WIAS Seminar Series
“Global History Studies in the post-corona era” Open Lecture：Historicizing the Period after 1989: The Great Transformation from Neoliberalism to Antiliberalism（5/31）
Abstract
Neoliberalism, which is used as a neutral analytical term, gained a global hegemony after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. The first phase of neoliberalism starting around 1989 was characterized by „shock therapies“ that were applied in various post-communist countries, and prescribed a policy mix of austerity, privatization of state owned companies, liberalization, deregulation and foreign direct investments as external resources of modernization. The second phase after the turn of the millenium was geared towards the privatization of key state competences, flat tax schemes and a deregulation of global financial capitalism. The neoliberal transformation and globalization – both processes were interconnected – did create new growth and investment, but it crashed in the global financial crisis in 2008/09, when the Eastern European bubble burst as well. The neoliberal order turned out to be politically untenable because of rising social and regional inequality, that provoked a first strong antiliberal counter-reaction in 2016. We already know from recent experiences that the second electoral victories of antiliberal politicians and parties, and their subsequent governance are even more disruptive. That is also due to radicalizing dynamics in internal and (a)social media communication. Based on a Polanyian approach the talk will explore the continuities between neoliberalism and antiliberalism, which claims to end the neoliberal globalization, but continues neoliberal thinking and policies in key areas.
Speaker：
THER, Philipp （Professor, University of Vienna）
Bio:
1997-1998: F. Kennedy Fellow at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University
1997-2002: Research associate at the Center for Comparative European History at Freie Universität Berlin
2002: Junior professor for Polish and Ukrainian studies at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt
2007-2010: Professor for Comparative European history at the European University Institute in Florence
2010-: Tenured university professor for the history of East Central Europe at the Institute of Eastern European History at the University of Vienna (executive director 2014-2018)
Awards:
2006: Richard G. Plaschka Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences for the book Operntheater in Zentraleuropa [Music theater in Central Europe]
2015: Nonfiction Book Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair for his book Europe since 1989: A History
2019: Wittgenstein Award for the research project Die Große Transformation. Eine vergleichende Sozialgeschichte globaler Umbrüche.
Commentators:
OZAWA, Hiroaki (Vice President, Chiba University)
SHINOHARA, Taku (Professor, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
SENGOKU, Manabu (Professor, Hokkaido University)
Date & Time
May 31, 2025 (Sat.) 15:00 – 17:30
Venue
Room 10, 16th Floor, Building 33 Toyama Campus, Waseda University
Program
15:00 Opening Remarks by NAKAZAWA, Tatsuya
15:10～15:40 Keynote Speech by Philipp Ther
「Historicizing the Period after 1989: The Great Transformation from Neoliberalism to Antiliberalism」
15:40～15:55 Comment 1：OZAWA, Hiroaki
15:55～16:10 Comment 2：SHINOHARA, Taku
16:10～16:25 Comment 3：SENGOKU, Manabu
16:25～16:40 Intermission
16:40～16:55 Reply
16:55～17:30 Discussion
Moderator
NAKAZAWA, Tatsuya (Professor, Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University)
Prospected Audience
Students, Graduate students, Faculty members, Research members, General participants
Language
English
Organizer
Waseda Institute for Advanced Studies (WIAS)
Co-Organizer
Waseda Institute for the Study of Nationalism and Ethnicity (WINE)
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)（Principal Investigator: KAWAI Nobuharu）Political and Social Practices of Anticommunism in German Modern History
Registration
Pre-registration is required：Please register using the pre-registration link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScj-Q0BPOxZBv1IHOzwO8Vzi07LAhrMyj3K8vJPwxyUDaW4dA/viewform
Poster
