Centre of Media Studies, SOAS and CITY Journal present

Take the Money and run!

Trickledown Economics: From Hedge Funders to the London Riots

https://www.haimbresheeth.com/category/blog/

“Riots are the voice of the unheard” – Reverend Martin Luther King

Saturday January 24th, 2015, 4:00 pm to 8:30 pm

at the Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Russell Square

No need to book – all welcome

An evening exploring London’s response to the crisis, with films, talks and debate

The financial crisis following the banking collapse in 2008, has been a purely man-made phenomenon, an unsurprising result of the suicidal economics of short-term, casino economics of the international financial sector, and its capital, the City of London. The link between production and ‘wealth creation’ has been shattered by the financialisation of international capital, hence creating a market detached from economic realities. This has led to the deepest financial crisis in our lifetime, with hundreds of millions all over the world suffering, and having to pay the cost of the reckless financial market. In its wake, ten of thousands have ransacked London shops, taking a bottle and running.

Have we learnt anything from these events? Have we changed society to take account of the two related disasters? Are we now immune from a further crash? What is the price being paid for the last crash, and who is paying it? Are further riots likely, or will society take political action instead to efficiently transform the financial sector? Is this a crisis of financial capital, or of capitalism?

Instead of dealing with the banks and financial institutions of Capitalism which have brought about this latest crisis, the UK Coalition government has launched a massive attack on the victims – the unemployed, the low-wage earners, migrant workers, people on benefits, the old and the infirm. They are to ones who are paying the cost of the banks profligacy.

To answer the question, two filmmakers and a number of researchers have come together to think about London and the crisis, at a point in time when positive change seems further than ever.

16:00            London is Burning (2012, 45 Minutes), a documentary film by Prof. Haim Bresheeth (SOAS)

17:00            Secret City (2012, 72 minutes) a documentary film by Prof. Michael Chanan (Roehampton University)

18:30          Panel presentations and discussion:

Chair: Prof. Annabelle Sreberny (SOAS)

Panel Presentations

Prof. Jeremy Gilbert (UEL)

Property and Power in the post-political City

Adam Elliott-Cooper (Oxford University)

Title TBC

Michael Edwards (UCL)

London: a class struggle waged from above, and resistance

Q&A Session with Panel and directors