Two financial crises, but a shared political-economy?: Researching the French Revolution in the shadow of 2008

with Ronan Love

Despite occurring over a decade ago, we would struggle to find an area of our lives today that has not in some way been impacted by the global financial crisis of 2008. From the many left destitute at the hands of austerity to our collective ability to respond to COVID-19, its ongoing legacies are profound and ubiquitous, operating at levels social, political, cultural, economic, within nations and across borders. Although nobody has been spared - perhaps save the bankers - most do not fully understand what happened in those fateful months from 2007-08, which now seem more like a passing memory than historical turning point.

In this talk, I will put the GFC in conversation with my own research on the financial crisis of the French Revolution in order to make both events mutually comprehensible. What can we learn, if anything, about the GFC by revisiting the crisis of 1789? Are these events simply incommensurate, or can we spot similar processes - perhaps even a shared political economy - at work within the causes and consequences of the two crises? This talk will tentatively say we can, but it invites disagreement and an open debate, either from those who know a bit about both events or from those who simply want to know more!

Join us on Tuesday 24 November at 4pm in the History Common Room on Teams