Karl Polanyi obtained his PhD title in 1909 at the University of Cluj / Kolozsvár. His major work of historical sociology – The Great Transformation (1944) – made a significant contribution to understanding the devastating impact of marketization and competitivity on human society and the natural environment. But in the years that followed its publication the process of global commodification and industrialization resumed at speed. In view of the increasingly alarming ecological crises that reckless exploitation and compulsive growth have spawned, we explore Polanyi’s approach, with a focus on his evolving relationship to Roosevelt’s New Deal. What inspiration and what cautions can we take from the experience of the New Deal, above all with reference to the demand for a ‘Green New Deal’ today?

Gareth Dale teaches politics at Brunel University. His publications include: ‘Reconstructing Karl Polanyi: Excavation and Critique’ (Pluto Press), ‘Karl Polanyi: A Life on the Left’ (Columbia UP), ‘Green Growth: Ideology, Political Economy and the Alternatives’ (Zed Books), and ‘First the transition, then the Crash: Eastern Europe in the 2000s’ (Pluto Press).

The event is organized by the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work and Faculty of European Studies from Babeș-Bolyai University in partnership with tranzit.ro/Cluj

In order to sign up and receive the materials that will be discussed during the seminar, please send an email to Ciprian Bogdan (bogdan.ciprian@ubbcluj.ro) or to Sorin Gog (sorin.gog@ubbcluj.ro). The seminar will take place Friday, 31 of January, 12:00, at the Faculty of Sociology, Dostoievski street (fromer Plugarilor) 34.