History and Politics

Book Launch: Billionaires in World Politics with Professor Peter Haegel

This is a virtual event | Registration is required | Timezone: CET/Paris
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Join Professor Peter Haegel and colleagues for the launch of his new book Billionaires in World Politics (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Schedule of Events: 

  • 4:00-4:10: Peter Hägel (Paris) – Introduction
  • 4:10-4:25: Klaus Dingwerth (St. Gallen) – An IR Theory perspective
  • 4:25-4:40: Anne Monier (Paris) – A Transnational Sociology perspective
  • 4:40-4:55: Q&A – 1st round
  • 4:55-5:10: Ingrid Robeyns (Utrecht) – An Ethics Perspective
  • 5:10-5:25: Barbara Buckinx (Princeton) – A Political Philosophy Perspective
  • 5:25-5:40: Gordon Arlen (Frankfurt) – A Political Theory Perspective
  • 5:40-6:00: Q&A – 2nd round

Discussants:

  • Gordon Arlen is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Justitia Amplificata Center for Advanced Study at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
  • Barbara Buckinx Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer at Princeton University, USA. 
  • Klaus Dingwerth is Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
  • Anne Monier is a Research Fellow at the ESSEC Philanthropy Chair in Paris, France.
  • Ingrid Robeyns holds the Chair in Ethics of Institutions at the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Book Cover

In Billionaires in World Politics (Oxford University Press, 2020) Peter Hägel shows how the privatization of politics assumes a new dimension when billionaires wield power in world politics, and why this requires a re-thinking of individual agency in International Relations. Structural changes (globalization, neoliberalism, competition states, and global governance), he argues, have generated new opportunities for individuals to become extremely rich and to engage in politics across borders. Thus, Hägel conceptualizes political agency of billionaires in terms of capacities, goals, and power, while maintaining that this agency is contingent upon the specific political field a billionaire is trying to enter. In six case studies he explores the power of billionaires in their pursuit of security, wealth, and esteem. Finally, Hägel addresses three major questions: Is it more appropriate to see billionaires as 'super-actors', or as a global 'super-class'? What is the relative power of billionaires within the international system? What does the power of billionaires mean for the liberal norms of legitimate political order?

Registrants will receive the meeting information 24 hours prior to the start of the event.

 

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