New Books in Critical Theory

Giampaolo Conte, "A History of Capitalist Transformation: A Critique of Liberal-Capitalist Reforms" (Routledge, 2024)

Feb 25, 2025

In this discussion, Giampaolo Conte, an Assistant Professor in Economic History at the University of Roma Tre, critiques liberal-capitalist reforms post-financial crises. He examines how these reforms often favor capitalist elites at the expense of the working and middle classes. Conte explores the historical roots of these reforms, the interplay between capitalism and liberalism, and their role in worsening inequality and fueling nationalism. His insights reveal how financial crises have been exploited to enforce policies that deepen economic divides.

24:39

Episode guests

Giampaolo Conte

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Liberal capitalist reforms are designed to align semi-peripheral economies with elite interests, resulting in adverse effects for working-class individuals and the middle class.

The influence of capitalist elites creates a transnational alliance that perpetuates inequality while framing reforms as essential for economic stability and compliance among the broader population.

Deep dives

Understanding Liberal Capitalist Reforms

Liberal capitalist reforms are characterized as nonviolent transformations aimed at integrating economies into a neoliberal framework. They typically involve making labor markets more flexible, which often means reducing labor rights, adjusting tax systems, and privatizing services to fit the demands of capital accumulation. These reforms have historically been driven by a dynamic where capitalist elites, particularly in hegemonic states, impose rules and institutions that support their interests. As a result, the working class and segments of the middle class face adverse effects, especially during economic downturns, as evidenced by the impact of the 2008 financial crisis.

Intro

2min

The Dynamics of Liberal Capitalist Reforms

12min

Exploring World System Theory and Hegemony in Capitalist Transformations

3min

Liberal Capitalism's Dual Power

4min

The Structural Bias of Liberal Capitalist Reforms

3min

A History of Capitalist Transformation: A Critique of Liberal-Capitalist Reforms highlights how, since the recent financial crises, the expression ‘liberal reform’ has entered common parlance as an evocative image of austerity and economic malaise, especially for the working classes and a segment of the middle class. But what exactly does ‘liberal reform’ refer to? The research analyzes the historical origins of liberal-capitalist reformism using a critical approach, starting with the origins of the Industrial Revolution.

The book demonstrates that the chief purpose of such reforms was to integrate semi-peripheral states into the capitalist world-economy by imposing, both directly and indirectly, the adoption of rules, institutions, attitudes, and procedures amenable to economic and political interests of capitalist élites and hegemonic states – Britain first, the United States later – between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. As such, the reforms became an active tool used to promote social-economical-financial institutions, norms, and lifestyles typical of a liberal-capitalist economic order which locates some of its founding values in capital accumulation, profit-seeking, and social transformation.

This book will be of significant interest to readers on capitalism, political economy, the history of the global economy, and British history.

Giampaolo Conte is Assistant Professor in Economic History at University of Roma Tre, Italy.

Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.

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New Books in Critical Theory

Giampaolo Conte, "A History of Capitalist Transformation: A Critique of Liberal-Capitalist Reforms" (Routledge, 2024)

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Understanding Liberal Capitalist Reforms

The Role of Elites in Economic Reform

Impact of Reforms on Society and Class Structures

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts