Runaway Capitalism and the Crisis of Multilateralism with Jim Mittelman - Bill Kellogg Discussion Series

Our next meeting of the Bill Kellogg UNA-BC Discussion Series will be held on Thursday, January 22 1:30

-3:30 p.m. in the Boulder Creek Room of the Main Branch of the Boulder Public Library. Our discussion

on “Runaway Capitalism and the Crisis of Multilateralism” will be led by Jim Mittelman. Jim is a Boulder

resident, an author, educator, and Daily Camera columnist. A Distinguished Research Professor at

American University, he has written several books, including The Globalization Syndrome:

Transformation and Resistance and Implausible Dream: The World-Class University and Repurposing

Higher Education. His newest book is titled Runaway Capitalism. Previously, he worked at the United

Nations and with civil society organizations. He has had teaching and research appointments in Finland,

Japan, Mozambique, Singapore, South Africa, and Uganda. In addition, he held the Pok Rafeah Chair in

International Studies at the National University of Malaysia, served as Dean of the Graduate School of

International Studies (today, the Korbel School) at the University of Denver, and was named a Member

at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Jim has summarized his presentation and discussion topic here. We live in the age of Runaway

Capitalism. Engulfing the peoples of the world, this evolving complex has reached a perilous moment. It

has encountered a “polycrisis”: a confluence of crises in the environment, public health, democracy, the

economy, racial (in)justice, and higher education.

Runaway capitalism is ricocheting from one locale to another without a helmsman to steer the ship.

After World War II, liberal multilateralism evolved as a state-led, collective effort to provide stability and

predictability, which enabled the engines of capital accumulation but with light regulation. The demise

of neoliberal order effectively sidelined this form of multilateralism.

Now, multilateralism is vectoring in two directions. One is toward multipolarity. While not formalized, it

is based on spheres of influence. The other is transactionalism, that is, myriad ad-hoc deals.

Another scenario betrays competing tendencies: an authoritarian and more humane future. This

multilateralism is a multilevel complex of top-down and bottom-up initiatives. The latter emanate from

civil society and social movements, some of which aim to blunt the sharp edges of runaway capitalism.

For our discussion we could begin with your opinions on which scenario is most likely to emerge in the

coming years.

I hope you will be able to participate in our January meeting. If you have any questions or suggestions

about the series, please contact Robert McNown at 303-726-7153 or by email at mcnownr@gmail.com