In what ways are democratic governments and capitalist economies interdependent?
By foregrounding the interdependence of capitalism and democracy since the eighteenth century, this project will identify alternatives to the political economies that have fueled so many contemporary crises.
This interdisciplinary (as well as national and transnational) project seeks to recover a new understanding of the relationship between democracy and capitalism in history from the late 18th century age of revolution to the culmination of late 20th century neoliberalism. The research team asserts that existing accounts of capitalism and democracy feature a problematic over-reliance on liberalism and economism in the literatures on economic history, the history of capitalism, law and economics, law and society, democratic theory, and democratic studies more generally. By foregrounding the priority of democracy and the interdependence and intersectionality of histories of capitalism and democracy, the project aims to construct an alternative to reigning political-economic orthodoxies that have fueled so many contemporary crises. The research team will engage diverse scholars across a range of disciplines for a multi-year collaboration and conversations re-assessing the fundamental relationship of modern democracy and capitalist development and its future possibilities.
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Chicago
Chiara Cordelli works on a variety of topics in social and political philosophy, including questions of distributive justice, political legitimacy, normative defenses of the state, and the ethics of philanthropy. She is the author of The Privatized State (Princeton University Press,...
James Westfall Thompson Professor of US History, Fundamentals, Social Thought, and the College; Associate Faculty Member, Law School; Faculty Affiliate, Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture
University of Chicago
Jonathan Levy is a historian of economic life and of the United States, with interests in the relationships among business history, political economy, legal history, and the history of ideas and culture. His most recent book, Ages of American Capitalism (Random House, 2021), traces the...
Associate Professor of History, the Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, and the College
University of Chicago
James Sparrow is a historian of modern US politics broadly construed, with special interests in the mutual constitution of social categories, democratic publics, and state formation. His first book, Warfare State (Oxford University Press, 2011), is a history of the social politics of...
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
At this lecture, David Kirsch (University of Maryland) considered how capitalism produces celebrity.
Panelists at this event will explore the relationship between philanthropy and the democratic state from socio-historical and ethical perspectives.
After a series of downturns, including the collapse of the FTX exchange, this lecture asks: What remains of crypto after all the hype?
Participants at this conference will consider the interdependence and antagonisms of democratic governments and capitalist economies.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
At this lecture, David Kirsch (University of Maryland) considered how capitalism produces celebrity.
After a series of downturns, including the collapse of the FTX exchange, this lecture asks: What remains of crypto after all the hype?
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Panelists at this event will explore the relationship between philanthropy and the democratic state from socio-historical and ethical perspectives.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Participants at this conference will consider the interdependence and antagonisms of democratic governments and capitalist economies.
