Social Democratic Parties and Business

Program of the symposium in Sydney, 28 September

Symposium - Social Democratic Parties and Business: An Historical Analysis Women's College, The University of Sydney, Monday 28 September 2009

Symposium Organisers: Geoff Gallop and Greg Patmore

In recent years Labor/Labour or Social Democratic Governments and business have been close allies in restructuring capitalist economies and increasing the influence of the market on economic life. This thematic section proposes to bring together researchers who are undertaking long-term studies of the relationship between social democratic governments and business from Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.

The programme for the symposium is as follows:

9.00-9.15

Registration

9.15-9.30

Welcome and Introduction

9.30-11.00

Session 1 - Labor in Australia

Tom Bramble (University of Queensland) and Rick Kuhn (ANU), Managing Australian capitalism: Labor economic policy since the 1970s

Damien Cahill (The University of Sydney), Business mobilization, the new right and Australian Labor Governments in the 1980s

Joe Collins (Charles Sturt University) and Drew Cottle (The University of Western Sydney), A New Consensus Hegemony? The Hawke - Keating Labor Governments in Office, 1983-1996

11.00-11.30

Morning Tea

11.30-1.30

Session 2 - International Perspectives

Eva Schandevyl (Free University of Brussels), Labour migration and the Belgian socialist movement since the 1960s

Geoff Robinson (Deakin University), American business and Americanliberalism: rethinking corporate liberalism

Peter Skilling (Auckland University of Technology), New Zealand's fifth Labour Government (1999-2008): A New Partnership with Business and Society

Ashley Lavelle (Griffith University), Social Democratic Parties and Changing Relations with Business and Unions: Australia and Britain Compared

1.30-2.30

Lunch

2.30-4.00

Session 3 - State Enterprises, Privatisation and Deregulation

Murray Goot (Macquarie University), Labor, Government Business Enterprises and Competition Policy

Bob Walker (The University of Sydney) and Betty Con Walker (Centennial Consultancy), Privatisation as public policy

Harry Knowles, Greg Patmore and John Shields (The University of Sydney), Courting the Foreign "Money Power": Labor and Citibank

4.00-4.30

Afternoon Tea

4.30-5.30

Session 4 - Case Studies on the Impact of Neo-Liberalism

Martha Knox Haly (The University of Sydney), Neoliberalism, Child Protection and Disabilities Services: A Deadly Mix

Gay Simpkin (Auckland University of Technology), A Case Study of a union traversing the divide between the Keynesian Welfare National State and Neo-liberalism

5.30-5.45

Conclusion

Further information, including registration details, can be found at [url]http://blhg.econ.usyd.edu.au[url]

The symposium is organised by the Business and Labour History Group, Faculty of Economics and Business, The University of Sydney and we acknowledge the financial support of the Faculty of Economics and Business, The University of Sydney.

Greg Patmore Pro Dean Professor of Business and Labour History E + B Economics and Business (H69) | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 p 61 2 9036 9200 | f 61 2 9351 4567 e [mailto]g.patmore@econ.usyd.edu.au[/mailto] | w [url]http://www.econ.usyd.edu.au[/url]