Hayek Programme Online Webinar Series
Is Socialism Feasible?
Geoffrey Hodgson (Loughborough University London)
Wednesday 23 April 2025 18:00 - 19:30
Many of our seminars and public events this year will continue as in person or as hybrid (online and in person) events. Please check our website listings and Twitter feed @STICERD_LSE for updates.
Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public. Please ensure you have informed the event contact as early as possible.
Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.
About this event
The word “socialism” emerged in 1827 to describe the communities with common ownership that were promoted by Robert Owen. From the 1840s, Karl Marx and Frederic Engels used the terms “socialism” and “communism” to describe ownership of the means of production by the state. The feasibility of socialism has long been debated. In this talk, drawing from his 2019 book on the topic, Geoff Hodgson will outline a new perspective on this issue, looking at the compatibility (or otherwise) of socialism with democracy, and whether socialism in practice can abolish private property and markets. He will also answer questions on how his own views developed on this issue, drawing from his just-published intellectual autobiography “From Marx to Markets”.
About the speaker:
Geoffrey Hodgson is Professor in Management for the Institute for International Management and Entrepreneurship at Loughborough University London. He is a specialist in institutional and evolutionary economics, with a background in economics, philosophy and mathematics. His research has applications to the understanding of organisations, organisational change, innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Institutional Economics (ABS rank 3). He has published 18 academic books and over 150 academic articles, which he is the winner of the Schumpeter Prize 2014 for his book on "Conceptualizing Capitalism".
Related
The online webinar series of the LSE Hayek Programme will feature academic scholars or policy experts on a range of interdisciplinary topics that are related in some way to the intellectual contributions of F.A. Hayek.
These include individualism and economic freedom, the nature and future of liberal democracy, social justice and welfare, decision-making under radical uncertainty, macroeconomic management, the rule of law and justice, and others.
All sessions will be conducted on Zoom, lasting 1.5 hours, with a structured format of 45 minutes for speaker presentations followed by a 45-minute Q&A session. Additionally, for those unable to attend live, all webinars will be recorded for later access.
Events in the series will begin in March 2024, usually held one Thursday each month, from 6pm - 7:30pm unless otherwise stated.
For further information please contact Bryan Cheang, by email: b.cheang@lse.ac.uk.