Is the market an instrument of alienation or liberation ? The historian Laurence Fontaine recalls that in the modern era, the market allowed individuals to emancipate feudal guardianships, in particular by using credit. Nevertheless was already the question of access to credit, as well as that of financial crises, that traditional social relations contributed to absorb no doubt better than in our time.
Laurence Fontaine is director of research at Cnrsattached to CRH (Ehess). Historian, she devoted her latest work and her latest work, Moral economics, poverty, credit and confidence in pre -industrial Europe (Gallimard, 2008), to the emergence of credit and market processes in modern Europe and its consequences on social relationships. As part of the forum of the Republic of ideas on “ Reinvent democracy “, She participated in the round table” Crisis of capitalism and future of democracy ».
According to Laurence Fontaine, the market is a liberating environment in Europe of the modern era, since those who take place there are free and equal, and the development of credit contributes to the transformation of social relationships, the creditor/debtor dichotomy substituting the old Lord/commoner opposition. However, this liberating effect has its limits: if the market releases, it is still necessary to be able to access it. In addition, credit development also leads to its first crises, that feudal society, still imbued with traditional social relations, may know how to absorb better than our contemporary societies.
– Video summary:
- Can we say that the dissemination of market mechanisms in modern Europe prepares the field for the emergence of democracy ?
- What can democracy bring to the market ?
- Marx said that the liberating aspect of the market found its limit when the work itself became a commodity ….
- What lessons can we learn from the emergence of credit in modern Europe for the current crisis ?
– Complete interview in audio format (listening or downloading)
Can we say that the dissemination of market mechanisms in modern Europe prepares the field for the emergence of democracy ?
What can democracy bring to the market ?
Marx said that the liberating aspect of the market found its limit when the work itself became a commodity ….
What lessons can we learn from the emergence of credit in modern Europe for the current crisis ?
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