Professor Peter V. Hall publishes new book on "the proposal economy"

Urban studies director and professor Peter V. Hall has published a new book, titled The Proposal Economy: Neoliberal Citizenship in "Ontario's Most Historic Town" (UBC Press). The book is co-authored by Pamela R. Stern, a sociocultural anthropologist, also at SFU.

Based on extended ethnographic and multi-method research in Cobalt, the book examines the multiple ways that development proposal writing is intertwined with neoliberal citizenship. “The Proposal Economy” makes an empirical and theoretical contribution to the literature on citizenship and neoliberal governance. In addition to the detailed and nuanced ethnography, it provides new perspectives on the ways that citizenship is produced and reproduced under conditions of neoliberalism.

Read the introductory chapter here (pdf).

Hall noted, "We gratefully acknowledge funding from the SFU University Publications Fund and the CFHSS Awards to Scholarly Publications Program that made publication possible." The book is based on research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Published in January 2015, the book was also launched and featured at the Canadian Association of Geographers annual conference in June, which was hosted at SFU Vancouver. Hall is an associate member of SFU's Department of Geography.