chief investigator A/Prof Christopher Watkin in February 2021. The episode offers an analysis of the dominant metaphors and assumptions in the PM's concept of the social contract. A video version of the episode is available on the social contract research network YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8t-O46DMn0&ab_channel=SocialContractResearchNetwork). The Social Contract Research Podcast is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network SCRN YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw This video essay is part of an Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism".

In this seminar Professor David Lyon (Principal Investigator of the Big Data Surveillance Project, Former Director of the Surveillance Studies Centre and Queen's Research Chair in Surveillance Studies, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Law, Queen’s University, Canada) explores the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for surveillance.  The talk and following Q&A cover themes including vaccine passports, surveillance and the common good, the future of surveillance and global inequalities in the impact of surveillance. A video version of the seminar is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U87VVMwHrkM The seminar took place over Zoom on 12 October 2021, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism". This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network    To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to this YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1 

This symposium explores the ways in which world crime fiction exemplifies and interrogates the social contract idea. The symposium featured the following papers: Andrew Pepper (Queen's University Belfast), "Crime Fiction and the Unravelling of the Social Contract: Generic Breakdown at the End of Days" Barbara Bezzotti, (Monash University), "How the social contract has failed women" Carlos Uxo (Monash University), "Maintaining the Revolutionary social contract: the role of Cuban television police shows" Do stay around for the discussion time after the papers for the lively discussion time which lasts for an hour and includes questions from participants on three continents. The seminar took place on Zoom on 28 September 2021, and was hosted by Sewart King (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism".   This seminar is an initiative of the Monash Crime Fiction Project and the Social Contract Research Network. For more information about the Monash Crime Fiction Project, please see here: https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/monash-crime-fiction-project  To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network To be notified when future seminars, conversations and interviews are uploaded, you can subscribe to the SCRN YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw?sub_confirmation=1 

In this seminar Associate Professor Justin Clemens (Melbourne University, School of Culture and Communication) explores Alain Badiou's reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's social contract. Do stay around for the discussion time after the paper, when among other topics we discuss Rousseau’s universalism as a shelter, the nature of the general will, the relationship between the social contract and an event, and Rousseau, atheism and God.  The seminar took place over Zoom on 20 September 2021, and was hosted by Christopher Watkin (Monash University), as part of the Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism".   This seminar is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the work of the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network A video version of the seminar is available over at the SCRN YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw

In this third episode in the State of Nature series we look in detail at Rousseau's account of the "pure state of nature" from the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (1755). We pay special attention to Jean-Luc Nancy's reading of the transition from the state of nature to the social contract. A copy of the diagram used in the video can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/image/0004/2686018/Rousseaus-state-of-nature-table.png A video version of the episode is available on the social contract research network YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgNR0pMw_VQ). Written version: https://wp.me/p8nzID-p3A The Social Contract Research Podcast is an initiative of the Social Contract Research Network. To find out more about the SCRN, and to subscribe to email updates, please visit https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/social-contract-research-network SCRN YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7geWYdmGE3kIcJrw8Ebsw This video essay is part of an Australian Research Council funded Future Fellowship project "Rewriting the Social Contract: Technology, Ecology, Extremism".