Frédéric Lordon is a French economist and philosopher, CNRS Director of Research at the in Paris. He is an influential figure in France's Nuit debout movement.
Education
Lordon studied at the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, and received his degree there in 1985. He graduated from the Institut Supérieur des Affaires in 1987.
Lordon's work is an attempt to integrate Spinoza's concepts, such as conatus, into the study of political economy. As a participant in the current crises of capitalism, he debates publicly in France, proposing ostensible solutions. He is a member of , a group of economists formed in 2010 who reject mainstream economics' positions, such as the efficient-market hypothesis, etc. An early observer of the subprime mortgage crisis, he proposed the implementation of a tax he nicknamed SLAM, for Shareholder Limited Authorized Margin, the effect of which would be to limit profits so that profit making ventures in the real economy are not determined "only by the interests of the stock exchange market." Lordon played an instrumental role in the rise of the Nuit debout movement. He wrote a piece in the February 2016 issue of Le Monde diplomatique on François Ruffin's film, Merci patron!, describing the film as a clarion call for a potential uprising. This prompted Ruffin to organise a public meeting which led to the organisation of the public occupation of Paris's Place de la République on 31 March 2016. Lordon spoke at the 31 March protest, highlighting the goals of disparate protest movements. He never talked to national media about his role in the movement, explaining that he did not wish to be seen as the leader of a leaderless movement, and so by denying that he was the leader, and pointing out that the movement is in fact leaderless, he deftly positioned himself as the voiceless head of a silent movement.
Books
Les Quadratures de la politique économique, Paris, Albin Michel, 1997
Fonds de pension, piège à cons. Mirage de la démocratie actionnariale, Paris, Liber/Raisons d'agir, 2000
Spinoza et les sciences sociales. De l'économie des affects à la puissance de la multitude, In collaboration with Yves Citton. Paris, Éditions Amsterdam, 2008
Jusqu'à quand ? Pour en finir avec les crises financières, Paris, Éditions Raisons d’agir, 2008
Conflits et pouvoirs dans les institutions du capitalisme, Presses de la Fondation des Sciences Politiques, Paris, 2008
La crise de trop – Reconstruction d'un monde failli, Paris, Éditions Fayard, 2009
Capitalisme, désir et servitude. Marx et Spinoza, La Fabrique éditions, 2010
* Translated into English by Gabriel Ash in 2014, entitled Willing Slaves of Capital
D'un retournement l'autre. Comédie sérieuse sur la crise financière, Paris, Seuil, 2011
L'intérêt souverain – Essai d'anthropologie économique, Paris, La Découverte, 2011
Imperium - Structures et affects des corps politique,Paris,La Fabrique, 2015
