Headline: Workshop: Deirdre McCloskey, “Inequality and Capitalism”

Against the backdrop of the recent intensification of discussions on the role of social and economic inequalities in our society, the IASS will host a workshop with Deirdre McCloskey, who is currently a fellow of the institute. McCloskey is Professor of Economics, English, History and Communication at the University of Illinois. Her book “The Rhetoric of Economics” (1985), in which she analyses the language used in economics, has the status of a modern classic. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung wrote that Deirdre McCloskey is “the exception to the rule in today’s economics: inspiring, provocative and fabulously erudite.”

McCloskey has been working for some years on a three-volume project on the genesis of capitalism. With the first two volumes – “The Bourgeois Virtues – Ethics for an Age of Commerce” (2006) and “Bourgeois Dignity – Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World” (2010) – she has made a name for herself as a vehement advocate of ‘humanomics’, an approach that combines economic theory with elements of the humanities. She has just finished work on the last volume, “Bourgeois Equity”.

In her introduction to the workshop, McCloskey will talk about her project and her approach, and above all about the role of inequality for the success of capitalism throughout its history. Her presentation will be followed by a talk by Jürgen Kocka, Professor Emeritus for the History of the Industrial World at Berlin’s Freie Universität. After that, workshop participants will have a chance to discuss McCloskey’s provocative ideas.

By invitation only

Time: 8 October, 3 to 6 p.m.

Venue: IASS Potsdam, Kleist-Villa Berliner Straße 130, 14467 Potsdam