- This event has passed.
INDEP online Workshop on Democratizing Investment
February 21 @ 3:30 pm – 6:15 pm UTC+1
Struggles over investment have long been struggles for control of our economies. Investment shapes the trajectory of social development: it determines which sectors grow or shrink, influences regional development patterns, and drives overall economic expansion or degrowth. In capitalist systems, investment decisions are largely made in isolation by private company and bank management, often in competition with and ignorance of each other. These decisions, driven by profit expectations, have far-reaching impacts on competitors, suppliers, and distributors, yet remain privately controlled. This profit-centric approach leads to chronic underfunding in less profitable but socially crucial sectors such as care work, sustainable technologies, and public goods. It also entrenches social and regional inequalities.
Our workshop explores how investment decisions could be democratized and redirected towards meeting all human needs within planetary boundaries. We’ve invited leading experts on the democratization and socialization of finance and investment to share their insights. Our goal is to examine theories of democratic investment and finance, while also learning from real-world experiences and ongoing struggles for democratic, social, and sustainable investment practices.
First session: Socializing investment (3.30-4.45pm CET)
– Christoph Sorg (Humboldt University/INDEP): Introduction: Finance as a form of planning and the legacy
of struggles over investment
– J W Mason (CUNY – City University of New York): Socializing Finance
– Sushovan Dhar (CADTM – Committe for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt): How to socialize the banking sector and abolish debt
Moderator: Eric Meier (INDEP)
Second session: Cases of democratic investment (5-6.15pm CET)
– Mike McCarthy (UC Santa Cruz): Democratic Finance and the case of Californian Public Banks
– Melanie Brusseler (Common Wealth): Democratic De-risking
– Lavinia Steinfort (TNI – Transnational Institute): A Global Public Banking Ecosystem
Moderator: Christoph Sorg (Humboldt University/INDEP)
Each panel will include a Q&A session.
This workshop will take place online. To participate, please register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/cp9lgO7uQZiDA5SOLG2ytg