The Great Recurrence: Karl Polanyi and the crisesof the Europ ean Union
- Autores: Matthias Goldmann
- Localización: European Law Journal, ISSN-e 1468-0386, Vol. 23, Nº. 3-4, 2017, págs. 272-289
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
In his seminal 1944 book The Great Transformation, Polanyi describes the rise and fall of liberal capitalism duringthe long nineteenth century. Many have realised that Polanyi has a lot to tell about the European Union in theaftermath of the financial crisis. The paper begins with an overview of Polanyi's historiography of the failure ofnineteenth‐century liberal capitalism and his account of the four elements that helped liberal capitalism thrive,while precipitating its collapse—the idea of the self‐regulating market, the gold standard, international peaceand liberal constitutionalism. Thereafter, the paper describes the particular transformations that these four ele-ments underwent in the course of European integration and after the financial crisis, with a particular focus onthe case law of the Court of Justice. The paper argues that their current constellation has a destructive potentialthat exceeds the economic dimension of the Union and might pave the way for a much greater failure, one thatmight defeat Europe's greatest success: the establishment of peace. Ultimately, the paper assesses current reformproposals in light of these insights and makes a number of proposals for re‐embedding the economy in society.
