Saturday 29 September, 7.30pm until 9.00pm, Zé dos Bois Gallery, Rua da Barroca, 59 1200-047 Lisboa (Bairro Alto), Portugal
This debate will be in English.
Tickets: free and unticketed. For more information: phone: +351 21 343 0205 | email: reservas@zedosbois.org | www.zedosbois.org
Not a week seems to go by in America or Europe without a banker like Stephen Hester from RBS or Bob Diamond of Barclays ending up in front of a public inquiry or being pilloried in the media: blamed for the financial recession; held up as a symbol of all that is wrong with the modern world; the very picture of uncontrolled and irresponsible greed. And not a week passes without another book arguing it’s all capitalism’s fault. Just some of the recent economics titles by well-established writers gives a good idea of the mood: Paper Promises; The Hour Between Dog and Wolf; The End of Leadership; What Money Can’t Buy; Why Nations Fail; Octopus; How Much is Enough? UK prime minister David Cameron intones that ‘there is more to life than money’ and Karl Marx seems to be everyone’s favourite revolutionary: widely praised for having been right all along. One might wonder if capitalism hasn’t reached the end of history.
It’s not just conservative politicians, well-paid academics and economists pointing the finger at the moneymen though. The Occupy movement and the Indignados are the highly visible face of youthful reaction against the failures of the market, claiming to represent 99% of society against the tiny minority of the super-rich. What though are the demands of, say, Occupy as opposed to their role in reflecting a ‘crisis of concern’ or ‘demonstrating the idealism of youth’? Often the new social movements can appear to be focused on the process of protest itself: explicitly rejecting the formulation of political demands as being ‘old’ politics; validating instead ‘transparency’, ‘inclusion’ and ‘empowerment’. The manual of the Spanish Indignados, How to Cook a Non-Violent Revolution, describes the twelve and more commissions (Respect, Group Dynamics, Outreach, etc) required for accountable governance: a level of organisation seeming more suited to today’s management theory fad for non-hierarchical corporate culture than to the inevitably authoritarian business of (even non-violent) revolution?
Is, then, it true that the bankers were to blame for the economic crisis? Should they be made to pay? What though has attacking the living standards of the very very rich got to do with helping the poor? Is there any chance of improving living standards for us all that way or does it just make us feel a bit better, boost our ‘general wellbeing’, if we feel the playing field is a bit more level, a little more moral? Are the new social movements like Occupy the face of a new morality that will make the world a better, a fairer, a freer, place for us all? Or does it mirror the very death of politics, of public life, that would be a prerequisite for any positive change? Will capitalism still be here tomorrow? Will Occupy?
 | Dr Robert Clowes chair, Mind & Cognition Group, Nova Institute of Philosophy, Lisbon University; chair, Lisbon Salon |
 | Joana Amaral Dias former member, Bloco de Esquerda; clinical psychologist; columnist, Correio da Manhã; author, Portugal a Arder |
 | Dr Alexander Gerner researcher in philosophy, University of Lisbon; playwright and director |
 | Rui Tavares independent member, European Parliament; writer; historian; cultural commentator (Público, Blitz and Sic Notícias); editor, ruitavares.net |
 | Bruno Waterfield Brussels correspondent, The Times; co-author, No Means No |
| Chair: | |
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Angus Kennedy
convenor, The Academy; author, Being Cultured: in defence of discrimination |
The demonstrators - known as Indignants - say
BBC News, 26 September 2012
There is a natural, populist temptation to rejoice in the notion that over-mighty financial institutions are being cut down to size and deprived of their global laisser passer. Yet there are costs.
John Plender, Financial Times, 9 August 2012
In recent years, economic growth has been regarded as a self-evident good, with political debate focussed on the best means to achieve it. But there are now signs that this shared assumption is weakening.
Robert and Edward Skidelsky, Allen Lane, 28 July 2012
The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn't seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live.
Joseph Stiglitz, Allen Lane, 28 June 2012
The occupiers think that by eschewing leaders and ideology they become immune to dogmatic thinking. The precise opposite is the case.
Brendan O'Neill, spiked, 20 October 2011
Disdainful and conspiracy-minded, the protesters claiming to speak for all Americans are acting like teenage despots.
Nathalie Rothschild, spiked, 6 October 2011
Capitalism is in crisis across the globe – but what on earth is the alternative? Well, what about the musings of a certain 19th-century German philosopher? Yes, Karl Marx is going mainstream – and goodness knows where it will end
Stuart Jeffries, Guardian, 4 July 2010
Sandel examines one of the biggest ethical questions of our time and provokes a debate that's been missing in our market-driven age: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society, and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets do not honour and money cannot buy?
Michael Sandel, Allen Lane, 26 April 2010
Occupy Wall Street protests have spread around the world, with a common slogan of “We are the 99%.” But there is a great deal of confusion and misperception about this movement. This book clarifies the who, what, when, where, why, and how of this movement. It provides profound insight into the movement’s power, messages, significance, methods, and impact.
Sarah Van Gelder, Berrett-Koehler, 1 January 2010
Capitalism has slipped its moral moorings. Since the financial crisis erupted, remedies have focused on capital, equity and structure. These are certainly necessary. But it is even more important that we address the deficiency in moral and human spirit which was the real root of the crisis. We are doomed to repeat our mistakes if we do not restore sound ethics to economic behaviour.
Ken Costa, Financial Times, 2 November 2009
