Professor Cynthia Williams will discuss the intellectual foundations of the global financial crisis. As an expert in corporate governance, she will explain how in the US a raw form of capitalism has developed that has led to critical societal inbalances that have led to growing opposition, of which the Occupy Wallstreet movement is the latest example. She will also come with some suggestions for alternative systems, e.g. systems based on network governance.

Cynthia Williams is professor of Law at the University of Illinois and well
known in the field of corporate governance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She has been published in top-academic journals (e.g. Academy of Management Review, Harvard Law Review), is co-founder of the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets and has recently joined the Environmental Financial Advisory Board of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).