The Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship invites renowned international scientists to present and discuss interdisciplinary research on current economic and social challenges. On November 16, CEU hosts the winter 2021 Polanyi Visiting Professor, Fred Block, in a public online interview, “American Capitalism: Choosing Among Trump, Biden and Bernie Sanders” with Austrian journalist and historian Raimund Loew, moderated by CEU Political Science Professor, Carsten Schneider.
Fred Block is a world-renowned scholar, Research Professor of Sociology at the University of California Davis and President of the Center for Engaged Scholarship. His latest book, Capitalism: The Future of an Illusion (2018) explains how U.S. politics got caught in a loop that alternates between center-left Democrats and increasingly extreme-right Republicans.
As Block’s work is of interest to scholars across various disciplines including political science, sociology and economics, the public program hosted by CEU will address a range of issues including questions put forward by the audience. In addition to the November 16 interview, CEU organizes a workshop discussing Block’s ideas on the ‘Democratization of Habitation’ with academics and practitioners.
“As an active partner on the academic and scientific landscape of Vienna and Austria, CEU’s collaboration in the framework of the Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship further strengthens ties with colleagues from major universities in the city,” comments Schneider, an organizer of the project. As part of Polanyi’s legacy conducting public education among his pursuits, the Visiting Professorship entails strong elements for the public.
For the full schedule of Block's upcoming Polyani Guest Professorship public programs, visit here. The Guest Professorship occurs twice a year, and the next visiting scholar during the spring of 2022 will be Professor Emerita at Bogazici University, Ayse Bugra.
The Polanyi Visiting Professorship aims to advance interdisciplinary research on contemporary challenges; to gain insights for contemporary analysis by continuing and rediscovering Karl Polanyi's intellectual legacy; to actualize the Viennese heritage of lively academic and political debate from "Red Vienna" in the 1920s, which inspired Karl Polanyi´s reflections in "The Great Transformation"; and to intensify cooperation between Viennese universities as well as other educational institutions in understanding and shaping ongoing transformations.
This cooperation project includes CEU, University of Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS) and the Volkshochschule Wien (VHS Wien) and is supported by the Vienna Chamber of Labour and the City of Vienna. The IKPS is an association of engaged citizens, researchers, teachers, activists, journalists and professionals from diverse policy fields based on the rich intellectual, moral and political legacy of Karl Polanyi and the vivid scientific and public debates he has inspired.