Workshop: ‘The Grounds of Planning: Rationality, Pseudorationality, and Critique’
The description is taken from the organizer’s website:
With keynotes by John O’Neill (University of Manchester) and Aaron Benanav (Cornell University)
and contributions by Rabea Berfelde, Jacob Blumenfeld, Lillian Cicerchia, Solveig Degen, Jan Groos, Max Grünberg, Jakob Heyer, Christian Schmidt, Sandra Sieron and Gabriel Wollner
Topic
What does it mean to plan an economy rationally—and what counts as „rational“? This workshop revisits key moments in the theoretical development of economic planning, from the classic disputes between Hayek, Mises, and Neurath to contemporary debates over ecological rationality and algorithmic coordination. Across four panels and a keynote, we’ll examine how different standards of rationality have been used to justify—or discredit—forms of planning. The aim is not only to reanimate past debates, but to ask how planning might be rethought today given the distinct logic of ecological constraints, technological infrastructures, and political demands for democratic coordination.
This two-day workshop brings together scholars working at the intersection of philosophy, political economy, and critical theory to reflect on the contested rationality of economic planning. How has the concept of planning been shaped by debates over knowledge, value, nature, and technology? What models of rationality—formal, substantive, instrumental—have guided or distorted our visions of a planned economy? And what might planning mean in the face of ecological limits, algorithmic governance, and authoritarian capitalism? The event is organized around four key discussions, framed by classic and contemporary texts, and features two keynotes by John O’Neill and Aaron Benanav.
Discussions will be held in English.
Programme
Thursday, December 4: Past Debates on Planning
13:00–14:45 | Rationality or Pseudorationality
Jacob Blumenfeld / Christian Schmidt / Lillian Cicerchia
Text basis for discussion:
1911 Otto Neurath, “Lost Wanderers of Descartes”
1925 Otto Neurath, “Socialist Utility Calculation and Capitalist Profit Calculation”
14:45-15:15 | Break
15:15–17:00 | Knowledge and the Limits of Planning
Rabea Berfelde / Gabriel Wollner / Jakob Heyer
Text basis for discussion:
1945 Friedrich Hayek, “The Use of Knowledge in Society”
17:00-17:30 | Break
17:30 –19:00 | Keynote John O’Neill
Friday, December 5: Present Debates on Planning
10-11:15 | Keynote Aaron Benanav
11:15-11:30 | Break
11:30 –13:00 | Planning Nature
Solveig Degen / Jan Groos
13:00 –14:15 | Lunch
14:15–15:45 | Algorithmic Planning
Max Grünberg / Sandra Sieron
15:45 – 16:00 | Closing
Christian Schmidt, Jacob Blumenfeld, Rabea Berfelde
The workshop is free to the public and does not require any registration.