Pathways to a new economy and politics

Funded by a grant from Hewlett Foundation’s “Economy and Society” initiative, this three-day conference will gather a high-profile and interdisciplinary group of scholars and thinkers – social scientists, legal scholars, historians, journalists, public intellectuals, and policymakers – from all around the world.

We identify three particular points of emphasis for this event:

First, we will engage with the core political-economic challenge of our age, namely the creation of state capacity to discipline capital and shape markets for publicly desirable outcomes: development, equality, innovation, and sustainability. With this fundamental issue in mind, we will drill into distinct policy areas where post-neoliberal ideas have been percolating: finance, industry, globalization, labor and welfare, and the green transition.

Second, we will elevate these conversations above the national boxes in which they often occur as well as extend beyond the North Atlantic to include East Asia and the Global South.

And third, these discussions will confront the political challenge directly: what programs, strategies, or coalitions are necessary to build a resilient democratic foundation for a progressive post-neoliberal world? The remarkable electoral and geopolitical volatility of the past year has shown that a progressive political economy will not simply emerge but has to be won.