Kadish Workshop in Law, Philosophy, and Political Theory: Helena Rosenblatt, The City University of New York

Liberal Political Economy on the Eve of the French Revolution: Jacques and Suzanne Necker, critics of laissez faire

Abstract 

Takeaways (In lieu of an abstract):

1. Suzanne Necker has not been well served by scholarship. She was a powerful intellect and political operator and an indispensable partner to her husband.

2. The political and intellectual roles of the Parisian salonnières have been underestimated. They were important incubators and disseminators of the “new science” of physiocracy.

3. While there is today scholarly agreement that the French King’s near bankruptcy was an immediate cause of the Revolution, the heated debates about the debt and economy should be factored in.

4. In Jacques Necker’s debate with the physiocrats, we can observe the pre-history of the liberal/libertarian divide that is still with us today.

About Helena Rosenblatt, The City University of New York (CUNY):

Helena Rosenblatt, recent recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, teaches in the PhD Programs in History, French, and Political Science, and the MA Program in Liberal Studies at the Graduate Center. She is also a faculty member of the M.A. Program in Biography and Memoir.

About the workshop:

A workshop for presenting and discussing work in progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The central aim is to provide an opportunity for students to engage with philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars working on normative questions. Another aim is to bring together people from different disciplines who have strong normative interests or who speak to issues of potential interest to philosophers and political theorists.

The theme for Spring 2025 is “Critics of Liberalism,” and we will host scholars working in Philosophy, Law, History, and Political Science. Our underlying concern will be the normative critiques of substantive liberal ideas from both the left and right, as well as staunch defenders of liberalism.

This semester the workshop is co-taught by Joshua Cohen and Desmond Jagmohan.