Schmidt Participates in “Capitalism in a Time of Pandemic” Panel
Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, participated in a panel discussion on August 5, 2020, which was part of the Universidad de Diego Portales and the Chilean Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s conference series “The End of an Era: Where is politics going?” The series brings together international experts to reflect on how the cornoavirus pandemic serves as a transformational moment in politics.
During the panel, titled “Capitalism in a Time of Pandemic,” panelists – Schmidt, Nicolas Eyzaguirre, former Finance Minister during the government of Ricardo Lago in Chile and the second government of Michelle Bachelet in Chile, and Kenneth Roberts, Professor of Political Science at Cornell University – discussed various topics such as the extreme right, democracy, social democracy, social rights, and capitalism.
Schmidt’s comments were focused on Europe. She compared the pandemic period with the Eurozone crisis in terms of the resilience of neo-liberal economic policies in the European Union (EU), explored the role of technocrats in the EU, and commented on the future of Green politics and the transition to more sustainable environmental policy.
Vivien Schmidt is Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was the first Director of BU’s Center for the Study of Europe, housed at the Pardee School. Schmidt’s research focuses on European political economy, institutions, democracy, and political theory—in particular on the importance of ideas and discourse in political analysis. Her latest book , Europe’s Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone, examines the interrelationship between democratic legitimacy at the European level and the ongoing Eurozone crisis that began in 2010. Read more about her here.