New Perspectives on the History of Capitalism

Overview

The concept of capitalism is presently making a comeback in the historiographical debate. Through this lens, historians are now analysing historical phenomena that they had before investigated without explicit reference to capitalism, but rather as parts of the histories of migration, commodities, technology or enterprises more generally. The history of capitalism has long been considered synonymous with the history of modernity, of the West, or of globalization. In contrast, the fresh conceptual take now reflects not only an increasing awareness about the multiple forms that capitalism has taken in the longer historical perspective and in different world regions, but also includes more detailed research on its mechanisms, effects and alternatives. It furthermore appears as a reaction to the increasing perception of crisis in a changing global economic order.

The seminar gives an overview of different research fields that now use the concept of capitalism as a framework, but also aims to historicize and critically reflect this “return”. The readings provide insights into histories of commodities and consumption, finance and regulation, as well as labour and migration. The approaches we discuss lay special emphasis on actors and practices, on the historical and regional varieties of capitalism, as well as the spatialities of capitalist processes and organization.

Against this background, the seminar offers opportunities for in-depth debates about the conceptual and methodological challenges involved when analysing capitalism in global and trans-regional perspective. Furthermore, it explores, how to position specific historical realizations of capitalism such as (neo-)liberalism in a broader history of capitalism and how to relate the history of capitalism to the (larger) history of globalization.

The seminar is organized in seven sessions and will be based on intensive reading of recent contributions to the theme. Two reaction papers will form the written assignment for the course. The readings will be both in English and German, while discussions in the course will be mainly in English.

Biographical Notes

Dr. Steffi Marung (SFB 1199, Leipzig University, Germany)
Steffi Marung earned a PhD in global studies from Leipzig University with a study on shifting border regimes of the expanding European Union since 1990. Prior to earning her PhD, she had studied political science and German literature in Halle, Berlin, and Prague. From there, she further developed her interest in processes of (re-)spatialization into an ongoing book project on the transnational history of Soviet African studies during the Cold War. In the framework of the international collaborative project “Socialism Goes Global”, she has extended this research towards more general questions of the geographies of East-South encounters during the Cold War. Teaching global history courses at the Global and European Studies Institute at Leipzig University and being involved in further book projects (one on the transnational history of East Central Europe since the nineteenth century, another one on the global history of area studies, and a third one on transregional studies), she contributes to the SFB’s programme with research on the historiographical background of and multiple disciplinary theoretical foundations for the investigation of spatial formats and spatial orders. To this end, she endeavours to facilitate and promote joint cross-project discussions and the formation of a common theoretical language and framework.

Dr. Jürgen Dinkel (Department of History, Leipzig University, Germany)
Jürgen Dinkel studied contemporary history and Slavic philology in Freiburg and Kazan, earning his PhD in 2013 from the University of Gießen for a work on the movement of non-aligned states. His research focuses on the history of inheriting and bequesting since the 19^th century, the history of social inequality, global, transnational, and international history as well as the history of colonialism and decolonialism. His recent research projects deal with the transfer of heritage and ownership in Baltimore, Frankfurt/Main, and Odessa since the 19^th century and the north-south conflict in the international relations.

Dr. Antje Dietze (SFB 1199, Leipzig University, Germany)
Antje Dietze studied cultural studies in Leipzig and Paris, earning her PhD in 2012 from Leipzig University for a work on the role of cultural organizations and artistic practice during the post-socialist transition in Germany. As part of her current research she spent 2014/15 as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) P.R.I.M.E. research fellow at the Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at the University of Montreal (Canada). Her research interests include entertainment and the arts, cultural industries, and cultural change within the study of culture and transnational history, focusing particularly on Europe and North America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.