Animal Spirits Revisited: An Emotional History of Capitalism

Despite its manifest absurdity, the rational actor model continues to domi-nate discussions of modern capitalism. This lecture proposes an alterna-
tive perspective, by deepening and broadening Keynes’s brief mention of
“animal spirits” in economic decisions. Building on the work of anthropolo-
gists and cultural historians, Lears explores the tangled relationships be-
tween capitalism and emotional life, on the shop floor as well as on the
trading floor, around the kitchen table as well as in the executive suite.

Abbreviated Bio
Board of Governors Professor of History, Rutgers University
Editor-in-Chief, Raritan: a Quarterly Review
He has been a regular contributor to The New Republic, The Nation, The Los
Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, among other publications.
In April 2009 he became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Publications

. No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-
1920 (New York: Pantheon, 1981; reissued by University of Chicago Press, 1994;
Japanese translation by Shohakusha Publishing, 2011)
. Fables of Abundance: a Cultural History of Advertising in America (New York: Basic
Books, 1994)
. Something for Nothing: Luck in America (New York: Viking Penguin, 2003)
. Rebirth of a Nation, the Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 (Harper Collins, 2009)

Presented through the Global & International Studies
Master of Arts Program

hm 1/27/12