TILT seminar: Prof. Lisa Herzog, University of Groningen

Abstract

Prof. Lisa Herzog will discuss her forthcoming book Citizen Knowledge. Markets, Experts, and the Infrastructure of Democracy which explores the political dimensions of knowledge in democratic-cum-capitalist societies – a highly relevant topic in times of “fake news” and distrust of experts. It develops the perspective of “democratic institutionalism” for exploring the possibility of epistemic improvements in democratic societies. Three key mechanisms for the social coordination of knowledge in complex societies are 1) markets, 2) expert communities, and 3) democratic deliberation. Many current problems can be understood as misapplications of these mechanisms to areas where they do not belong. In particular, market mechanisms have been far too influential and need to be reined in. The book’s core thesis is that rather than leaving knowledge to markets, citizens need to adopt a “democratic institutionalist” approach in order to preserve democratic institutions and to enable the coordination of knowledge. The book combines philosophical arguments with insights from political science, law, psychology, and history of ideas, integrating various discourses into a “bigger picture.”

Speaker: Prof. Lisa Herzog

Lisa Herzog works at the University of Groningen, where she is the Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics and Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy. Her work explores issues at the intersection of political philosophy and economic thought. Herzog has published on the philosophical dimensions of markets (both historical and systemical), liberalism and social justice, ethics in organizations and the future of work. The current focus of her work are workplace democracy, professional ethics, and the role of knowledge in democracies. She is a co-editor of the interdisciplinary journal Review of Social Economy.

She holds a Master’s degree (Diplom) in economics from the University of Munich, and an M.St. in Philosophy and a D.Phil. in Political Theory from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She has worked at, or visited, the universities of St. Gallen (CH), Leuven (BE), Frankfurt/Main (D), Utrecht (NL), and Stanford (US), and has held fellowships of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study. Between 2017 and 2022 she was a member of the Global Young Academy, where she led the SCISO project.

Moderator: Prof. Linnet Taylor

Attendance is free. To register for this event please contact: TILT Secretariat