The Neoliberal City

David Harvey, distinguished professor of geography, department of anthropology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

(Feb 1, 2007 at Dickinson College, sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues)

Critical social theorist David Harvey, distinguished professor of geography at the department of anthropology at the Graduate Center of City University of New York, hosts a discussion at the event, called "The Neoliberal City." He traces the history of neoliberalism -- the view that individual freedom can best be protected through an institutional structure of free markets and free trade -- focusing on the New York City fiscal crisis of the 1970s.

Harvey, a leading academic geographer, is author of numerous books, including "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," which provides examples of divergent practices of neoliberalism since the mid 1970s, and "The Condition of Postmodernity," which the London Independent newspaper described as one of the 50 most important works of non-fiction published since 1945. Other books include "The New Imperialism," "Paris, Capital of Modernity," "Social Justice and the City," and "Spaces of Hope."

Harvey, one of the most influential scholars of post-war culture in advanced capitalist societies, has written on globalization, social justice, urban sustainability, the importance of space and place, environmental transformation, and the new imperialism.

Harvey, who earned his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, formerly was professor of Geology at Johns Hopkins University, a Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics, and Halford Mackinder professor of Geology at Oxford.

He has received the Outstanding Contributor Award of the Association of American Geographers; the Anders Retzius Gold Medal of the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography; and the 2002 Centenary Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He holds honorary doctorates from the universities of Buenos Aires, Roskilde in Denmark, Uppsala in Sweden, and Ohio State University.