Mon, May 18th, 2026, 6pm:
“Global Finance and Fascism: Yesterday and Today” – Webinar with Ann Pettifor and Bruno De Conti
The second webinar will discuss learnings from the great transformation following the Great Depression after 1929 for better understanding and combatting the emerging far-right reactionary movements today. The focus of the exchange will be on identifying differences and similarities of the respective manifestations of economic liberalism and reactionary political-cultural movements and parties in both moments, including the joint attack on democratic and egalitarian institutions by economic liberals and cultural reactionaries. The webinar will start discussing the political consequences of the demise of the gold standard in the 1930s and the resultant increased national policy space – for fascism as well as reformism. Of special interest are similarities and differences in the center and on the periphery of the world economy. The webinar will continue by discussing the implications for the current conjuncture: What are the prospects for global finance given the current crisis of neoliberal globalization? How does the ongoing dominance of global financial markets in the 2020s contribute to the proliferation of far-right movements and what would be the prospects for progressive politics of a recurrence of disintegrating global financial markets?
Ann Pettifor is a political economist, author and public speaker. Her work focusses on the global financial system, sovereign debt restructuring, and international finance.
Bruno De Conti is Associate Professor at the University of Campinas, Brazil. His work focusses on the International Monetary System, the Chinese Economy, and BRICS.
Andreas Novy, Associate Professor and head of the ISSET Institute at WU Vienna and president of the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS), will moderate the discussion with Ann Pettifor and Bruno De Conti.
Please register via e-mail to isset@wu.ac.at for a link to participate
The webinars are being held in preparation for the conference on “Democracy Under Pressure: Lessons From Past Authoritarian Crises” which will take place 24 to 26 May 2027 in Vienna, organized by the Institute for Law and Governance, the Institute for Spatial and Social-Ecological Transformations (ISSET), and the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS). Please find the save the date for the conference here.
We are looking forward to your participation and to an exciting exchange!
Andreas Novy, Verena Madner and Stefan Mayr