The Blurred Line: Speculation and Gambling in Germany and Britain around 1900
Jan 28, 2026 | 5pm PT
Lecture at UC Berkeley (201 Philosophy Hall, UC Berkeley) | Speaker: Cornelius Torp (Stanford University)
Since the 2008 financial crisis, speculation has often been equated with gambling—an accusation echoed by economists, politicians, and NGOs who condemned “casino capitalism” for its destructive effects. Yet the link between speculation and gambling has much deeper roots. This talk places the recent debate in historical perspective by revisiting the controversies surrounding speculation in Imperial Germany and Victorian Britain around 1900, when questions about its legitimacy reached a peak. By comparing these two advanced industrial societies, the presentation examines why similar moral and political anxieties about speculation and gambling produced strikingly different outcomes—and what this divergence reveals about their distinct financial and cultural traditions.
If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact ies@berkeley.edu with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days before the event.
Contact Info: ies@berkeley.edu
Access Coordinator: Institute of European Studies, ies@berkeley.edu, 510-642-4555
About the Speaker
Cornelius Torp is currently the Kratter Visiting Professor in European History at Stanford University and previously held the Gerda Henkel Visiting Professorship. He is on leave from the University of Bremen, where he holds the Chair of Modern History. His academic career has taken him to the London School of Economics, the European University Institute in Florence, the University of Toronto, and several German universities.
Torp’s research explores modern German and European history, with particular focus on the long history of globalization, the welfare state, and the historical dimensions of gambling. His current project examines protectionism in global perspective from the seventeenth century to the present. He is the author of four monographs and the editor or co-editor of seven works and has published widely in leading journals including Central European History, German History, and the English Historical Review.