Loading Events
  • This event has passed.
21.11.2023
Book Presentation

Capitalism without democracy

Book presentation

Quinn Slobodian presents his new book “Capitalism without Democracy” (lecture in English)

About the book: According to investor Peter Thiel in 2009, freedom and democracy are no longer compatible. Those who love freedom must therefore try to escape politics in all its forms. Libertarians could seek refuge in cyberspace, in outer space and on the open sea. This may sound blown away, but it is part of a decades-old tradition of radical market ideas: Thinkers such as Milton Friedman were enthusiastic about Hong Kong, which was still under British suzerainty; Margaret Thatcher dreamed of a Singapore on the Thames.
In Globalists, Quinn Slobodian dealt with attempts to remove economic issues from democratic decision-making, for example by transferring them to international organizations. Capitalism without Democracy is now about a different solution to the problem Thiel deplores: breaking up the world into tax havens, private cities or micronations. Slobodian takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of neoliberal utopias. It takes us to Dubai and Liechtenstein, to civil war-torn Somalia and to Elon Musk’s spaceport in Texas. And it broadens our view of a possible future that should worry us.

Further information about the book: Here…

Organizer:
An event of the Heisenberg Professorship for Political Science with a focus on Political Theory, History of Ideas and Theories of Economics in cooperation with the research initiative “ConTrust – Trust in Conflict” at the Research Center “Normative Orders”

News from the research center

News
30.06.2025

Article "Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?" by Amadeus Ulrich published in EJPT

The article "Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?" by Amadeus Ulrich has just been published open access in the European Journal of Political Theory (EJPT). Ulrich brings the perspective of radical realism into a productive dialog with Adorno's critical theory.

more information ›
News
30.06.2025

Prof. Dr. Franziska Fay awarded the Sibylle Kalkhof-Rose University Prize 2025

Prof. Dr. Franziska Fay (Junior Professor of Ethnology with a focus on Political Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and former postdoctoral researcher at the Research Center Normative Orders at Goethe University) receives the Sibylle Kalkhof-Rose University Award 2025 in the category Humanities and Social Sciences.

more information ›
Publication
25.06.2025 | Online article

Ideology and Suffering: What Is Realistic about Critical Theory?

Ulrich, Amadeus (2025): Ideology and suffering: What is realistic about critical theory? European Journal of Political Theory, 0(0).  https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851251351782

more information ›
News
24.06.2025

New series “Vertrauensfragen” in the Frankfurter Rundschau initiated by Hendrik Simon

Democracy thrives on debate - if it serves the joint search for solutions. There is often a problem with this cooperation. The new FR series “Vertrauensfragen”, initiated by Hendrik Simon (Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) Frankfurt location at Goethe University's Research Centre Normative Orders ), examines why this is the case and how we can do better.

more information ›
Publication
23.06.2025 | Working Paper

Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina

Moreno, Guadalupe (2025): “Untrustworthy Authorities and Complicit Bankers: Unraveling Monetary Distrust in Argentina”. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Discussion Paper 25/3.

more information ›
News
22.05.2025

Does deliberative democracy have a future in the age of oligarchs, autocrats and patriarchs?

On June 3, Prof. Simone Chambers will give a lecture on the value of democracies and the future of the form of government.

more information ›
Publication
19.05.2025 | Anthology

Klimaethik. Ein Reader

Sparenborg, Lukas; Moellendorf, Darrel (Hrsg.) (2025) : Klimaethik. Ein Reader. Suhrkamp.

more information ›
News
19.05.2025

What can a baroque tapestry tell us about colonial iconography?

Lecture by Cécile Fromone on May 21. The professor at the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, director of the Cooper Gallery at the Hutchins Center and author will talk about the long-forgotten African origins of iconography and its colonial dimension.

more information ›