Attention, Shoppers! American Retail Capitalism and the Origins of the Amazon Economy

Abstract:

Offering a comparative perspective on the history of American political economy, Kathleen Thelen shows how large-scale retailers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden faced a far less hospitable regulatory environment than companies in the United States, which enjoyed judicial forbearance and often active government support. As American companies grew in scale and scope, they assembled an ever-expanding political coalition that could be weaponized to head off regulatory efforts, leveraging their market strength to squeeze suppliers and workers and even engaging in outright rule breaking when they encountered resistance.

Placing the rise of the Amazon economy in a broader comparative-historical context, Attention, Shoppers! reveals how large discount retailers have successfully exploited a uniquely permissive regulatory landscape to create a shopper’s paradise built on cheap labor and mass consumption.

 

When: Wednesday, 15th January, 16:45

Where: Online & Konferenzraum, Department for Political Science, NIG, 2nd floor, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna

Speaker: Kathleen Thelen (MIT)

Discussant: Valentina Ausserladscheider (Department of Economic Sociology, University of Vienna)
Moderation: Dorothee Bohle (Department of Political Science, University of Vienna)

For participation via zoom, please contact: lina.ehrich@univie.ac.at