Capitalism, Democratic Solidarity and Institutional Design

Philosophy faculty and graduate students interested in attending the summer school can go to the APPLY tab on the summer school website for details on how to apply to enrol. There is no summer school fee, but attendees must pay their own room, board, and travel.

The premise of the Summer School in Capitalism, Democratic Solidarity and Institutional Design is that phenomena such as Trump, Brexit, and similar ruptures across the globe are largely driven by pathologies endemic to the current configuration of capitalist political economies, particularly stark inequalities of income and wealth and the non-responsiveness of nominally democratic political systems. Some of the most renowned figures in political philosophy (e.g., Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, and Rawls) deigned to diagnose the social, cultural, and political pathologies of their time and to describe institutions and policies that would address those pathologies. This tradition focuses on solidarity-promoting social, political, and economic institutions and policies that are necessary for the realization of justice and the good. The Summer School seeks to contribute to the revival of philosophical inquiry into the structure and design of solidarity-promoting institutions. The Summer School will take place at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario from Monday, June 24 through Thursday, June 27, 2019.

Summer School Faculty. Mark Blyth (Brown University, Political Science) William Edmundson (Georgia State University, Philosophy and Law) Robert Hockett (Cornell University, Law) Stephanie Mudge (University of California-Davis, Sociology) Stefan Sciaraffa (McMaster University, Philosophy) Alan Thomas (University of York, Philosophy)

Objectives. The Summer School has four main objectives: 1. To provide an introduction to solidaristic institutional design as a line of research within political philosophy. 2. To clarify the parameters and key concerns of this line of research and to further shape its distinct identity.  3. To provide an opportunity for established scholars to develop and discuss new contributions to this area. 4. To engage with and inform the broader community in service of forging the political will necessary to tame capitalism’s oligarchic and inegalitarian tendencies.