Having started as a housing slump in the United States, the crisis finally spread from the markets to the everyday life of people around the globe. Einstein Visiting Fellow Nancy Fraser offers an explanation for the devastating consequences of the financial crisis: In reference to the Hungarian economist Karl Polanyi (1886-1964), she makes the penetration of the markets into all areas of our life responsible for the extent of the crisis. What we need, in her opinion, are realms of sociality that follow their own logic – the logic of justice, for instance.
But is the theory of Polanyi still up-to-date after all? And is Nancy Fraser’s solution convincing? What are the obstacles for a balance between economy and justice? After a keynote speech, Nancy Fraser discusses these questions with scientists and prominent experts.
Nancy Fraser
Nancy Fraser is one of the most prominent and influential intellectuals worldwide. She is Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Political and Social Science at the New School for Social Research in New York and holds an international research chair in “Global Justice” at the Collège d’études mondiales in Paris. Over the last twenty years, she has published highly recognized books on topics such as justice, democracy, oppression and feminism. Since January 2011, she has been Einstein Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin.