Finance lies at the heart of contemporary capitalism, and financial crises are one of the most disruptive and harmful developments in society today. Current operations of financial markets also raise profound questions about social inequality, ecological integrity, and declining democracy. With such vital issues at stake, one might expect to see large, sustained and influential civil society mobilisation on finance, in the way that major citizen activism has developed on environmental problems, human rights, poverty and trade. Yet, and even after the magnitude of the latest world crisis, civil society engagement of financial markets and their regulation have mostly been small, short and without impact.
How can this troubling outcome be explained, and what can be done about it? The 4th Käte Hamburger lecture looks for answers partly in the features of the actors involved: namely, the capacities and practices of civil society groups themselves, as well as relevant governance agencies and financial firms. In addition, the lecture argues that deeper structural circumstances are important in constraining civil society impacts to reform and transform contemporary financial markets. These underlying structural forces include embedded social hierarchies (among countries, classes, etc.), the pivotal role of finance capital in accumulation processes today, and the entrenchment of prevailing neoliberal policy discourses. Civil society action to counter these circumstances in financial markets could make major contributions to a reinvigoration of democracy both within countries and on a global scale.
Programme:
18.15h
Welcoming and Introductory Remarks
Prof. Tobias Debiel
Director of KHK/GCR21 and the Institute for Development and Peace, INEF
18.30h
The Lecture: World Financial Crisis and Civil Society: Implications for Global Democracy
Prof. Dr. Jan Aart Scholte
Professor for Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, Senior Fellow KHK/GCR21
Discussant:
Peter Wahl, Expert on the regulation of the international Financial System, Chair of the Executive Committee of World Economy, Ecology and Development (WEED)
Moderator:
Dr. Cornelia Ulbert, Executive Director, Institute for Development and Peace (INEF)
19.45
Get together
About the Centre for Global Cooperation Research:
The Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research (KHK/GCR21) was inaugurated in October 2012 in Duisburg. The Centre provides a framework for internationally renowned scholars from different disciplines to pursue research on the challenges and opportunities of global cooperation in a culturally diverse world society. These questions are the focus of four research units that develop along specific issues of high global relevance. The Centre also seeks to transmit results and promote discussions among the broader public. Besides numerous publications the Centre sponsors the quarterly public »Käte Hamburger Lecture« as well as the »Käte Hamburger Dialogues«.
Supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Participating Institutes: German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) – Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) – Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI), a Research Institute of the University Duisburg-Essen
Information on participating / attending:
Please register at: events@gcr21.uni-due.de
Date:
06/05/2013 18:15 - 06/05/2013 20:00
Event venue:
Duisburg, Grand City Hotel Duisburger Hof
47051 Duisburg
Nordrhein-Westfalen
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, Students
Email address:
Relevance:
transregional, national
Subject areas:
Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Seminar / workshop / discussion
Entry:
05/28/2013
Sender/author:
Tanja Vogel
Department:
Stabsstelle Kommunikation
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event43810
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