Max Weber and the Neoliberalist Threat to Democracy

Max Weber and the Neoliberalist Threat to Democracy

– Moderated by Álvaro Morcillo Laiz

28 Jan – 6pm (CET) 

In the present situation, increasingly unfettered markets, including markets of ideas, seem to be fueling the drive towards authoritarianism and away from democracy, in any accepted sense of the term. Many believe that the rise of neo-liberalism and its allies, such as the so-called libertarians, is contributing to social and economic changes that in turn are driving voters to vote for far-right parties. We all have the final episodes of this series in mind: Facebook stops fact-checking, giving a free forum to abusers of the human rights of women, transgender people and other minorities. Elon Musk chats on his barely regulated social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), with the leader of Alternative for Germany, a party that calls for the forced deportation of immigrants, which is tantamount to using a hugely successful capitalist company to demolish Europe’s largest democracy. In Max Weber’s words “It is utterly ridiculous to suppose that it is an “inevitable” feature of our economic development under present-day advanced capitalism …, that it should have an elective affinity with “democracy” or indeed with “freedom””. (“On the Situation of Constitutional Democracy in Russia”, 1906).

Join us for a conversation with Isabel Oakes and Sam Whimster on Thursday, 28 January, 6 – 8 pm CET. Get the Zoom session details by emailing us at info@weberscholars.net!

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