Please join us in person or online for this interesting special lecture at Badia Fiesolana
Capitalism seems unstoppable. In her newest book, "The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform it", Katharina Pistor provides a fascinating study of the legal underpinnings of capitalism, reasons why the system must be transformed, and actions we can take.
Even though capitalism has been conventionally described as an economic system, she argues, it is actually a deeply entrenched legal regime. Law provides the material for coding simple objects, promises, and ideas as capital assets. It also provides the means for avoiding the legal constraints that societies have frequently imposed on capitalism. Often lauded for creating levels of wealth unprecedented in human history, capitalism is also largely responsible for the two greatest problems now confronting humanity: the erosion of social and political cohesion, which undermines democratic self-governance, and the threats that emanate from climate change.
By exploring the ways that Western legal systems empower individuals to advance their interests against society, Katharina Pistor reveals how capitalism is an unsustainable system designed to foster inequity. She offers ideas for rethinking how the transformation of the law and the economy can help us create a more just system—before it is too late. Laws and regulations that are meant to contain its excesses can slow its expansion, but are unable to contain it. How is it that a system that relies extensively on the law to code assets as capital is so resistant to legal constraints is the big question this book addresses.
About the speaker:
Katharina Pistor is a legal scholar and professor at Columbia Law School. She specializes in comparative law, corporate governance, and financial systems, with a focus on how legal frameworks shape economic outcomes. She has held academic positions in both Europe and the United States and is widely recognized for her contributions to the study of law and global capitalism.
To join online, please find here the Teams details:
Meeting ID: 341 307 959 482 798
Passcode: D7TF7zZ7