In which new direction will ‘BrexiTrump’ take us?
Posted on: 06 June 2017
Experts from around the globe today debated whether ‘BrexiTrump’ has sparked the death of globalisation at an event in Trinity College Dublin that forms part of the RSA Annual Conference.
The debate explored new economic-political landscapes following the shock victories of Brexit and Trump and reflected on their global, regional and local implications.
Is globalisation going into reverse? What consequences will this have for local and regional economies? What does BrexiTrump mean for global cities and for the architecture and regulation of global finance? There is an urgent need to reflect on some of the challenges posed by these tectonic events, both for economic and financial geography and for society.
The RSA Annual Conference – The Great Regional Awakening: New Directions (GRAND) – has brought 600 regional studies experts, spatial scientists, economists, business studies scholars, political scientists, local development specialists, urban geographers, spatial planners, transport experts, development studies scholars, environmentalists, sociologists, and economic and financial geographers to visit co-hosts, Trinity and University College Dublin.
Associate Professor in Geography at Trinity, Dr Martin Sokol, is an academic co-organiser of the conference and chaired the debate. He was joined on the panel by Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), Dariusz Wójcik (University of Oxford), Ron Martin (University of Cambridge), Sabine Dörry (Luxemburg Institute of Socio-Economic Research), Gary Dymski (Leeds University Business School), and Edgar Morgenroth (The Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin).
Dr Sokol said: “BrexiTrump may well spell the end of globalisation as we know it, but the key question is what role will finance play in what follows in its wake."
"At this stage, it is unclear what contours this emerging, post-globalisation order (or disorder) will take, and with what consequences for different people and places. What is clear, however, is that we need a vigorous debate about the challenges posed by these tectonic events.”