The Perils—and Rewards—of Constantly Re-inventing the Wheel

In this brief contribution, I discuss several of the essays for this volume, highlighting some of their most notable contributions to the themes of the conference: our understanding of the Greco-Roman economy, and related issues such as inequality, economic development, and social conflict and injustice. I emphasize the relevance of this research beyond the study of ancient history, and the value of an ancient perspective in casting new light on the intractable problems of modern capitalism, racial capitalism, and colonialism. I raise the potential of comparative research in better understanding and addressing two particularly destructive modern anti-democratic ideologies: neoclassical and neoliberal economic dogma, grounded in possessive individualism, and scientific racism and white supremacy. Such problems are increasingly urgent, given the rise, particularly in the United States, but also in a number of European nations, of racist and fascist anti-democratic agitation, which threaten the decades of democratic reform, economic growth, and social change experienced, at least in the developed world, since the revival of ancient democratic ideals ushered in by the French Revolution. I put special emphasis on the importance of canvassing a wide range of ancient and modern scholarly and intellectual perspectives on the ways of creating a more politically, economically, and socially just and democratic society, highlighting the work of Cedric Robinson and Robin D.G. Kelley on the Black radical tradition, as well as the ideas of Canadian scholars such as Richard Iton and C.B. MacPherson, whose contributions have been unfairly neglected.