Repoliticising Capitalism: Contradictions, Critique and Alternatives

The summer school brings together a faculty of international scholars and staff from Roskilde University for an in-depth course on heterodox and critical political economic perspectives. It offers a unique opportunity to directly engage with original economic texts/source material and to explore core dimensions of the critique of (neo)classical economic theory and contemporary perspectives on global capitalism. The focus of the course is explicitly pluralist, encouraging students to widen their horizon for critical thinking and methodological reflection.

The first part of the course “Economic Thought from Oikos to Economics” traces the history of economic ideas with an emphasis on critical and heterodox approaches. The individual sessions will introduce students to carefully selected primary literature from classical, critical and heterodox strands of economic thought. The objective is to understand the varied historical effect of these theories on both the object of study and the discipline itself. This will provide the foundation for further elaboration on contemporary issues such as debt, unemployment, inequality, and growth.

The second part of the course “Contemporary Challenges, Critiques and Alternatives” addresses present and pressing issues, through the lens of critical and heterodox political economy. This theoretical and applied pluralism will provide insights on issues such as e.g. the development crisis, financialisation, austerity politics and climate change. Through the employment of recent critiques, the second section of the course hence offers potential pathways towards different conceptualisations and alternatives to “the economy” as we know it.

Course leader

Associate professor Laura Horn

Target group

Master-level students from the social sciences and humanities with an interest in contemporary political and economic issues. Advanced bachelor-level students will also be considered if they can provide a letter of recommendation from their primary supervisor.

Course aim

- Introduce students to carefully selected primary literature from classical, critical and heterodox strands of economic thought

- Provide students with a thorough understanding of core concepts and debates in critical political economy

- Enable students to apply core theoretical and methodological aspects of heterodox perspectives to a given case-based event or process

- Encourage students to critically reflect on contemporary dynamics and developments in the global economy

- Address key methodological challenges linking theory and empirical research for critical analyses.

Credits info

7.5 EC
Assessment on the basis of a logbook and an individual essay at the end of the course.

Fee info

EUR 420: International students (EU/EEA)
EUR 0: Students enrolled at a Danish university with pre-approval.