The 1970s and the End of the Post-war Boom: Theory and History
Joshua Rahtz
The 1970s and the End of the Post-war Boom: Theory and History
Seminar, English, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
Wednesdays, 16-18 h, weekly, starts 16.10.2024, Hardenbergstr. 33, room 004
Registration on Moodle starts 14.10.2024:
https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2446
Moodle Enrollment Key: 1970s
There is virtual consensus among economists and historians that the 1970s marks a turning point in the history of the post-war capitalist economies. Major events over the course of that decade – the breakdown of the Bretton Woods monetary regime, slowing growth combined with inflation ('stagflation'), and the first major recession in the advanced economies since the Great Depression – all indicated a decisive end to the post-war boom years. Moreover, the decade concluded with the replacement of one economic regulatory paradigm, Keynesianism, by another: neoliberalism. The causes of these historical events, unlike the judgment regarding their significance, are, however, the subject of much disagreement. This course will examine the major theories of the 1970s as a pivotal decade, moving across disciplines in a study of the various explanations offered for the series of crises endured then and since. The course will pursue the questions of whether these developments can be attributed to conjunctural or contingent political factors, or long-term underlying causes emerging from the very dynamic that fueled the post-war boom. Close reading of key works of economic history and theory will help to contextualize today’s capitalism in light of this decade of transition.
Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation:
• Regular participation in the weekly discussion of the reading.
• One in-class presentation.
• At the end of the semester, a proposal for a project in your field, conceptualized as a response to the material covered in the seminar.