DIAS
The History of Capitalism: Interdisciplinary course of lectures invites the rest of SDU for discussions and idea development
Historian Jeppe Nevers and Economist Paul Richard Sharp have joined forces to organise a course of lectures entitled The History of Capitalism. By inviting researchers of international calibre to visit the interdisciplinary environment at the Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS), the two researchers want to provide a breeding ground for an interdisciplinary dialogue on the concept of capitalism.
In a Danish context, capitalism is often a highly criticised concept with negative associations with cynical materialism, inequality and ruthless competition. However, as this course of lectures will show, capitalism is not just about money but is part of a wide range of sciences at a national and global level.
Up until the spring of 2022, five guest lecturers at the top of their field will examine current issues relating to capitalism. The lectures will not relate to a specific country or period but will take place within the framework of a global perspective.
The programme will kick off on 15 September with economic historian Thomas Piketty from the Paris School of Economics, probably best known for his bestselling book on economics ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’ from 2016.
Is Jeff Bezo’s space travel a picture of inequality?
Thomas Piketty is one of the world’s most high profile social and humanities researchers, and in his career he has studied the process of real inequality in developed countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2013, he made the theoretical claim that unless capitalism is extensively regulated, it generates much more inequality than initially assumed. Thus, when an economy grows, it is the richest people whose capital increases the most.
The support for the unregulated economy is often based on the argument of funding. By moving capital around in society, other businesses can grow – allowing consumers around the world to buy cheap products from Amazon, people can get jobs in Amazon’s warehouses, and Jeff Bezos can make an 11-minute space travel.
The premise of the programme is that anyone with an interest in capitalism can contribute something. The question is just what? DIAS – the Danish Institute for Advanced Study – invites everyone at SDU to find out.
See the full programme for the History of Capitalism, that continues in the following months, here.