This conference seeks to center the contemporary valences of the concept of the lumpenproletariat, which Friedrich Engels identified as “social scum,” particularly outcasts, such as professional thieves, pimps, and gamblers. More generally, this term refers to those who do not generate profits for employers. In this judgment, the hegemonic working-class paradigm of the left and conservative notion of the “undeserving poor” converge. 

 

This conference is organized to honor and extend the work of our teacher, Glyn Salton-Cox, who was an Associate Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara and who suddenly passed away while working on a book on the topic. As students enormously indebted to Glyn’s intellectual guidance, we are hosting this conference to expand his ideas and evaluate the global lumpen today across global literary, media, historical and sociological contexts. We seek to examine how contemporary representations across literature, media, and the social sciences signal its future valences. Where in the 21st century, can ‘lumpens’ be located (if at all): as technological advancement, environmental degradation, and global instabilities continue to redefine the meaning of “productivity,” “collectivity,” “precarity” and political consciousness? 

 

This symposium will not only honor the legacy of Glyn, but also provide a space for emerging and established scholars to reflect on the untapped potential of the concept of the lumpenproletariat and its varying forms given the unstable and uneven faces of global capitalism today.This conference seeks to center the contemporary valences of the concept of the lumpenproletariat, which Friedrich Engels identified as “social scum,” particularly outcasts, such as professional thieves, pimps, and gamblers. More generally, this term refers to those who do not generate profits for employers. In this judgment, the hegemonic working-class paradigm of the left and conservative notion of the “undeserving poor” converge. 

 

We are organizing this conference to honor and extend the work of our teacher, Glyn Salton-Cox, who was an Associate Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara and who suddenly passed away while working on a book on the topic. As students enormously indebted to Glyn’s intellectual guidance, we are hosting this conference to expand his ideas and evaluate the global lumpen today across global literary, media, historical and sociological contexts. We seek to examine how contemporary representations across literature, media, and the social sciences signal its future valences. Where in the 21st century, can ‘lumpens’ be located (if at all): as technological advancement, environmental degradation, and global instabilities continue to redefine the meaning of “productivity,” “collectivity,” “precarity” and political consciousness? 

 

This symposium will not only honor the legacy of Glyn, but also provide a space for emerging and established scholars to reflect on the untapped potential of the concept of the lumpenproletariat and its varying forms given the unstable and uneven faces of global capitalism today.

 

Please join on May 24-25th in the McCune Conference Room (HSSB 6020 at UCSB) or on Zoom (scan QR in program schedule). 

 

This event is co-sponsored by the GCLR.