Etienne Balibar
Etienne Balibar is a French political philosopher, who became well-known as a follower of Louis Althusser. Balibar is also one of the leading exponents of philosophy in France and the author of Spinoza and Politics, The Philosophy of Marx and co-author of Race, Nation and Class (with Immanuel Wallerstein)
How to regulate absolute capitalism? And the possible function of Europe
In the 19th and 20th century, despite its libertarian and internationalist tendencies, “socialism” was conceived in terms of planning and state regulation, either democratic or dictatorial, in a national framework. In the 21st century, with the advent of global finance as the dominant form of capitalism, it has to be imagined afresh in terms of transnational regulations, which concern in particular five key areas: banking and tax regimes, arms controls, environment and climate change, monopolies of information, and human migrations. They must limit the sovereignty of states and impose on them juridical and political constraints, with the support of populations or communities of citizens at different levels. It is in this perspective that a renovation of the European federal project, today in a deep crisis which affects both its legitimacy and its goals, could be undertaken.
Keynote Etienne Balibar