Public Lectures in Winter Semester 2024/25

Four public lectures by renowned scholars from Germany and abroad are on the program of events at the MPIfG this winter semester. Peter Wagner (University of Barcelona) will launch the series on November 27 with “The Social Logic of Fossil Fuels.” In his lecture, he analyzes the social logic underlying the use of fossil fuels and argues that the climate crisis is not the result of inevitable trends but of specific social and political decision-making processes. On December 4, Jan-Otmar Hesse (University of Bayreuth) traces Germany’s historical development from an import surplus country to a leading export nation. In “From Export Orientation to Export Obsession: Germany’s Political Economy in the Twentieth Century,” he presents his core thesis that the country developed into a world export champion as a result of systematic institutional interdependencies that make structural reforms today difficult. In her lecture on “The Postneoliberal State” on December 11, Daniela Gabor (UWE Bristol) explores how the state finances its transformative goals in the post-neoliberal era. Gabor examines public and private financing strategies, their political and geopolitical implications, and their role in global initiatives such as green industrialization. Kathleen R. McNamara (Georgetown University, Washington) joins us on January 29 for “The Securitization of Market Competition? EU Economic Statecraft in the Age of Geopolitics.” She argues in her lecture that the neoliberal economic model in the European Union is turning into geopolitically motivated market activism, in which security concerns redefine EU competition policy and influence industrial policy approaches. More details of the speakers, topics, and dates can be found on the MPIfG website. Please register for the lectures by email to info@mpifg.de.