Dr. Dirk Philipsen

Biography

Dirk Philipsen is an economic historian and political economist affiliated with the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Department of History at Duke University. He serves as a Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics and directs the Regenerative Futures Lab and the Build World Focus program. His research and teaching focus on the structural requirements for the well-being of both people and the planet. Philipsen's academic work includes exploring economic metrics, the history of capitalism, the role of private property, and the promises of revitalized commons. A graduate of Free University of Berlin and Duke University, he has taught at various institutions, including Duke, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia State University, where he founded the Institute for the Study of Race Relations. He has received fellowships from notable institutions such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Philipsen has published extensively on topics including modern capitalism, economic growth, and social and economic justice, with recent works focusing on the limitations of GDP as an economic measure.

Research Interests