Prof Sue Konzelman (Birkbeck University of London) Marc Fovargue-Davies (Cambridge Centre for Business Research) - Capitalism, Austerity, and Fascism
When:
—
Venue:
Online
We are pleased to announce the 1st Seminar Series on Governance, Institutions, and Sustainability” jointly hosted by the Centre for Political Economy and Institutional Studies and by the Birkbeck Responsible Business Centre, within the Birkbeck Business School.
In our rapidly evolving world, the intricate web connecting governance, institutions, and sustainability has become increasingly prominent. We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to enhance this very important debate and to join us in exploring the profound intertwining of these critical elements at our upcoming seminar series.
Abstract
There is a strong resonance between events of the inter-war years and today. These include a questioning of laissez-faire capitalism and austerity, and the rise of so-called “populist” parties on both the left and right. Clara Mattei’s (2022) The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism thus makes an interesting contribution, by locating the key argument of her book in the febrile period of European history between the wars. According to Mattei, the First World War disrupted the pre-war capitalist system to such an extent that it created a crisis of capitalism, itself. As a result, following the end of hostilities, there was a conscious effort to restore the pre-war “capital order” by means of a technocratic “austerity strategy”; and this was strongly linked to the rise of fascism. We argue that the inter-relationship between capitalism, austerity and fascism during the 1920s and 1930s was rather more complex, and that to make sense of this, it is necessary to broaden the focus beyond Italy and Great Britain and the international financial conferences at Brussels (1920) and Genoa (1922). Otherwise, we risk misunderstanding and mis-diagnosing our own times, as those inter-war politicians, financiers and economists discovered to their cost. We therefore also include Germany and the United States and base our analysis on the events of the entire inter-war period
Speakers:
Prof Sue Konzelmann (Birkbeck Business School)
Marc Fovargue-Davies (Cambridge Centre for Business Research)
Hosting Institutes
Centre for Political Economy and Institutional Studies (CPEIS), Birkbeck University of London, and Birkbeck Responsible Business Centre
Convener/Organiser: Dr Luca Andriani
Contact name:
Luca Andriani