Daniel Denver: Time is ripe to restate the principles of industrial democracy and citizenship for the post-industrial era. In this interview, William Hoeglund narrates the violent conflicts over economics, class, and finance that shaped the US Constitution. Dig listeners know that the dominant conceptions of freedom were fundamentally premised on the enslavement of Africans. The author explains how debt speculation, foreclosures, protests, and crackdowns made us a nation.
Astra Taylor interviews William Hogeland on his book Founding Finance: How Debt, Speculation, Foreclosures, Protests, and Crackdowns Made Us a Nation. Hogeland recovers a fascinating crop of mostly-forgotten rebels, the movements they led, and their radical demands that put the landlords and lenders of their day on edge. He also recounts the complex and sometimes deadly machinations that went into suppressing them in order to create a nation that was safe for the owning and investing classes.
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