Finitude Capitalism: Neoliberalism’s Predatory Turn

On Thursday, February 12, we welcome two of Europe’s most influential and thought-provoking public intellectuals: Arnaud Orain, renowned economic historian whose work reshapes our understanding of capitalism’s evolution, and Caroline de Gruyter, award-winning journalist and one of the sharpest observers of European politics and the state of the liberal order.

They will speak on the occasion of the Dutch translation of Orain’s new book, The Finitude of the World: Boundless Capitalism from the Seventeenth Century to Today. In this groundbreaking work – introduced with a preface by de Gruyter – Orain argues that while the neoliberal dream of uninterrupted growth has faded, capitalism itself remains very much alive. Its current phase is not unprecedented but part of a recurring historical dynamic: when the world is perceived as finite and its resources limited, capitalism shifts into a violent mode of rapid capture and exploitation. We now see this “Finitude Capitalism” at work in the privatisation and militarisation of the seas, in the rise of monopolistic and rentier trade, and in the encroachment of massive private companies claiming quasi-sovereign control over physical and digital space.

So how did this shift from liberal to predatory capitalism emerge? Who stands to gain – and who loses – in this zero-sum landscape? What are the implications for Europe’s economic and geopolitical future? And can we still turn the tide?