Fictitious Capital in the 21st Century | Dr Cédric Durand |  SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2019-04-29

"Fictitious Capital in the 21st Century" was a seminar given by Dr Cédric Durand (University of Paris 13 and EHESS, France) at the Department of Development Studies, SOAS University of London on 5 February 2019. Find out more at http://bit.ly/2V57DKM

Ten years after the great financial crisis we are still living under financial hegemony. The social and political wounds of the crash are far from being repaired. However, at institutional and structural levels most of the features of financial power are still in place and, arguably, even reinforced. How can we explain this resilience of financialisation? What are the socioeconomic implications? This talk will examine these issues in light of Marx’s concept of fictitious capital and more recent research it has inspired. After presenting the explanatory power of this concept, the notion of financial hegemony will be explored and linked to the features of the 2008 crisis. The analysis then proposes a critical appraisal of crisis management policies implemented after the crash and its European aftershock. It will focus on the socioeconomic content of the very idea of financial stability, which is the cornerstone of contemporary macroeconomic policies.

Cédric Durand is an economist and associate professor at Paris 13 University. He teaches development theories at the EHESS and is on the scientific board of the MSH Paris Nord. Working within the tradition of Marxist and French Regulationist Political Economy, he studies globalisation, financialisation and contemporary mutations of capitalism. He recently published Fictitious Capital (Verso, 2017) and is on the editorial boards of the Revue d’économie industrielle and the online journal Contretemps.

Organiser: Dr Feyzi Ismail