Economist Nancy Folbre to give Annual Cole Lecture Oct. 25

Nancy Folbre, professor of Economics, will deliver the Fifth Annual Cole Lecture in Contemporary Issues on Thursday, Oct. 25 from 4-6 p.m. in the Amherst Room on the 10^th floor of the Campus Center.

 

Her talk is titled, “The New Localism: The Economics of Cooperative Enterprise” and is free and open to the public. A reception follows the talk.

 

She will discuss trends such as the “buy local” campaigns in support of small businesses, promotion of worker-owned enterprises and consumer cooperatives, and mutual aid systems such as “time banks.” All of these community actions are dedicated to developing local economies, generating more stable employment, and building social capital. But how successful have such endeavors been? And what are their political and economic implications? Folbre will examine recent research on these topics, with a focus on examples emerging right here in the Pioneer Valley, with support from UMass Amherst.

 

Folbre is a MacArthur “genius” award recipient and a regular contributor to the New York Times Economix blog. She is part of the UMass Cooperative Economies Collaborative, a group of faculty, students, and community members that has developed a Certificate Program in Applied Economic Research on Cooperative Enterprises. Her most recent book, an edited volume published by the Russell Sage Foundation this fall, is entitled For Love and Money: Care Provision in the U.S.



 

The lecture series, funded by Robert C. Cole Jr. ’59 and his wife, Margaret, aims to engage UMass Amherst alumni with faculty whose current research has a direct impact on world issues.