Meet the Author at OECD Forum 2019

9:45-10:30           Meet the Author – The Time of Money

-  Lisa Adkins

Speculation is often associated with the financial sector, but, argues Lisa Adkins, today practice of speculation has spread. In her latest book, The Time of Money , she describes how the expansion of finance has created a distinctive social world, one that demands a speculative stance toward life in general. Speculative practices, Adkins suggests, have become a matter of survival, and defining features of our age are hardwired to their operations—stagnant wages, indebtedness, the centrality of women's earnings to the household, workfarism, and more.

Join Lisa Adkins, Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney, and Greg Medcraft, Director, Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD, for a compelling look at the pervasive relations of finance with society today.  

10:45-11:30                         Meet the Author – Seasonal Associate    

-    Heike Geissler, Author, Seasonal Associate    

No longer able to live on the proceeds of her freelance writing and translating income, German novelist Heike Geissler took a seasonal job at Amazon. Yet, the job, intended as a stopgap measure, quickly became a descent into exhaustion and self-doubt. In Seasonal Associate, Geissler captures the brutal and humiliating working environment she experienced during her time as seasonal employee at Amazon Order Fulfillment in Leipzig, where she discovered a world of expendable workers and “flexible” low-paid jobs.

Join Geissler, freelance writer, and Monika Queisser, Senior Counsellor & Head of Social Policy Division, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD, to discuss own Geissler’s experience and the broader questions of how technology and automation are reshaping working conditions in today’s workplaces and the implications for job quality.

12:00-12:45                       Meet the Author - The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution

-   Michael Kaufman, Author, The Time Has Come, Why Men Must Join The Gender Equality Revolution

Patriarchal culture has given power to men – at a huge cost to women and children, and, surprisingly, to men as well. The time has come,Michael Kaufman argues, to rethink and reshape the (self) destructive ways we’ve defined manhood. His latest book details how very achievable changes in our workplaces, in the ways we raise boys to be men, and in the movement to end violence committed by men, will bring significant rewards to all of us.

Join Michael Kaufman, writer, educator and co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, and Gabriela Ramos, Chief of Staff, G20 Sherpa & Special Counsellor to the Secretary-General, OECD, to discuss why and how men need to speak out in support of gender equality.

13:00-13:45                                                 Meet the Author - Dream Hoarders

- Richard Reeves, Author, Dream Hoarders

In the US, it is now conventional wisdom that the ultra-rich are concentrating income and prosperity while incomes for most other Americans are stagnant. But the most important, consequential, and widening gap in American society is actually between the upper middle class and everyone else, argues Richard Reeves. In his newest book, he outlines how, through various forms of "opportunity hoarding", those at the top of the income ladder are becoming more effective at passing on their status to their children, reducing overall social mobility. And this results in a less competitive economy, as well as a less open society.

Join Richard Reeves, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Stefano Scarpetta, Director, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD,  to understand why our desire to do our best for our children may end up fostering inequalities, and what we can do to promote broader opportunity for everyone. 

14:15-15:00                               Meet the Author - Ottoman Odyssey: Travels through a Lost Empire  

- Alev Scott, Author, Ottoman Odyssey: Travels through a Lost Empire  

Travelling through twelve countries from Kosovo to Greece to Palestine, Alev Scott explored the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, find a history that is vital and relevant; where medieval ethnic diversity meets 21st century nationalism and displaced people seek new identities.

Join Carol Guthrie, Head, Public Affairs and Media, Public Affairs & Communications Directorate, OECD, and freelance journalist and author, Alev Scott, to hear her story of surprises and contrasts and the presence of history as a dynamic force.

Meet the Author – Asian Century ... on a Knife-edge. A 360 Degree Analysis of Asia's Recent Economic Development

-    ** John West, Author, Author, Asian Century ... on a Knife-edge. A 360 Degree Analysis of Asia's Recent Economic Development

Asian Century ... on a Knife-edge.  A 360 Degree Analysis of Asia's Recent Economic Development

Have we entered the “Asian Century”? John West assess this widely held belief, examining Asia's rapid economic development and the challenges it faces in forging ahead of world leaders in the West.  The impact of the current turbulent global political climate on Asia is critically analysed, employing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, which combines economic, social, political and geopolitical perspectives.

Join John West, Co-Founder and Executive Director of China Century Institute, and Andreas Schaal, Director, Global Relations Secretariat, OECD, to discuss the new geopolitical landscape and whether the anticipated Asian Century indeed rests on a knife-edge.

16:45-17:30                         Meet the Author – Big Capital: Who Is London For?

-    Anna Minton, Reader in Architecture, University of East London, United Kingdom; Author, Big Capital: Who Is London For?

London is facing the worst housing crisis in modern times, with knock-on effects for the rest of the UK. Despite the desperate shortage of housing, tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of affordable homes are being pulled down, replaced by luxury apartments aimed at foreign investors. It’s an ideological war in which housing is no longer a public good, says Anna Minton. Instead, only market solutions are considered and these respond to the needs of global capital, rather than the needs of ordinary people. In politically uncertain times, the housing crisis has become a key driver creating and fuelling the inequalities of a divided nation.

Join  Anna Minton, Reader in Architecture at the University of East London, and Julian Knott, Counsellor to the Director & Head of Mainstreaming and Communications Campaigns, OECD, to discuss how this mess arose and how it can be fixed.

10:30-11:15                         Meet the Author – Il faut achever l'Euro: Tout ce que vous avez toujours savoir sur l'Euro (sans oser le demander)

In French only

-    ** Jean Quatremer, Author, Il faut achever l'Euro: Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur l'euro (sans oser le demander)

If governments do not have the courage to complete the construction of euro, this stateless currency, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, risks disappearing. The shock would be a monumental blow to our economies. The bankruptcy in 2008 of a single American merchant bank, Lehman Brothers, caused the worst recession since 1929. So imagine what the collapse of the world's second reserve currency would trigger…

Join Jean Quatremer, a journalist specialised in European affairs, and Laurence Boone, Chief Economist, OECD, to discuss the story behind the creation of the euro area and what can be done to ensure this currency survives. Please note that this session will take place in French.

11:30-12:15              Meet the Author – Nervous States: How feeling took over the world

-    * William Davies, Author, Nervous States: How Feeling Took Over the World    

 Why do we no longer trust experts? Why are today’s politics so fractious and hostile? What is behind recent populist movements? William Davies suggests that as our fundamental assumptions about our world have changed, so have we. With advances in science and medicine, the division between mind and body is no longer so clear-cut. The spread of digital and military technology has left us not quite at war nor exactly at peace. And in the murky new space between mind and body, between war and peace, lie nervous states: with all of us relying increasingly on feeling rather than fact.

Join Anthony Gooch, Director, Public Affairs & Communications, OECD, and William Davies, Reader in Political Economy and co-director of the Political Economy Research Centre at Goldsmiths, University of London, to discuss his latest book, Nervous States, and the role of feelings in today’s politics.

13:30-14:15            Meet the Author –  A Good Time to be a Girl

 - Helena Morrissey, Author, A Good Time to Be a Girl

Five years have passed since women were exhorted to ‘Lean In’. Over that time, the world has transformed beyond all expectations. But why should anyone ‘lean in’ to a patriarchal system that is out of date? asks Helena Morrissey. Why not change it entirely for the good of us all? Her manifesto for new ways of working, living, loving and raising families outlines how gender balance is an essential driver of economic prosperity and part of the solution to the many problems we face today.

 14:30-15:15       Meet the Author – The Revolution That Wasn’t: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives

- Jen Schradie, Athor, The Revolution That Wasn’t: How Digital Activism Favors Conservatives

The internet has been hailed as a levelling force that is reshaping activism, as shown by moments from the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. But has it? asks Jean Schradie. The Revolution That Wasn’t casts doubt on the democratising power of digital activism, arguing that money and organisational sophistication influence online politics as much as they do off line. And not only does technology fail to level the playing field, it tilts it further, so that only the most sophisticated and well-funded players can compete.

Join Schradie, a sociologist and Assistant Professor at the Observatoire sociologique du changement at Sciences Po, and Barbara Ubaldi, Acting Head of Division, Reform of the Public Sector, Governance Directorate, OECD, to learn about this previously undiagnosed digital-activism gap and to discuss whether the Internet may well have become just another weapon in the arsenal of the powerful.

15:30-16:15        Meet the Author - Flexibility@work 2019

The nature of work in modern economies is being transformed as a result of ongoing trends such as automation, urbanization and globalization, and workforce aging, sparking public debate and concern over the future of work. This report sketches an overview of these trends, their implications for work and workers, and the societal challenges they bring. Lastly, it outlines some avenues for policy discussion.

As the ‘Flexibility@Work 2019’ paper shows, there will be no shortage of jobs in the future of work, but work will change fundamentally. While embracing the future, we also need to brace for change. Shaping a future of work that is more inclusive and rewarding for all calls for a transition agenda and a whole-of-government approach that includes all stakeholders, targeting interventions to those who need them most.

- Pamela Druckerman, Authors, There Are No Grown-Ups: A Midlife Coming-of-Age Story 

When will we finally grow up? In this humorous memoir, best-selling author Pamela Druckerman debunks our myths and fantasies about “adult” life. A witty dispatch from the front lines of one’s forties, There Are No Grown-ups is a midlife coming-of-age story and a book for anyone trying to find their place in the world.  

Join Pamela Druckerman and Rory Clarke, Senior Editor and Advisor to the Director, Public Affairs & Communications, OECD, for a light-hearted discussion about the journey of growing up and the lessons we learn along the way.