London Political Economy Network: COVID-19 and the crisis of financialised capitalism

The theme for the debut workshop, which is taking place on 13 November from 10.00-16.00, is ‘COVID-19 and the crisis of financialised capitalism’.

The workshop, hosted by King’s College London, will bring together researchers from eight London-based political economy research centres to present research-in-progress. The aim of the inaugural meeting is to launch the network as a regular forum for London-based researchers to present and comment on their research.

The day will be split into four sessions and will feature papers presented by network members. They are:

• 15-11.05: Stefano Sgambati (City) Who owes? Class struggle, inequality and the political economy of leverage as power in the 21st century
• 05 – 11.55: Bruno Bonizzi (Hertfordshire), Jennifer Churchill (Kingston University), Annina Kaltenbrunner (Leeds University): The endgame of UK pension fund capitalism: liquidity and risks
• 13:00 – 13:50: Giorgos Galanis (Goldsmiths), Christian Koutny (Kingston University), Isabella Weber (UMass Amherst): Accumulation, (Systemic) Chaos and Hegemonic Cycles
• 13:50 – 14:40: Yannis Dafermos (SOAS), Daniela Gabor (UWE Bristol), Jo Michell (UWE Bristol): The Wall Street Consensus in pandemic times: what does it mean for climate-aligned development

Dr Karsten Kohler, from the Department of European and International Studies at King’s College London, said: “For around two decades, political economy researchers have investigated financialisaton in its various dimensions. Early contributions focused on financialisaton as a new accumulation regime, with dramatic changes to corporate governance and the investment behaviour of firms.

“The 2008 global financial crisis then shifted attention to the financialisaton of households, especially the role of mortgage debt and the shadow banking system. The post-crisis period was marked by private deleveraging and unconventional monetary policies in many countries. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis has renewed concerns over financial instability – this time with unsustainable corporate debt at centre stage.”

If you would like to attend, e-mail Dr Kohler at: karsten.kohler@kcl.ac.uk