Table of Contents

Call for Papers

Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) at ASSA 2014

The Changing Economic Landscape: Issues, Implications and Policy Options

Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy International Conference

Contentions Against Neoliberalism: Reconstituting the social fabric in the developing world

COST-Action IS0902 Conference: Power, Finance and the Crisis

Economic Rationalities: Economic reasoning as knowledge and practice authority

EuroMemo Group

IIPPE Conference 2013

ILRReview: Work and Employment Relations and the New Statism

International Gathering of “The Workers’ Economy” 2013

Japan Society of Political Economy Annual Conference 2013

Journal of Australian Political Economy: The Political Economy of Health

London Conference in Critical Thought 2013

Summer School in History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and History of Economics

Stock-Flow Consistent Modelling Workshop

STOREP Conference 2013

Young Scholar Awards

Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) at Left Forum 2013

Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) at ASSA 2014

Workshop on Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents

WEHIA PhD School

Workshop: Interrogating Economics in the Public Sphere

Workshop: 100th Anniversary of "The Accumulation of Capital”

Call for Participants

Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT) 2013 Conference

Australian Political Economy: State of the Art

Cambridge Realist Workshops

Centro Sraffa Seminars

Financialisation in Middle-Income Countries

For a Pluralistic Teaching of Economics in Higher Education (Pour un Enseignement Pluraliste de l'Economie dans le Superieur)

Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Seminars

Global Trends in Wages, Causes and Effects on Growth

Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Economics at LSE

How neoclassical economic thinking has led to ecological disaster?

IAFFE 2013 Rhonda Williams Prize

Institute for Fiscal Studies

King’s College London Global Institutes Webinar

Managing Public Service through Austerity and Recession

Monetary History Group

Oxford Radical Forum

PERG Seminars at Kingston U

PKSG Keynes Seminar

St Catharine's Political Economy Seminar

Transforming Finance: Fresh thinking on democracy, finance and debt

Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

Dickinson College, US

Hamilton College, US

Middlesex University Business School, UK

Conference Papers, Reports, and Podcasts

PKSG Keynes Seminar Podcast

Past, Present, and Future of the UMass Economics Department

Heterodox Journals

Capital & Class, 37(1): Feb. 2013

European Journal of Economic and Social Systems, 24(1-2): 2011

Oeconomia – History/Methodology/Philosophy, 3(1): March 2013

Oeconomicus, XIII: 2013

World Economic Review, 2: 2013

Heterodox Newsletters

Global Labour Column

Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE)

Levy News

World Economic Association Newsletter, 3(1): Feb. 2013

Heterodox Books and Book Series

A Prelude to the Foundation of Political Economy: Oil, War, and Global Polity

Business, Politics, and the State in Africa: Challenging the Orthodoxies on Growth and Transformation

The Future of South-South Economic Relations

Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire

Gross Domestic Problem: The Politics Behind the World's Most Powerful Number

Societies Beyond Oil: Oil Dregs and Social Futures

To Live and Die in America: Class, Power, Health and Healthcare

Historical Materialism Book Series expands for 2013

Heterodox Book Reviews

The Economics of Social Responsibility: The world of social enterprises

Valuing the Unique: Economics of Singularities

Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships, and Grants

MSc Global Economy and Business Institutions, University of Hertfordshire, UK

Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia: MA, PhD Scholarships

Call for Support

Steve Keen: Promote & Support the "Kickstarter" Campaign for Minsky

For Your Information

G.C. Harcourt: A Tribute to Frank Hahn 1926-2013

Call for Papers

Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) at ASSA 2014

January 3-5, 2014 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Reimagining Social Control for the 21st Century

The Association for Evolutionary Economics invites proposals for individual papers and complete panels on the topic of Reimagining Social Control for the 21st Century.  Institutions both aid and constrain human activities. They are the inherited patterns and norms that govern the activities of provisioning and distribution of concern to economists.  When our institutions are consciously and constructively designed to aid effective social control, we can work within them to address our myriad challenges. When our institutions are captured by vested interests or prevent adoption of new technologies, the kinds of economic, political, and ecological challenges that mark our current era abound and intensify.  This conference theme is inspired by the kinds of creative government and institutional forms developed by the original institutional economists in the early 20th century to help “guide the economy in socially desirable directions” (Rutherford 2011, 9) and by the need to reimagine some of those institutional innovations to help us in this 21st century.  We need to collectively and urgently address many pressing problems, including climate change; pervasive and growing inequality in income, wealth, and health; persistent economic distress for those at the bottom; corporate mismanagement; globalization’s damages in both the North and South; the citizenry’s distrust in the traditional tools of policy-makers; and questions as to the feasibility of solving problems through economic growth when ecological constraints are increasingly binding.

Institutional and heterodox economists are invited to re-examine and re-imagine the institutionalist question of social control as a framework to re-invent our key institutions for the 21st century and collectively address our challenges.  All proposals reflecting the traditional and analytical perspectives represented by the Association for Evolutionary Economics will be given serious consideration.  However, preference will be given to those proposals that address the topic of “Reimagining Social Control for the 21st Century” within the context of important policy debates — past, present, and future.

The deadline for submission of proposals for papers and sessions is April 12, 2013.  Submissions via e-mail are strongly encouraged.  When sending your email, please clearly identify it as an AFEE paper or panel submission in your subject line.  If receipt of your paper or panel proposal has not been acknowledged within two weeks of submission, please, contact the Program Chair (knoedler@bucknell.edu).  Authors will be informed whether their proposals have been accepted by the end of May 2013.

Proposals for panels may contain up to five papers, and must include relevant details of all papers to be presented (see below).  Please, remember that constraints imposed by the Allied Social Science Association severely limit the number of sessions allocated to AFEE and AFEE deeply regrets the necessity to turn down many good proposals.  Presentations should be no more than eighteen minutes in length so as to leave time for discussion.  Papers presented  at the AFEE Philadelphia meeting are eligible for publication in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Economic Issues.  To be considered for publication, the text of your paper cannot exceed 2,850 words, with no more than four pages (total) of double-spaced endnotes, references, tables, and figures.  The deadline for submission to the JEI is December 13 (Friday), 2013.  JEI submission details will be provided to authors whose proposals are accepted for the conference.  All criteria for the submission of papers, including deadlines, will be strictly enforced by the JEI editor, Christopher Brown.  At least one of the authors of any paper must be a member of AFEE. Papers should be sent by email attachment to jei@astate.edu.

For membership information, please, visit www.afee.net or contact erhake@catawba.edu.  We also plan to organize a new event for this year, tentatively to be titled a “new” or “recent author reception” that will follow the membership meeting on the first evening of the conference.  More detail on this event will follow in future correspondence from Eric Hake, Teresa Rowell, and President Phil O’Hara.

As stated above, proposals for papers or panels must be submitted to the Program Chair, Janet Knoedler, Bucknell University, by April 12, 2013.  The following information must be submitted for each paper:

a)     Name(s) of author(s);

b)     Professional affiliation(s);

c)     E-mail address of corresponding author ( ideally,  for all  authors involved);

d)    Mailing address of corresponding author ( ideally,  for all authors involved);

e)     Title of proposed paper;

f)      Abstract of no more than 250 words;

g)     Declared willingness to serve as a discussant or session chair (specify field).

I look forward to hearing from you.

Program Chair: Janet T. Knoedler

Department of Economics

Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA 17837

E-mail:  knoedler@bucknell.edu

Phone: 570-577-3447; 570-577-1476

The Changing Economic Landscape: Issues, Implications and Policy Options

May 30 - June 1, 2013 | Hotel Park Plaza Histria Pula, Istrian County, Croatia

Keynote speakers: Steve Keen, James K. Galbraith, Gary A. Dymski, Soumitra Sharma, Richard Kozul-Wright, Maren Duvendack

Accepted papers will be published in the book proceedings indexed in EBSCO, Proquest, EconLit and submitted for indexing by Thomson ISI (Web of Science). Selected 15 papers will be published in our International Journal Economic Research - Ekonomska istraživanja  (Indexed by  Thomson SSCI (Web of Science), SCOPUS, Cabell's Directories,  ProQuest, IndexCopernicus, CAB abstracts, ULRICH'S, EBSCO, EconLit and more).

Download the letter of invitation and CFP.

For more information, contact Ksenija Cerne, kcerne@unipu.hr  or coet2013@unipu.hr 

Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy International Conference

7-10 July 2013 | Glasgow, Scotland | website

Management of Land and Sea Resources: What’s New?

Download the call for papers.

Contentions Against Neoliberalism: Reconstituting the social fabric in the developing world

June 27-28th 2013 | Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford

Democracy, Governance and Development Conference Series

Neoliberal economic approaches, which gained momentum in Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia with the debt crisis during the early 1980s, have adversely impacted the prospects of coordinated collective action. Most notoriously, the growing assertiveness of capital, the policy emphasis on a regulatory rather than an interventionist state, and the expansion of the informal sector, significantly weakened actors such as labour unions. As a result of these social fragmentations, class-based contention lost considerable ground and the very process of protesting was re-shaped in multiple ways.

These multiple contestations are not only forged in opposition to, or protesting against, but also in negotiation with, and building on the reformulated socio-economic and political landscape. Contributing to the reconstitution of the social fabric and reconstructing collective action, social movements have flourished around the globe, contesting the neoliberal prescriptions in various policy fields, and ‘repoliticising’ long-dormant development policy debates. In the most articulated forms, contentions against neoliberalism have intersected with claims for democratisation and sought to contribute to far-reaching socio-political change. Other forms of politics have also thrived under neoliberal conditions. These have been examined under a range of analytical rubrics, such as ‘political society’, ‘everyday resistance’, and ‘non-movements’. In short, from mass mobilisation to ‘non-movements’, the examination of contentions against neoliberalism, the conditions underpinning them and the structural constraints they face, has acquired greater relevance and analytical urgency.

The conference aims to bring together scholars who are working on the reconstitution of the social fabric and the bourgeoning reconstruction of collective action in different parts of the developing world. The cross-regional focus of the conference will help to generate cumulative insights to address the following questions: how does discontent with neoliberal marginalisation define identity boundaries that help contesting and negotiating the economic, social and political environment?; what are the links between reactions against neoliberalism at the micro-level (e.g. development of organisational resources) and the subsequent impact at the macro-level (e.g. agenda-setting and policy impact)?; how do grievances stemming from the shortcomings of neoliberalism intersect with other claims related to democratisation, culturally defined identities, gender, and the like in particular national contexts?; and, what are the main formal and informal constraints to construct broader alliances to push for far-reaching reforms? Focusing on these questions, the aim of the conference is to advance our understanding of the relationship between free-market reforms and political change.

Participants of this conference will continue to develop the analytical themes emerging from prior Democracy, Governance and Development Conferences held at Oxford (2011) and London (2012). Preference will be given to doctoral students in advanced stages of writing up and postdoctoral fellows. A balance of geographical coverage of empirical data and types of mobilisation will be sought with the aim of working towards either a special issue in a peer-reviewed journal, or an edited volume.

Potential analytical themes of interest include (but not limited to):

1. New forms of trade unionism and/or reshaping of ‘old’ trade unions
2. Social movements against privatisation
3. Citizenship contests
4. Forging of political subjects in the neoliberal era
5. Contestation of the neoliberal transformation of the state

Important dates:

1. The conference is scheduled for June 27-28, 2013
2. To apply to the conference, please submit your paper title and an abstract (500 words max. including theoretical approach) to sofia.donoso@sant.ox.ac.uk by March 20, 2013
3. Notifications of acceptances will be circulated by April 7, 2013
4. Final papers are due by June 1, 2013

Logistics:

We regret Oxford Department of International Development is not able to cover travel costs of participants. We will offer participants accommodation close to the conference venue and meals during the conference days.

Questions can be directed to:

Sofia Donoso, Ph.D. candidate in Development Studies, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford: sofia.donoso@sant.ox.ac.uk

COST-Action IS0902 Conference: Power, Finance and the Crisis

12. - 13. September 2013 | Berlin, Germany

Conference of the COST-Action IS0902: World financial Crisis. Systemic Risks, Financial Crisis and Credit

The recent economic crisis has stimulated debates about power in the field of finance. The financial ruptures seem to have challenged the existing power constellations and raised questions about a transformation of financial power relations. While the international debate about the political economy of finance was dominated by rather  technical terms so far, the crisis has increasingly drawn attention to the multifaceted power constellations in financial relations: from the central role of finance in contemporary capitalism and the growing influence of rating agencies vis-à-vis national governments, to geo-economic power-constellations among monetary blocks, and to the  power of financial imaginaries and their impact on peoples’ everyday practices. Though power-sensitive perspectives on finance are on the move, the systematic academic exploration of power-related questions in the field of finance is still at an early stage. There has yet to be substantial a discussion of theoretical foundations as well as empirical investigation of different forms and dimensions of power in financial relations.

The COST Conference is therefore committed to an exploration of the various power relations in the field of finance. We welcome proposals for panels and papers that engage the following themes:

1. Assessing different forms of power in the field of finance: What forms of power in the field of finance are to be explored? How to conceptualize theoretically different forms of financial power, such as structural, agental, discursive etc.? What are respective sources and resources of power in the field of finance?
2. Exploring dimensions of power in finance: for example hierarchies among nations and economic blocks, the role of international organizations in global finance, financial power and the EU, financialization of the state, finance versus workers, consumers, or industrial capital, everyday finance, and other relevant topics.
3. Dynamics of change: Did the recent crisis change financial power relations, e.g. in the international arena or in the field of everyday finance? What are the origins of transformation of power in finance, what are forces of inertia?

Alongside these topics, there will be space for panels and papers covering other aspects of a power-sensitive analysis of financial relations. We encourage potential contributors to include a gender-sensitive analysis whenever possible.

Panel proposals should be based on the assumption of 1½-hour time slots. They should have no more than 250 words, containing a theme as well as a rationale for the session, names of the panel- organizers, including institutional affiliations and contact information.

Deadline: Please submit your panel and paper proposal at COST2013@icdd.uni-kassel.de by May 31st 2013.

Supported by:

1. International Center for Development and Decent Work
2. University of Kassel
3. International Political Political Economy working group of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) COST-Action

Economic Rationalities: Economic reasoning as knowledge and practice authority

26-­‐27 January 2014 | Aarhus University, Denmark

Regimes of thought and legitimizations of action draw upon systematized authorities of religious, juridical, moral, scientific and increasingly economic reasoning. These authorities interrelate in various ways. They compete to be the prime, societal authority; they supplant each other; they borrow metaphors, concepts, practices; they subvert and change existing languages. To address these interrelations ECORA invites interested scholars to submit paper proposals on the historical study of economic rationality and the struggles for authority between economic reasoning and other claims for knowledge-­‐ and practice-­‐authority in Western modernity.

Abstracts must be submitted to one of three parallel streams:

1. The Renaissance
2. The Enlightenment
3. American and Western European Capitalism

We invite scholars with an interest in the history of economic thought to submit a paper proposal. We particularly encourage scholars working with the interrelations between economic, religious and/or scientific reasoning to participate as well as people understanding their work as, or related to, what could called the ‘history of economic thought’, ‘intellectual history of capitalism’, ‘history of economic ideas’, and ‘history of science and science studies’.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your abstract proposals (max 300 words) as a PDF file to ecora2014@hum.au.dk. Please indicate which stream your proposal refers to.

Deadline for paper proposal: September 1st 2013 (feedback on paper proposals September 15 2013).

Organizers

The conference is organized by the research project ECORA (http://ecora.au.dk/) located at the Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University funded by the Velux Foundation.

Suggested stream topics

The Renaissance (1400-­‐1750)

Early Modern Entrepreneurship; Trust and Trade, From credito to gentlemanliness; Techniques and Practices; Financial Philosophies; From Households to Powerhouses; Finances and Statesmanship; Lady Credit; Virtú and Money; natural philosophy and economy; the role of mathematics; usura and debt

The Enlightenment (ca. 1700-­‐1840)

Political contexts of key economic theories; changing discourses and meanings of money, credit, finance; strategies for changing the role of states in commerce and finance; conceptions of ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ of mankind; Changing patterns of consumption; Theories and arguments on global economic orders; Conceptions of free (or unfree) markets; The valuation of human life in economics; Insurance systems.

American and Western European Capitalism (ca. 1870-­‐2000)

Key economic, social and political thinkers; ideas about the market; the economist as public intellectual; economic textbooks; ideas of the corporation; financialization; interest organizations and their role in the production and spread of economic thinking; legitimisation of economic action; changing discourses and meanings of money, credit, finance; neoliberalism; financial crisis; comparative studies.

EuroMemo Group

During the 2012 EuroMemo Conference it was announced that Poznan University of Economics is

going to publish a book composed of papers submitted by the Conference participants. It was assumed the book should contain approximately 15-20 papers. As the number submitted so far is much fewer, we are approaching you with a request for a contribution to the volume. We would like to invite you to submit papers (also not submitted to the Conference) in one of the following areas, which were discussed at the Conference and which appear in the latest Euro Memorandum:

1. Economic and financial policy: a critical assessment of current policies in the EU and their impact; the limits of recent calls for a ‘growth pact’; the ongoing restructuring and concentration of capital; the failure to address the deepening ecological crisis.
2. Governance in the EU: the shifting power relations in formal and informal structures, the increasing dominance of large states and declining public legitimacy; the need to develop appropriate forms of economic democracy.
3. Restructuring the social agenda: contesting narratives of the crisis; how the crisis is being used to shift to more regressive policies; the impact on wages, labour rights and social programmes.
4. A development strategy for the European periphery: the transformation of industrial and institutional structures and the need for a comprehensive long-term investment programmes based on promoting skills and good jobs.
5. The crisis in global governance: the G20’s failure to develop a coordinated response to the crisis; the WTO’s failure to address global – and especially North-South – trade imbalances; the lack of prospects for significant progress in global environmental governance (‘Rio + 20’ conference; climate change).

Only original papers, which have not been published before, will be accepted by the Publisher. Authors will be requested to declare that their publication will not infringe copyright, the related rights and personal interests of third parties. Publication of the book will be fully financed by the PUE.

The papers submitted should be written in English. Please note that if a revised manuscript needs more than very minor linguistic corrections, these should be carried out by the Authors themselves. So, do your best, please, to present your paper in correct English. Harvard system of referencing should be used.

Complete typescript should not exceed 40 thousand characters (including spaces). A4 page should contain 33-34 lines, right margins 3.5 cm, other 2 cm; double spacing, size type 12 point, Please use Microsoft Word, Excel and Corel Draw programs for preparing the typescript.

If you wish to have your paper published in the book, please submit an electronic copy of your complete manuscript, to Wlodzimierz Dymarski (wlodzimierz.dymarski@ue.poznan.pl) on or before March 4, 2013, though earlier submissions are strongly encouraged. Please cc your submission to the other members of the editorial team: Marica Frangakis (frangaki@otenet.gr) and Jeremy Leaman (J.Leaman@lboro.ac.uk). Decision on including a submitted paper in the book will be made on the basis of its preliminary review by the editors by March 30, 2013. Revisions should be expected. Revised manuscripts, in required format, with changes consistent with requested revisions, must be received by the editors by April 15, 2013 at the latest. The manuscript of the whole book will be referred to a reviewer designated by the Publisher.

Let us know, please, as soon as possible, if you intend to submit a paper, and if so, in which area and on what subject.

With best regards,

Wlodzimierz Dymarski

Marica Frangakis

IIPPE Conference 2013

The deadline for abstracts is now February 28th.

All working groups CfPs can be found at the IIPPE web site.

ILRReview: Work and Employment Relations and the New Statism

The ILRReview is calling for papers for a special issue devoted to work and employment relations and the new statism. Scholars interested in participating should submit a paper to the journal by December 1, 2013.

The special issue, coordinated by Adrian Wilkinson and Geoffrey Wood, will explore new approaches to and new perspectives from comparative institutional analysis on the role of the state. It will focus on the less visible and direct ways in which the state may influence industries, firms, and workers. Although the marginalization of unions and the hegemony of neoliberalism in many advanced societies challenged the raison d’etre of industrial relations, the revival of institutional approaches to political economy has underscored the relevance of a field of study in which institutions, including those clustered around the state, have always been central. The recent economic crisis, while generated through failures in market regulation, has ironically led to both pressures for a further paring back of governmental capabilities for regulation and enforcement and a renewed interest in the possibilities for meaningful institutional redesign of the role of the state.

This special issue will highlight main currents in contemporary institutionalist thinking and their relevance for the study of the present role of the state in industrial relations. Although institutional analysis is often associated with assumptions of strong path dependence, recent work has highlighted the circumstances and the possible forms of systemic change and the role of super- and sub-national institutional configurations in making for bounded diversity.

The United States, which is often upheld as the archetypical liberal market economy (LME), incorporates not only market-oriented but also strongly network statist elements. The latter would encompass the overlapping military industrial, security, and penal complexes. Although active industrial policy is generally politically taboo, it becomes entirely acceptable when phrased in security terms. Security contractors and high-technology firms servicing these complexes may be characterized by highly individualistic employment relations, but the defense procurement industry has also propped up large traditional manufacturing firms in, inter alia, the aerospace, engineering, shipbuilding, and military vehicles industries, where many firms are characterized by heavy unionization and traditional pluralist industrial relations. In other words, the consequences of state intervention in these areas for work and employment are uneven.

At a broader level, state support for the military industrial, security, and penal complexes in the United States––and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom––highlights the extent to which state intervention may prop up large areas of economic activity in LMEs. The banking sector is another example of prodigious and ongoing state support. Not only does the high-technology sector in the United States benefit from spillover defense spending, but, as is the case with the pharmaceutical industry, it also gains through close relations with universities and regional authorities. Unlike more traditional forms of statism, the new statism has been characterized by governments playing a less active or more arms-length role in relation to specific IR policies and practices followed by associated or client firms. At the same time, indirect or direct state financial patronage and support allow for a greater stability than normally afforded by the quotidian fluctuations of markets. Hence, state linked, supported, and directed sectors are likely to follow very different work and employment relations paradigms compared to those encountered under a strict market regime. Traditional manufacturers, which may not otherwise have survived, often prosper if they are defense contractors; such firms may be highly unionized, and management may be able to offer more secure terms and conditions of service than would otherwise be the case.

Although the IT and biotech industries are characterized by individualistic employment relations, close ties on a regional basis with the not-for-profit sector and specific state structures encourage industrial clustering; this allows for the development of a relatively privileged class of highly mobile individuals who are able to trade on sector-relevant skills and experience. Finally, the penal and military complexes, while not always providing work that is necessarily desirable, do provide jobs that would otherwise not exist in areas of high unemployment. This not only helps “solve” structural problems, but by occupying, in particular, large numbers of young men with limited formal skills, also reduces the likelihood of social protest.

The ILRReview welcomes empirical papers based on a range of methodologies, including survey research, fieldwork in the form of qualitative or quantitative case studies, and the use of archival data. Submissions should take account of salient issues, such as how direct or indirect state financing might change behavior and the impact of specific state policy agendas, financing, and ownership regimes on industrial relations practice in client or associated firms. Purely conceptual submissions are discouraged.

Particular themes papers could address include (the list is by no means extensive):

1. Work and employment relations in traditional government-related industries, such as defense manufacturing, private military contractors (PMCs), and the penal complex.
2. Work and employment relations in pharmaceuticals: the impact of ties with the state and not-for-profit sectors.
3. Work and employment relations in the IT sector: the impact of ties with the state and not-for-profit sectors.
4. Neoliberal ideologies and politics in terms of new ideas on the role of the state.
5. The global economic crisis and the changing role of the state.
6. The uneven nature of the “hollowing out” of governmental regulatory capability on firm-level practice.

To submit your paper for consideration, please visit here. Click on the Submissions link at the top of the page and follow our on-screen instructions.

Prospective contributors are urged to consult the coordinators regarding preliminary proposals or ideas for papers: Adrian Wilkinson (adrian.wilkinson@griffith.edu.au) and Geoffrey Wood (geoffrey.wood@wbs.ac.uk).

International Gathering of “The Workers’ Economy” 2013

July 9-12, 2013 | Joao Pessoa, Brazil

Self-management and Work as Alternatives to the Global Economic Crisis

In an international context where the global capitalist crisis is increasingly affecting European countries, especially along the Mediterranean, the only response from governments has been to implement the usual austerity measures. These austerity measures,tried and tested in other parts of the world, have, yet again, not only failed to regenerate economies, but have led to further impoverishment, structural unemployment, marginalization and insecurity for the majority of who must work to earn a living. In response, large protest movements have begun to emerge in the “developed” countries that are feeling the effects of the crisis the most, reinforcing the need for changes in the management of the economy that not only contemplate the welfare of workers, but also assure that its management rest in their hands..

In the so-called “developing” countries, particularly in Latin America, social movements, people’s organizations and labor movements have been developing self-managed organizations at a grassroots level. Such is the case of the worker-recuperated enterprises in various South American countries, and other forms of workers’ control, both urban and rural. In some instances, these movements have gained some recognition and support at a governmental level, bringing into question the role of the state and the relationship between state power and the autonomy of popular movements: on the one hand the state can be a potential facilitator of the processes of workers’ control, but on the other hand it can be seen as an antagonistic instrument of traditional power with the potential to limit the autonomy of self-managed organizations.

The Fourth International Gathering of “The Workers’ Economy” seeks to explore these and other questions relating workers’ struggles from different perspectives and national contexts. It seeks to provide space for discussion and debate using the experiences of workers’ control and self-management as a point of departure, bringing together academics, social activists, and workers. Together with worker-recuperated enterprises, cooperatives, labor movements and organizations, social movements, political groups, and academics, among others, we have been co-developing the International Gathering and its themes

with representatives from over 20 countries that have participated in our previous three gatherings. We reiterate here what we emphasized in previous encuentros: while in uneven ways perhaps, workers are undoubtedly inventing alternatives that are not only limited to the economic, but that extend out into wider cultural processes as well. Based on non-capitalist relations of production, these processes have increasingly been opening up spaces for prefigurative politics. Moreover, these alternative economic institutions are affording workers room for discussing issues such as internal power and gender structures, as well as the relationship between workers, workplaces, and their surrounding communities. These processes, visible for example in the recuperated factories, workers’ cooperatives, and micro-enterprises of the world, although still incipient, show that workers can indeed self-manage a more humane and sustainable alternative than what is offered by corporate globalization.

The Fourth International Gathering will be held in the town of João Pessoa in the state of Paraíba in northeastern Brazil, and hosted by the Incubator for Social Enterprises (INCUBES), at the Universidade Federal da Paraiba, and the Programa Facultad Abierta (Open Faculty Program) of the University of Buenos Aires.

History of the International Gathering of “The Workers’ Economy”

The International Gathering of “The Workers’ Economy,” had is its first encuentro in Buenos Aires in July 2007 under the theme “Self-management and Distribution of wealth.” It was organized by the Open Faculty Program of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires, in conjunction with academic institutions, social organizations, and workers in Argentina and around the world. The International Gatherings, have emerged into a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences between academics, activists, and workers. These ideas center on the possibilities and challenges of self-management; the regeneration of a political, economic, and social project by the working class and social movements; as well as critical discussion and analyses of the practices of academic research focusing on self-management and the workers’ economy..

The Argentine experience of workers’ control and self-management provided a solid basis for discussion for the first encuentro in 2007. These discussions took on an international nature by the second and third encuentros (held in Buenos Aires in 2009, and in Mexico City in 2011) which explored, and learned from, the different experiences of the working class and social movements around the world. As an ultimate objective, they contemplated on an alternative economic, social and political project from that which neoliberal global capitalism presents. In this sense the themes and discussion topics of the International Gatherings became more diverse with each new encuentro, expanding to different areas of social struggle and critical thinking, yet still remaining true to the spirit suggested by the title of the International Gatherings: how to think about, debate and construct an economy emerging from workers themselves and encompassing workers’ self-management.

Thematic areas:

Proposals for panels and paper presentations may include, but are certainly not limited to, the following thematic areas:

1. Analysis of capitalist management of the economy and proposals for self-management
2. The new crisis of global capitalism: Analysis from the perspective of the workers’ economy
3. The historical trajectory of self-management: From traditional communities to labor movements
4. Actual practices of self-management today: Possibilities and challenges. (Including, but not limited to: worker-recuperated enterprises, cooperatives, and attempts at self-management by indigenous communities, peasants and social movements)
5. Self-management and gender: Creating democracy
6. Analysis of the socialist experience: Past and future
7. The challenges of trade union experiences in neoliberal global capitalism.
8. Informal, precarious, and degrading employment: Social exclusion or reconfiguration of labor in global capitalism?
9. New movements in response to the global economic crisis: Perspectives from the struggle for self-management
10. Challenges facing popular governments in the social management of the economy and the state
11. The university, workers, and social movements: Debates over methodologies and practices of mutual construction

Organizational structure for the IV International Meeting “The Economy of the Workers”

The IV International Meeting will take place 9th-12th July, 2013 with morning and afternoon sessions, and will be open to the public.  There will be plenary sessions and workshops with the presentation of papers, videoconferencing, and a final plenary session with discussion and conclusions

Organizing Committee:

Incubator for Social Enterprises (INCUBES) Fedeal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil; Department of Social Relations of the Autonomous Metropolitan University-Xochimilco, Mexico; Programa Facultad Abierta (Open Faculty Program), Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abstract submission deadline for papers: 22 April 2013

Notification of approved presentations: 2 May 2013

Final papers submission deadline: 30 June 2013

Please send abstracts for presentations to the following emails:

English:

1. marcelo.vieta@euricse.eu - Marcelo Vieta (Research Fellow, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (EURICSE), Trento, Italy, and York University, Toronto, Canada)                  

Portuguese:

1. mausarda@yahoo.com.br - Mauricio Sardá (Coordinator of the Incubadora de Empreendimentos Solidários, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil)

Spanish:

1. centrodoc@gmail.com - Documentation Centre of Worker-Recuperated Enterprises, Open Faculty Program, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
2. andres.ruggeri@gmail.com - Andrés Ruggeri (Director, Open Faculty Program)
3. marcoagomez.gomez@gmail.com - Marco Augusto Gómez Solórzano (Director, Labor Studies, UAM-Xochimilco, Mexico)

For more information on the International Gathering of the Workers’ Economy, including previous meetings in 2007, 2009 and 2011, go to here and here.

Japan Society of Political Economy Annual Conference 2013

Cataclysm of Global Economy and Future of Capitalism

October 5-6, 2013 | Senshu University, Kanagawa, Japan | website

Global capitalism has always been viewed as a dynamic and ever-expanding system. However, the dramatic changes in its geographical spread over the past two decades may represent its most significant transformation in a half century. After a period during which the mid-twentieth century international division of labour was cemented and reinforced, a new global division of labour is now being established with the emergence of populous and potentially large developing economies as major players on the world scene. While several emerging economies in different parts of the world are becoming increasingly important, the rise and economic diversification of China and India carry major ramifications because of their sheer size and future potential in terms of directing the course of global economic affairs. In this context, certain questions are become very pressing. What theoretical frameworks best help us to understand the economic rise of China and India? How sustainable is their rise? How will the rise of China and India impact the developed world? Is the present crisis a visible watershed marking the impending decline of Western hegemony? Or are the emerging economies, China and India in particular, simply on a belated crisis trajectory? Will the underlying trends in the transformation of the new global division of labour continue long after the crisis has ended? Are trends emerging in the world economy which presage further crisis?

The JSPE is an interdisciplinary association devoted to the study, development, and application of political economy to social problems. Japan has been an important laboratory for developing and debating ideas about capitalism and its dynamics. On the one hand, many political economists in Japan have chosen to work with diverse approaches to political economy – the French Regulation school, the Cambridge Keynesian models, institutionalist and historical schools, and so on. On the other hand, Japan has given rise to several distinct strands of Marxian political economy such as the Uno School. JSPE has been the largest organization of heterodox economists in Japan since its founding in 1959. Its annual meetings have provided important occasions for debate among diverse points of view. Beginning in October 2001, the JSPE began inviting non-Japanese economists to make presentations and engage in debates at these annual meetings.

JSPE invites proposals for the English sessions in the following categories.

English Sessions I: Topics relating to the plenary session such as:

1. Cataclysm of Global Economy and Future of Capitalism
2. Crises of Global Economies,
3. Industrialization of China and India and Impacts on the World Economy.

English Sessions II: All proposals reflecting the tradition and analytical perspective of JSPE which include

1. Marxian and Heterodox economic theories,
2. Regimes of capitalism,
3. Economic development and the environment,  
4. Gender and inequality.

Submission Procedures and the Deadline:

Proposals should reach the JSPE Committee for International Communication and Exchange (Jspecice@jspe.gr.jp) by 18 May 2013 at the latest.

When submitting your proposal, please include:

1. The title of proposed paper and the category of the session;

1. Name and academic affiliation;
2. E-mail and postal address;
3. An abstract (up to 500 words).

Notification of acceptance will be sent by 30 June.

Cost: Attendants will pay their conference fee (6000 yen per person including the conference dinner), as well as their own transportation, accommodation and other personal expenses.

Senshu University is located just outside of Tokyo. It is very convenient to visit Tokyo, Yokohama and Kamakura.

Contact: Prof. Nobuharu Yokokawa (Chairman of the JSPE Committee for International Communication and Exchange) E-mail: yokokawa@cc.musashi.ac.jp

Postal Address: c/o Prof. Teruomi Miyazaki, Faculty of Economics, Senshu University, Higashi Mita 2-1-1, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken 214-8580 Japan        

Tel: +81(0)449111050

Journal of Australian Political Economy: The Political Economy of Health

Special issue on Addressing the Real Disease? The Political Economy of Health in Australia

Guest Editors

1. Dorothy Broom (Emeritus Professor, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University)
2. David Primrose (Postgraduate research candidate, Department of Political Economy, University of Sydney).

The political economy of health constitutes a major field of concern for global political economic scholars and policy makers. Matters of public health – ranging from food and diet-related issues and access to affordable medication, through to provision of quality housing, employment security and occupational health and safety – are widely recognised as central in determining the prevailing quality of life. In such areas, the neoliberal turn in contemporary Australian capitalism has given rise to processes that threaten the state of the country's health, in spite of the institutionalised provision of universal public medical and hospital care through Medicare. Paradoxically, however, while a vast literature has been produced concerned with analysing recent developments in Australia's health – derived predominantly from mainstream economic and medical approaches – comparatively little has been written from a systematically critical political economic standpoint. This is particularly problematic, given the increasing magnitude of the Australian health industry has paralleled its increasing centrality as a site of capital accumulation.

These concerns were of passionate interest to Gavin Moony and his partner Del Watson, who died tragically in December 2012. Their deaths have prompted the editorial collective of the Journal of Australian Political Economy to instigate a special issue on the political economy of health in Australia. The issue will examine how matters relating to the neoliberalisation of contemporary political, economic and social processes bear on health and health systems in Australia and the region. Submissions are now sought from people who wish to contribute to this special issue. Papers accepted for publication will appear in the Winter 2014 edition of JAPE.

Papers might explore how a critical political economic analysis of health in contemporary Australian capitalism illuminates important themes such as:

1. Theoretical constraints underpinning mainstream economic and medical approaches to health;
2. Political, economic and social determinants of the neoliberalisation of healthcare in Australia;
3. Healthcare as an object of struggle, particularly over inequality of access and further commodification/privatisation;
4. The political economy of diet/obesity-related issues in Australia;
5. PBS and free trade agreements;
6. The human genome project and potential health outcomes;
7. Political economy of health inequalities;
8. Occupational health and safety;
9. The medicalisation of the human body;
10. Indigenous health;
11. Asylum-seeker and refugee health;
12. Corporate structure of the Australian health industry (the pharmaceutical, insurance, medical technology and healthcare provider firms);
13. Medicare and private providers of health insurance;
14. Alternative health arrangements;
15. Australian health aid in the region;
16. Parallels between changes in the Australian and international health systems;
17. Gavin Mooney's contribution to the political economy of health

This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive and authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts on any theme relevant to the political economy of health in Australia.

Instructions to Authors

Articles should be a minimum of 6,000 words and not exceed 8,000 words in length. Submissions should also include an abstract of 40-80 words and be formatted according to the guidelines stipulated on the JAPE website. Manuscripts should be sent to David Primrose (david.primrose@sydney.edu.au) or Dorothy Broom (dorothy.broom@gmail.com). Please include a postal address and telephone number to facilitate editorial liaison. All contributions will go through a double-blind refereeing process to determine their suitability for publication.

Deadline for Submissions: 30 September 2013

London Conference in Critical Thought 2013

6-7 June 2013 | Royal Holloway, University of London

The conference is organised in the format of streams or thematic panels, covering interdisciplinary topics such as the relevance of historical theories today and responses to the global financial crisis. Some of the streams will be of interest to heterodox economists dealing with issues in political/cultural economy.

Please send papers/presentations proposals with the relevant stream indicated in the subject line to londoncriticalconference@gmail.com. Submissions should be no more than 250 words and be received by the 25th March 2013.

Full information is available here.  

Summer School in History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and History of Economics

2 to 8 September, 2013 | Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

Growth and Development : History, Theory, Policy

Various approaches to development and growth have been proposed since the Mercantilist era and, still more, since the pioneering works of the Classical economists, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx. Historically, these approaches have paid special attention to some major features, like the role of the division of labor, the fertility of the soil, population, the link between distribution and production, the stages of development or, thanks to Marx, to technology. More recent approaches have favored topics related, among others, to market structures or decision-making, and draw on important fields of economic analysis, like international economics. Obviously, this can be linked to both the evolution of economic theory during the twentieth century and to the situation of developing countries. This latter makes particularly sensible the well-known difference between growth and development: reconstruction after socialist regimes, modernization, relations to international institutions, are typical issues, not that present in developed countries, which challenge current conceptions of development and growth.

Now, although this challenge is clearly an economic one, it also leads us to consider human progress from a broader point of view, now dealing with such issues as the condition of women, the place of religion, or ecological concerns. An important consequence is that typical questions in development and growth (for instance: Is there really a negative relationship between inequality and economic growth? Is democracy sufficient to improve GDP? How should property rights be related to growth? Is economic development sustainable? What is the nature of the relationship between financial development and real GDP per capita? Is it possible to promote jointly economic development and energy saving or, more broadly, while preventing further destruction of the environment? How does development and growth affect poverty? What does development actually mean?) do not only deal with usual economic approaches and methods from the previous century, but also with historical, philosophical and sociological investigations, echoing what we already encountered among some Classical economists.

In this perspective, the 16th Summer School in History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and History of Economics, will give the opportunity of discussing the challenging topic of development and growth in a multi-disciplinary approach, with the participation of invited professors, researchers and PhD students.

The aim of the Summer School is to provide participants with a state of the art of current reflections on growth, development and related issues, such are these mentioned above, from the perspectives of economic analysis, history of economic thought, economic philosophy and economic history. In accordance with the interdisciplinary spirit of the summer school, its aim is also to establish necessary links with recent developments in sociology, psychology and philosophy.

On the occasion of the 16th Summer School on History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and Economic History, morning sessions will be dedicated to about 11 conferences on the topic "Growth and Development: History, Theory, Policy". This topic is to be tackled according to the scientific commitments that are the hallmark of this Summer School:

1. A concern for putting the topic within an historical perspective, from 18th century reforms proposals to recent debates on the classical growth model.
2. A reflection on the concepts used to deal with political aspects of growth and development: their philosophical foundations and their methodological implications.
3. Interactions with other disciplines, on the topic of human development, poverty, inequality and property rights. Exchanges with history, sociology, law and psychology will be welcome.
4. The relation between financial development and growth will be discussed in the framework of the role and the independency of the Central Bank and its monetary policies.

We remind you that PhD proposals are not supposed to be linked to the theme of the morning seminars. The deadline for abstract submission is 30 April 2013. Abstracts of 750 to 1000 words, or full-papers of up to 7500 words (in English or French) on the fields of history of economic thought, economic philosophy or economic history should be sent to Çınla Akdere (cakdere@metu.edu.tr) before 30 April 2013.

Hotel accommodation will be provided to all participants. The web site provides further information.

Stock-Flow Consistent Modelling Workshop

2 and 3 May, 2013 | Dijon, France

jeudi 14 février 2013 par Mickaël Clévenot

State of art, empirical issues and theoretical aspects. All those aspects are relevant to send a proposition. The goal of this meeting is to create a sustainable international collaboration between the researchers with more or less experienced but converging toward the same direction : the improvement of the SFC modeling framework in order to get forward in understanding the real world and provide alternative policy recommendations based on a robust diagnosis. Accordingly, the papers proposed should address any relevant theme aiming to achieve this goal.

Organization

The deadline for the submission of paper is March 10. The proposals, under the form of an extended abstract of 2 pages must be sent either to Antoine Godin (godin.antoine@gmail.com) or to Mickaël Clévenot (clevenot.mickael@gmail.com). For any logistical questions, contact M. Clévenot. We intend to support transport costs or accommodation fees, or both costs depending on the number of participants. Note that only those who submit a paper within the deadline will obtain financial support. Of course any person interested in the workshop is welcome, at its own expenses. There is no participation fee.

The papers must be sent one month before the workshop so that other participants may read them, the papers will be uploaded on the sfc-models.net website. The papers may still be preliminary versions. Traditional sessions will be organized with a discussant. We will require all participants to be a discussant.

More informal sessions as round-table will be organized on the methodology and on the topics you want to address. For this purpose, let us know your wishes as soon as possible. This workshop is ours; it is up to us to make it a lever to move forward together. To insure a wider diffusion of the ideas developed during the workshop, some sessions might be broadcasted on the internet.

Expecting you numerous, motivated, in a spirit of sharing.

M. Clévenot

A. Godin

STOREP Conference 2013

How much is too much: different approaches to consumption and leisure

Gaeta at the Castello Angiovino-Aragonese on May 31 and at the Hotel Mirasole International on June 1-2

An abstract of about 300 words for a paper and 500 words for a session (together with the abstracts of the papers for the session) should be submitted at the latest by February 28, 2013 to: segretario@storep.org.

Notification of accepted and rejected abstracts will be made by March 15, 2013.

Other important dates:

1. April 30 2013: Deadline per the registration for the Conference (early fee) and deadline for sending full papers.
2. May 20 2013: Deadline for late registration (late fee);
3. May 31-June 1-2 2013: STOREP Conference

All relevant information concerning the registration fees, accomodation and programme will be published soon on the website of the association. The main theme of the Conference is How much is too much: different approaches to consumption and leisure.

Discussion about whether economic progress could relieve mankind, once and for all, from the ‘need to work’ has been a recurrent concern for political economists. In Mill’s ideal of a stationary state (Mill, 1848, vol. II, Book IV, Ch. 6) “there would be as much scope as ever for all kinds of mental culture, and moral and social progress; as much room for improving the Art of Living, and much more likelihood of its being improved, when minds ceased to be engrossed by the art of getting on.”. Almost a century later, John Maynard Keynes in hisessay “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” (1930) envisioned a not-so-distant future society in which the struggle for subsistence would be solved, though he questioned whether individuals would indeed be ready to abandon the old habits and to embrace “the new-found bounty of nature”. Today in many countries the problem of poverty is far from being solved, yet, as Tibor Scitovsky in his Growth in the affluent society(1987) noticed, it is enough “to look around you at all the people who are dieting and jogging to realize that, with respect to some needs at least, a large part of the advanced countries’ populations have not only reached but passed the point of satiety”. Despite this, however, the realm of true riches, comprising leisure and freedom to pursue the art of living, does not seem to have engaged most of us. How to explain this paradox? The aim of the conference is to elicit possible answers to this ‘leisure paradox’ by gathering contributions in both the practices and theories of consumption. The keynote speakers will focus, on the one hand, on the co-evolution of consumption patterns and other socio-economic variables and, on the other hand, on whether and to what extent the present state of choice theory provides a convincing explanation of how individuals distribute their time between work, consumption and leisure. Papers on the following areas are particularly welcome:

1. The social dimension of consumption
2. Income effects in Europe’s economic history
3. The evolution of the distinction between necessities and luxuries
4. Work and time use
5. Old and new consumption theories
6. What happened to utility theory?
7. Consumption skills and production skills
8. Consumption and leisure

Proposals of papers on all fields of the history of economic thought are also welcome: some plenary sessions on the main topic of the conference will in fact be accompanied by parallel thematic sessions.

Young Scholar Awards

For Young Scholars STOREP provides two kinds of awards:

1. Scholarships for young scholars (under 35 years of age): in order to be eligible, one is required to submit a Curriculum Vitae and a paper any topic relevant to the history of political economy. The authors of the selected papers will be awarded of the free STOREP Conference registration, included the social dinner and the annual membership fee of the association. All applications, with CV and the final version of the papers, should be sent to segretario@storep.org no later than April 30 2013. Applicants will be informed about the results of the evaluation process by May 20 2013.
2. The STOREP Award (of 500€ value) for the best article presented at the Annual Conference by young scholars within 40 years of age. All applications, with CV and the final version of the papers, should be sent to segretario@storep.org no later than August 31 2013.  

For further information click here

Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) at Left Forum 2013

The Left Forum will be happening this year again at Pace University in New York, but June 7 – 9 in the early summer instead of its usual Spring Break time. As (I believe) the largest yearly conference of radical political economists (and many others dedicated to transcending the present capitalist system), URPE has always 1) encouraged all its members who can to attend, as it always has many valuable panels on an extremely wide range of topics, and 2) worked with URPE members who want to present panels there among the panels  presented by URPE, to submit a panel (URPE members also take part in many panels not organized by URPE). The theme of this year’s conference is Mobilizing for Ecological/Economical Transformations. For a full description of the theme, go to the website, click on “Conference 2013” and then “Conference Theme 2013.”

If you have a panel you would like to include in URPE’s program of panels at the Left Forum, or if you have an idea about a panel you’d like to happen there and want to see if others in URPE are interested in presenting on the same topic, please contact one of the four Steering Committee members who are working on URPE’s presence at the Left Forum this year: Al Campbell (al@economics.utah.edu), Sara Burke (burkesara@me.com), Chris Rude (chris.rude@ciper.org), or Laura Ebert (ebertl@newpaltz.edu).

The deadline for submitting  is April 13, 2013.

Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) at ASSA 2014

January 3-5, 2014 | Philadelphia, USA

URPE invites proposals for individual papers and complete sessions for the URPE at ASSA annual meeting. URPE welcomes proposals on radical political economic theory and applied analysis from a wide variety of theoretical traditions.

The deadline for proposed papers and sessions is May 1, 2013. At that time individual and panel proposals will be checked to be sure everyone is current with their URPE dues or the proposals will be set aside.

Proposals for complete sessions are encouraged and should include the session title, a brief description of each paper, and the names, institutional affiliations, and email addresses of the chair, discussants, and presenters. Proposals for sessions should contain four papers. If you are proposing a complete session, please arrange to have discussants for your papers and a chair for your session.  As the organizer of this session, you are responsible for conveying administrative information to session members, including confirmation that the session has been accepted, the time and location, and deadlines. A registration form must be completed for each paper.

Proposals for individual papers should include the title, the abstract, and the author's name, institutional affiliation, and email. You should also complete the registration form. Individuals whose papers are accepted may also be expected to serve as a discussant for a different paper at the meetings. If you list the areas you prefer to discuss, all attempts will be made to match your preferences. Individual papers that are accepted will be assigned to sessions and each session will have an assigned organizer. It is the organizer's job to convey administrative information to session members, including confirmation that the session has been accepted, the time and location, and deadlines. URPE has no paid ASSA staff, so those presenting papers must share the burden of organizing.

We regret that high quality individual papers may be turned down due to the inability to place them in a session with papers with similar themes. For this reason, we strongly encourage proposals for full sessions. The number of sessions we can accept is limited by ASSA, and we regret that high quality sessions may be turned down as well.

Please note that the date, time, and location of sessions are assigned by ASSA, not URPE. You should receive word from URPE that your paper/session was accepted by mid-June. ASSA will not assign dates and times until much later in the summer.

Please note that anyone who presents a paper (but not the chairs or discussants) must be a member of URPE (except at joint sessions with other groups, in which case they can be a member of the other organization) at the time of submission of the paper or panel proposal. Contact urpe@labornet.org or 413-577-0806 for membership information. We will confirm membership prior to accepting proposals. Applications should be submitted online on the URPE website www.urpe.org, beginning April 1 (instructions will be available by March 1 on the website). If you have questions or problems with the online submission, please contact Fred Moseley at the email address below. Only applications received by the May 1 deadline will be considered.

If you have any other questions, please contact one of the URPE at ASSA coordinators below:

Fred Moseley,  fmoseley@mtholyoke.edu

Laurie Nisonoff,  lnisonoff@hampshire.edu

Workshop on Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents

June 20-22, 2013 | Reykjavik University, Iceland | website | Facebook | Twitter hashtag: #wehia2013

The 18th Workshop on Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents (WEHIA 2013) offers an opportunity to present the latest research on various aspects of the economy as a complex system made up of multiple heterogeneous interacting agents. Research from different domains, at the crossing of various disciplines – economics, psychology, sociology, computer sciences, engineering, physics - are useful for developing more satisfactory approaches to (macro) econometrics and (macro) economic theory. These approaches have already brought some improvement in the understanding of problems facing the world economy, such as the financial crisis, segregation, unemployment and poverty, and the need for sustainable development. The workshop aims to make progress in understanding and solving them.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

1. Sigrídur Benediktsdottir, Central Bank of Iceland
2. Jon Danielsson, London School of Economics, United Kingdom
3. Giovanni Dosi, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
4. John Sterman, MIT, United States

SUBMISSIONS:

Contributions should be in the form of extended abstracts (minimum two pages) or short papers

(maximum 6 pages) and should be submitted as PDF files through the EasyChair Conference System.

February 28, 2013 is the deadline for submissions. The Scientific Committee will evaluate all submissions abstract and decide on acceptance by March 29, 2013.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Deadline for submission of extended abstracts or short papers: February 28, 2013

Notification of acceptance: March 29, 2013

Deadline for early registration: April 30, 2013

Deadline for full paper delivery: May 31, 2013

VENUE:

WEHIA 2013 will be held at the new Reykjavik University premises, close to Nauthólsvík, the beach of Reykjavik.

REGISTRATION

Registration fees:

Regular Rates:

Early registration (payment by April 30th): 290 Euro

Late registration (payment after April 30th):  370 Euro

PhD students rates:

Early registration (payment by April 30th): 190 Euro

Late registration (payment after April 30th): 270 Euro

Fees cover access to all sessions, conference material, lunches, coffee breaks, and one-year membership fees to ESHIA, including a one year subscription to the Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination.

WEHIA PhD School

A PhD School will be held prior to the WEHIA 2013 workshop, from June 17th to June 19th. It will be organized as a three-day Summer School on WEHIA-related topics. The PhD School will be free of charge for registered participants of the WEHIA 2013 workshop. The number of seats available is however limited and participants will be admitted on the basis of CV and recommendation letters. Further details about the Faculty of the School, the themes, and the application procedure will be provided soon.

Workshop: Interrogating Economics in the Public Sphere

April 18-19, 2013 | Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, UK | website

On the 18th and 19th of April 2013, the ECONPUBLIC project will host a workshop on “Interrogating Economics in the Public Sphere”. The event will bring together historians, sociologists, and media analysts to review the outlying literatures on public economic knowledge. In an intense but informal setting we will review scholarship on history of science, political and economic history and sociology. Our challenge is to elaborate on the research questions and the research agenda that will explore the connections and overlaps between economic journalism, the public production of knowledge, and knowledge as communicative practice.

Panel I: The public understanding of economics: A recent media history

This panel analyses the relationship between economic ideas, and their audiences, by providing a historically informed examination of more recent changes in the forms, and forums, which have mediated them.

Panelists: Raymond Boyle (University of Glasgow), Tim Rogan (University of Cambridge), Simon Potter (Bristol University), Jane Chapman (Lincoln University), Scott Anthony (University of Cambridge).

Plenary: Donald MacKenzie (University of Edinburgh), “Financial modelling as culture”

Panel II: Social sciences and the media’s role in finance and financialization

This panel aims to explore the links between journalism, economics and the public sphere, as well as between the social sciences and financialization.

Panelists: José Ossandón (Universidad Diego Portales), Aeron Davis (Goldsmiths), Karel Williams (CRESC, University of Manchester), Daniel Beunza (LSE), Tomas Undurraga (University of Cambridge).

Panel III: The uses of publicity: the 364 economists’ letter of 1981.

The session brings together historians of the 1970s and 1980s to converse around the object of the protest letter. We invite them to bring other objects from the period that might help us understand the context of the protest, its form, its precedents, and its consequences.

Panelists: Aled Davis (University of Oxford), Catherine Walsh (Goldsmiths), Duncan Needham (University of Cambridge), Tiago Mata (University of Cambridge).

Panel IV: Economic journalism: practices in national contexts

This panel will compare diverse practices of economic journalism, exploring how national narratives, institutional arrangements and professional cultures affect the ways in which the economy is discussed in the public sphere(s).

Panelists: Angel Arrese (University of Navarra), Carolina Matos (University of Essex), Julien Duval (CNRS), Roei Davidson (University of Haifa), Emre Tarim (Gothenburg Research Institute).

Round-up session with Christopher Godden (University of Manchester) and Peter Sloman (University of Oxford)

For a detailed program, visit the workshop website.  The number of participants is limited. If you are interested in joining the workshop please contact us through the email: hpsecon@hermes.cam.ac.uk.

Workshop: 100th Anniversary of "The Accumulation of Capital”

A hundred years since the first Berlin edition of "The Accumulation of Capital: A Contribution to an Economic Explanation of Imperialism," no one needs a commemorative address to introduce the work. The work is still being referenced by scholars, writers and people all around the world who fight for democracy and justice; for a life of dignity, solidarity and ecological responsibility; and for socialism. Its continued prominence is a tribute to its author, her academic methodology and the topicality of the questions she posed, yet also demonstrates a corresponding weakness in the modern Left, particularly among socialists.

Rosa Luxemburg, one of the most fascinating characters in the struggle for freedom in equality, radically criticised capitalism's social relations and capital accumulation, and fought equally radically against the resulting outcomes of human oppression and natural destruction. After her murder on 15 January 1919 by her political enemies, her legacy lived on, as it still does today: both her writings and the political, scholarly and cultural interest she inspires. It continues to educate, to motivate political engagement and to foment communication and collaboration.

As a player among the institutions of the Democratic Left, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation takes responsibility for promoting political education, networking those critical of capitalism, and uniting strengths between and across national boundaries for the sake of emancipation and solidarity. The foundation sees the centennial of its namesake's publication first of all as an opportunity to use Luxemburg's work to initiate discussion about today's globalised (financial) capital accumulation, the economy's increasing financialisation and the main players involved – modern oligarchies of capital. Second, it is relevant to examine how the debate on land grabbing has been or may be used to support efforts for a social and ecological transformation by local and regional EU, European and global movements/alliances against social and ecological destruction. Third, we ask what lessons can be learned from the fact that a concept subject to critique is promoted as theoretical, political insight.

The five theses below endeavour to explain the questions more clearly and invite a continued exchange of ideas:

1. Rosa Luxemburg saw the rise and development of capitalist production methods as a production of violence; as expansion, conquering, annihilation and violent upheaval of social milieus; and as a form of socialisation that ostracises people socially and destroys progressive, natural and social living conditions. Her concept of "land grabbing," which ties the complete implementation of newly created added value to the existence and conquering of precapitalist socio-economic milieus, must be viewed critically and can be adjusted. Such critique is necessary to explain the accumulation of capital in view of the capital relationships that have since arisen. It is possible to adjust the theory because Luxemburg studied the basic relationships of capitalist production methods in their historical development, revealing the players in the accumulation process along with their interests and behaviour. Thus she demonstrated why members of society who produce and circulate added value can also be interested in the development of productive forces under freedom in equality.
2. Luxemburg's "land grabbing" can be interpreted as resource procurement, exploitation of new opportunities such as spaces for utilising tangible capital and as the securing of societal or socio-political preconditions for capital accumulation, for capitalist production methods. Adopting her understanding of socialist policy, theoretical work must constantly interrogate and search for courses of action for players promoting emancipation and solidarity, while considering their consequences. The concept of land grabbing is helpful in two ways. First, it aids the communication and collaboration of scholars studying (financial) capital accumulation, financialisation, and critiques of modern growth and capitalism. Second, it is a practical working concept for social and political alliances. "End the land grab!" can be a lasting offensive battle cry, helping create solidarity among those attacked and oppressed socially and globally in matching, similar and widely divergent ways.
3. Financialisation can be explained as a specific form of land grabbing and thus as a response to (financial) capital's need to reproduce itself. It proceeds as follows: a) Financial relationships expand with the growth of the societal distribution of labour/socialisation and capital accumulation or capitalist forms of production. b) Liquid money or monetary capital is transformed into interest-bearing capital, a.k.a. "fictitious capital". This is concentrated, centralised, and transported by financial institutions. c) Money is circulated by financial market players and financial markets, and the entire society's production and reproduction process is permeated by financial market players and financial operations. This changes production, distribution, circulation and consumption, and increases problems in reproduction and implicit contradictions. d) Financial market players and operations permeate society. e) Financial market players and operations have a consistent or growing determining effect on the socialisation of production, the economic sphere and both private and social life.On the one hand, the enactment of the forms of financialisation reflects their development, the transformation of capital relationships, the capitalist production methods and the social lifestyle. On the other hand, it also reflects varying uses of the term. If financialisation is placed in the context of the socialisation of work, the economic sphere and both individual and collective daily life, we must analyse the full complexity of the development of capital relationships, i.e. the private and collective appropriation of work products created by society.
4. Transnational Corporations (TNCs) are leading players in globalisation, financialisation and land grabbing. This is not "merely" because they mobilise, concentrate, circulate, redistribute, expropriate and centralise interest-bearing a.k.a. fictional capital around the world. At the same time, they have intellectual property and organisational strength, as they influence and exploit the WTO, other international organisations and governments in the regulation of world trade and investment protection. To those ends, and in so doing, they create and reproduce informal networks with the most powerful global players.
5. The modern capital oligarchy is the alliance or identity of relatives of financial institutions, owners and managers of TNCs, corporations of key economic importance (especially manufacturers in the energy, transportation, agribusiness, "security" and high-tech sectors) and umbrella organisations of the hegemony or social preconditions this requires ("government/security/military", "law", "culture and intellectual life", "media"), acting together to promote the best possible exploitation of financial capital. This oligarchy is a result of social development, a prerequisite of financial capital accumulation, of globalised socialisation of work, production and reproduction in the destructive capitalist shell.

As an intellectual exchange on these questions and theses, those interested are asked to submit texts of up to 10,000 words written in German or English by 10 September 2013. These texts will be used as the basis for an international workshop to be held in the first half of 2014. The workshop will especially acknowledge the academic and political work of Frieder Otto Wolf, who has been a close partner of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation for many years and celebrates his 70th birthday on 1 February 2013.

Contact: Judith Dellheim, dellheim@rosalux.de 

Call for Participants

Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT) 2013 Conference

April 10-13, 2013 | Denver, USA | website

Advancing our Heterodox Tradition:  Promoting Evolutionary and Institutional Thinking

Download the preliminary program.

Australian Political Economy: State of the Art

In Honour of Emeritus Professor Frank Stilwell 

 3-5 April 2013 | University of Sydney, Australia

In recognition of Emeritus Professor Frank Stilwell’s outstanding contribution to Australian political economy, the University of Sydney’s Department of Political Economy will commemorate his career with a Conference, a Dinner, an Exhibition and Reflections event and a Book.

The general conference theme is Political Economy: Past, Present and Prospects, which provides the opportunity to explore debates, achievements and ongoing challenges for political economy. The conference will have six sub-themes, which reflect the span of Frank’s research interests, including: contesting economic ideas, economic policies, cities and regions, a green economy, economic inequality, and teaching political economy.

Please note that registration for the conference must be completed online by Thursday 28 March 2013.

Coinciding with the conference, an exhibition of selected work by artists, political economists and others with an interest in the themes of the conference will be held at the Verge Gallery. Also on show will be archival material from the history of political economy at the University of Sydney. On Thursday 4 April (5:30 – 7:00 pm), Frank will open the exhibition and offer reflections on his career.

Please RSVP prior to the event for catering purposes.

The dinner will be held in the University’s Great Hall on Wednesday 3 April 2013, starting at 7:00pm. The dinner is open to anyone, who would like to attend. We particularly encourage Frank’s colleagues from across the University of Sydney, his past students and alumni, those attending the conference and those who may have worked with him on various political campaigns.

Please book soon, as places are filling quickly.

In addition, Springer has agreed to publish a collection of the conference papers. Pre-orders of the book are available at the discount price of $75.00 (plus $ 5.00 for postage and handling plus GST).

This discount price will only be available until Thursday 28 March 2013. So hurry and order your copy now.

For further information or to register, please visit here.

Cambridge Realist Workshops

Latimer room, Old Court, Clare College.

Date: Monday February 25, 8:oo pm

Speaker: Elodie Bertrand (CNRS, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Topic: Realism, Discourse and Practice: the case of Ronald Coase

Date: Monday March 11

Speaker: Filomena de Sousa (Faculty of Sciences-University of Lisbon)

Topic: Debating Data: On Constitutive and Explanatory Ideas

For more information go to here, or, for those who have access go to here.

Centro Sraffa Seminars

February 28th  2013, 2:30 p.m.

Richard Arena (University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis): Sraffa and Wittgenstein on Method: similarities and Differences

Faculty of Economics, Roma Tre University, Via Silvio D'Amico 77, Rome

March 13th, 2013, 4:30 p.m.

Bertram Schefold (Goethe University, Frankfurt)

Only a few techniques matter! On the number of curves on the wage frontier.

Roma Tre University, Faculty of Economics Via Silvio D'Amico 77, Rome

Please, go to www.centrosraffa.org for the complete list of seminars and events at Centro Sraffa.

Financialisation in Middle-Income Countries

18th April 2013 | SOAS, UK

The process of “financialisation” has been almost exclusively conceptualised in relation to financial behaviour across a number of advanced economies. Yet it is clear that the recent international integration, trade and capital-flow liberalisation of middle-income economies have ushered profound changes in their financial systems, institutions, practices, and relations. These changes have partly followed from the processes identified by existing contributions to “financialisation”, but also appear to have been shaped by the distinct characteristics of domestic political economies and the specificities of their international integration. These distinct features require new theoretical conceptualisations, which - given the complex economic, social, and political mediations involved –call for the development and deployment of purpose-built, multi-disciplinary empirical tools.

The aim of this workshop is to facilitate a focussed, collaborative discussion between researchers actively working on all aspects of “financialisation” in middle-income countries. This includes discussion on theoretical approaches to “financialisation”, as well as methodological considerations concerning the types of multi-method, multi-disciplinary empirical tools that can be used to inform any attempt at a theorisation of contemporary finance in those economies.

The workshop aims to start a working dialogue on questions including,

1. What, if any, are the new, distinctive financial practices, instruments, and relations that have developed in middle-income economies?   How do these differ from those analysed in advanced countries, and what international and domestic factors appear to be driving them?
2. To what extent is “financialisation” a useful category in analysis of these processes?
3.   To what extent can these new financial practices be adequately analysed using quantitative methods and data (e.g. firm-level, national- accounts, or flow-of-funds) traditionally used in Economics? What can alternative, qualitative methods contribute to the understanding of “financialisation” in middle-income countries?
4. What may be the implications of these new financial practices, instruments, and relations for real-economy outcomes, such as industrialisation, employment, inequality, external vulnerability, etc?
5.  On what bases may it be possible to advance a general characterisation of “financialisation” in middle-income or developing countries that is distinct from the various uses made of the term in relation to the US, Britain, and other advanced economies?

In addition to informing ongoing and future research on this topic, the workshop will also aim to identify and/or commission contributions for an edited book or special journal issue. Those interested in participating should send an extended abstract (1000 words) to Annina Kaltenbrunner (A.Kaltenbrunner@leeds.ac.uk) and Paulo L dos Santos (ps45@soas.ac.uk) before 20 March 2013, for consideration. To our regret, travel and accommodation costs cannot be reimbursed. Tea and Coffee will be provided.

For a Pluralistic Teaching of Economics in Higher Education (Pour un Enseignement Pluraliste de l'Economie dans le Superieur)

Call for Participants and Supports

National Convention: April 6, 2013 | the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

I am a member of a student initiative in France aiming at changing economics and its teaching. The Name of the initiative is PEPS, which means "For a Pluralistic Teaching of Economics in Higher Education" (Pour un Enseignement Pluraliste de l'Economie dans le Superieur). The initiative was launched about 2 and a half years ago by some students of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, one of the French "Grandes Ecoles", in the vein of the French Post-Autistic Movement of the 2000s. It has been since joined by students from other institutions.

The initiative is composed of two distinct parts: (1) A seminar organized and lead by the student members called "Multidisciplinary approaches of Economics" which occurs twice a month and (2) an activist part, which aims at developing a student critics of the teaching of economics as well as proposals to reform it. As concrete production, we have established a mapping of all the bachelors in economics in France and an alternative curricula for bachelors in economics that is pluralistic in terms of economic paradigms and open to other social sciences.

Now we are reaching a new step in our action as we will organize on April, 6, 2013 Estates-General (National convention) on the teaching of Economics in France. We will then present our mapping of the teaching of Economics in France as well as our alternative bachelor proposal. There will be several sessions with a diversity of guests to fuel the debates. It will be held at the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris. André Orléans helped us booking the room, and we have the strong support of the former French Post-Autistic movement as well as the one from the French Association of Political Economy. I add that we are seeking to have international guests at the convention and that we may have some possibilities to financially help the willing people to pay transportation fees (although our means are limited).

In order to publicize our actions, we have also launched two documents online: An English translation of our Manifesto and a totally open google doc that is a Global Directory of Student Initiatives aiming at changing Economics and its teaching worldwide. The aim of this document is that anyone can complete it with their informations about the various similar initiatives in the world and anyone can use it to establish links between the several initiatives.

Best regards,

Louison Cahen-Fourot for the PEPS-Economie Initiative

PhD student, Paris XIII University

louison.cahenfourot@gmail.com 

Foundation of European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Seminars

FEPS has planned a seminar series together with the Global Progressive Forum in Brussels. You can see the programme and the prior events on our website. Key speakers of the 2013 series include: Prof. Stephany Giffith Jones, Prof. John Eatwell, Prof. James Galbraith among others.

We also organise several events around Europe throughout the year promoting heterodox economics and a series of papers.

Global Trends in Wages, Causes and Effects on Growth

Friday 22 March 2013, 2pm - 5pm| Hamilton House, 15 Park Vista, Greenwich, London SE10 9LZ

The University of Greenwich’s Work and Employment Research Unit welcomes you to a debate on the 2012 Global Wage Report of the ILO featuring one of the lead authors of the report, Dr. Sangheon Lee of the ILO, and the authors of the two background projects for the report, Professor Engelbert Stockhammer and Professor Ozlem Onaran. The discussion will open with contributions from Bill Wells, Deputy Director Labour Market Directorate, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, and Nicola Smith, Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department of the Trades Union Congress. There has been a significant decline in the share of wages in GDP in both the developed and developing countries following the 1980s; the Global Recession of 2007-2013 has further enhanced this trend. Why have wage shares fallen? What happens to global growth and employment when the wage shares fall? We look forward to a lively debate on these questions to address some of the most urgent policy issues of the post-crisis era, and in particular implications for wage and labour market policies to foster global recovery and job creation.

The papers are available here.

Programme:

1. Global Wage Report, Dr. Sangheon Lee, International Labour Office,  Research and Policy Coordinator, Conditions of Work and Employment Programme
2. Why have wage shares fallen? Professor Engelbert Stockhammer, Kingston University
3. What happens to global growth when the wage shares fall? Professor Ozlem Onaran, University of Greenwich, with Giorgos Galanis

Discussants:

1. Bill Wells, Deputy Director of the Labour Market Directorate of the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, UK
2. Nicola Smith, Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department, TUC

All welcome! Please register here.

Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Economics at LSE

Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 1pm | Room 168 of the East Building, LSE's Economic History Department | website

Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak will speak about "Dreams of Order and Freedom: Debating Trade Management in Early 17th Century England"

How neoclassical economic thinking has led to ecological disaster?

Wednesday, 6 March, 2013, 17:00-19:00  | University of Greenwich, Business School, KW315, Park Row, Greenwich, London SE10 9LS

Speaker: Terry Barker (Cambridge Econometrics and University of Cambridge)

Please see here for further details.

All welcome!

IAFFE 2013 Rhonda Williams Prize

Complete information can be found in H.E.N 141.

In memory of Rhonda Williams, associate editor of Feminist Economics from 1994 to 1998, the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) has established a prize to help scholars from underrepresented groups in IAFFE, whose work reflects Rhonda Williams' legacy of scholarship and activism, attend the annual IAFFE conference and present a paper.  

Amount: $1500 to be awarded at the IAFFE conference in Palo Alto, California (USA), July 12-14, 2013. (Conference information is at www.iaffe.org/pages/conferences/2013-annual-conference/.  The funds are intended to partially defray travel costs to attend the annual conference.  Subject to availability, additional travel funds may be available if the recipient has no other access to travel support.  If eligible, applicants are also encouraged to apply for an IAFFE travel scholarship to the conference.

Application Deadline: Extended to April 1, 2013.

Institute for Fiscal Studies

Incentives, shocks or signals? Employment effects of increasing the female State Pension Age

8 March 2013, 09:30 - 11:00 |  Nuffield Foundation, London, UK

At this event, IFS researchers will present the results of new research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the IFS retirement saving consortium.

Since April 2010 the earliest age at which women can claim a state pension has been increasing from age 60. A crucial issue for both the incomes of those affected by the reform, and for the impact of the reform on the public finances, is the extent to which this increase in the state pension age has led to an increase in employment rates. This research uses data from the first two years of this change coming into effect to estimate the impact of reaching the state pension age on:

1. The economic activity of those women directly affected by the reform;
2. The employment of partners of those women directly affected by the reform;
3. The public finances.

Registration will take place from 09:30 to 10:00 and the briefing is expected to take place between 10:00 and 11:00. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Please note: Due to the constraints of the venue, we are unable to provide access or facilities for wheelchair users, or facilities for people with severe hearing impairments. People with mobility needs should contact the Nuffield Foundation for guidance in advance of visiting the building.

If you would like to book a place or have any queries about this event, please contact our events team, events@ifs.org.uk

King’s College London Global Institutes Webinar

27th February, 4-5 pm | website

King’s College London Global Institutes are holding a one-off webinar “Are these Emerging Economies for Real?” with Professors Sunil Khilnani(King’s India Institute), Anthony Pereira (King’s Brazil Institute), Tim Hildebrandt (King’s China Institute), Peter Kingstone (King’s International Development Institute) and Samuel Greene (King’s Russia Institute), 27th February, 4pm-5pm GMT

The following questions will be addressed:

1. Is this the making of a new world order?
2. Has poverty subsequently declined in these nations?
3. How is ‘development’ related to economic prosperity?

Students will have the opportunity to direct questions to the panel. Please register for the webinar here.

We will also be holding the King’s Global Institutes Postgraduate Open Evening on the 20th March from 5-7pm. Students will have the opportunity to meet programme leaders, research staff and current students. There are nine masters programmes available across the Institutes, some of which have scholarships and internships attached.

Students can register for the Open Evening.

Managing Public Service through Austerity and Recession

25 June 2013 | Middlesex University Business School, UK

Marketisation reforms in the public sector have raised concerns about the impact on services and the people that deliver them. 2013 will be a pivotal year for protecting quality of service and public service ethos while at the same time responding to demanding targets and cost savings.This major conference is for public sector workers and managers, academics, trade unionists, activists and professional bodies interested in the future management of public service in a time of austerity and recession. The conference offers up to date analysis about what is happening to public services, particularly in the NHS following the Mid Staffs report, as well as information and strategies on how to build better working practices, to protect public service ethics, and to ensure transparency in service delivery. Concerns over regulation, whistleblowing and social media will also feature.

Keynote speakers include:

1. Dean Royles, Director of NHS Employers
2. Kim Holt, Paediatrician and NHS whistleblower
3. Cathy James, Chief Executive of Public Concern at Work
4. Brendan Martin, Director of Public World
5. Catherine Needham, University of Birmingham
6. Roger Kline, Visiting Fellow Middlesex University and Co-Director of Patients First
7. Jane Tinkler, Research Fellow at the LSE’s Public Policy Group.
8. David Lewis, Professor of Employment Law, Middlesex University on 'Whistelblowing'
9. Martin Upchurch, Professor of International Employment Relations, Middlesex University on 'Social Media and Workplace Conflict'.

Conference Fees

1. Organisational £50
2. Individual £25
3. Unemployed Free

The conference aims to generate ideas and debate about managing the public sector through a recession, as well as providing good opportunities for networking within the public sector.

Venue and Registration

The conference will be held at Middlesex University’s Hendon campus from 10.00-17.30 on 25 June.To register please contact Elena Karoullas one.karoullas@mdx.ac.uk or 020 8411 4139. [map].

To follow the conference as it develops including podcasts, blogs and background resources go to here and follow us on twitter: @mdxpsmh

Monetary History Group

Friday 26 April, 2013 | London

Speakers

1. 2:00-3:30 Bill Allen: ‘Monetary Policy in Britain after 1951.’
2. 4:00-5:30 John Greenwood: ‘Japan’s Lost Decade.’

Venue: Schroders, 31 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7QA

We are most grateful to Schroders, and particularly the Schroders Archivist, Caroline Shaw, for generously hosting this meeting of the Monetary History Group.

RSVP: monetaryhistorygroup@gmail.com.

It is essential to inform the organizers if you wish to attend because places are limited and for security reasons at Schroders. A light lunch will be available for attendees ahead of the meeting from 1:00 – 2:00. Please do not contact the organizers individually, but use the MHG’s e-mail address above.

Oxford Radical Forum

15-17 Feb |  Wadham College, Oxford, UK

Free and open to all.

The Oxford Radical Forum is an annual weekend - now in its sixth year - of challenging and critical debates, lectures, and workshops, together with film-screenings, music and other cultural events - all with a committed, political edge.

This year speakers include English language professor Deborah Cameron, John McDonnell MP, radical journalist Laurie Penny, authors Robin Blackburn, Richard Seymour and Alex Callinicos and many more. Subjects under debate range from the future of the Arab revolutions to Shostakovich, alternatives to austerity to the relationship between Marx and Lincoln, the London riots to 'the North-East of England as a Quidditch pitch'.

For a full timetable and more information, please visit the Facebook event or  our blog.

PERG Seminars at Kingston U

Kingston University, UK, 2012-13, second semester

6 March - Ben Fine, SOAS, University of London

Economics as Unfit for Purpose: With an Application to Financialisation and the Household.

Room JG3006, 16:00-17:30

24 April - Gilles Christoph, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France.

More Neoliberalism to End Neoliberalism? The Intellectual Trajectory of Neoliberal Thought and Post-2008 Political Economy.

Room JG3006, 16:00-17:30

15 May - Peter Flaschel, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

Keynesian DSGD(isequilibrium) Modelling: A Basic Model of Real-Financial Market Interactions

with Heterogeneous Opinion Dynamics

Room JG2006, 16:00-17:30

How to find us:

The seminars take place at the Penrhyn Road Campus (Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE). Public transport: Take train from London Waterloo to Surbiton Station (20 min approx.) and buses 71, 281, K2, K3 to ‘Kingston University’ (5 min) or 15 min walk. Driving directions.

Political Economy Research Group (PERG) The Political Economy approach highlights the role of effective demand, institutions and social conflict in economic analysis and thereby builds on Austrian, Institutionalist, Keynesian and Marxist traditions. Economic processes are perceived to be embedded in social relations that must be analysed in the context of historical considerations, power relations and social norms. As a consequence, a broad range of methodological approaches is employed, and cooperation with other disciplines, including history, law, sociology and other social sciences, is necessary.

PKSG Keynes Seminar

26 February | Robinson College, Cambridge

Özlem Onaran and Jan Toporowski will be discussing Özlem's ILO paper Is aggregate demand wage-led or profit-led? from 5.30 - 7.00 pm on Tuesday 26 February in the Garden Room at Robinson College, Cambridge.

For further details and the paper visit the PKSG website. Also take a look at our list of forthcoming speakers for the seminar next term

St Catharine's Political Economy Seminar

Wednesday 27th February 2013, 6-7:30 pm | Ramsden Room at St Catharine's College, UK

Michelle Baddeley will give a talk on 'Animal Spirits Under Austerity'. All are welcome.

MICHELLE BADDELEY is a behavioral economist currently based at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (moving to a chair at the UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment in March). She explores links between economics, psychology and sociology, and has used experimental- -neuroscientific techniques to analyse links between personality/emotions and herding/social influence. Other experimental analyses have shown that social influences affect housing markets and jury deliberations. Her current research explores behavioural biases in learning, energy demand and online decision-making. Her books include Investment - Theories and Analysis (2003), Running Regressions - A Practical Guide to Quantitative Research (2007), and Behavioural Economics and Finance (2012).

CONTENT: Animal spirits are increasingly prominent in macroeconomics and a range of approaches has emerged extending Keynes's original conception of animal spirits as a determinant of entrepreneurial investment. This presentation analyses animal spirits in the light of current policy debates, building also on insights from modern behavioural macroeconomics.  Crowding-out of private investment by public investment is unlikely in a recessionary environment so if uncertainty depresses private investment by dampening animal spirits and if reductions in private investment are compounded by reductions in public investment, then the impacts on investor sentiment are likely to be negative, with wide-ranging implications for aggregate demand, employment and growth: in a pessimistic environment, the prospects for recovery are slim. In this presentation, the links between animal spirits, fiscal austerity and macroeconomic performance will be assessed using evidence from a range of OECD economies, focusing also on the relationship between fiscal stringency and policy flexibility more generally when private decisions are propelled by animal spirits.

Please contact the seminar organisers Philip Arestis (pa267@cam.ac.uk) and Michael Kitson (m.kitson@jbs.cam.ac.uk) in the event of a query.

Transforming Finance: Fresh thinking on democracy, finance and debt

Friday 10th May 2013 | Chartered Accountants' Hall, Moorgate Place, London | website

This one day event, supported by an alliance of think tanks and NGOs, will bring together leading academics, policy-makers and campaigners to address two urgent questions:

1. How can we prevent asset price bubbles, debt crises and state bailouts of financial institutions?
2. How can we get finance flowing into projects with social and environmental value?

Please note that delegate places are limited, and we advise early booking.

Already confirmed to speak are

1. Paul Woolley, co-author of The Future of Finance: The LSE Report, and Founder of the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality, LSE
2. Prof Marianna Mazzucato, economist, author of the The Entrepreneurial State, and professor of science and technology policy at Sussex University
3. Prof Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity Without Growth and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey
4. David Pitt Watson, co-author of The New Capitalists and Senior Advisor Hermes Pension Management Limited
5. Prof Richard Werner, Director of the Centre for Banking, Finance and Sustainable Development, Southampton University whose 2005 bookNew Paradigm in Macroeconomics correctly predicted the collapse of the UK banking system and property market.
6. Victoria Chick, one of the world’s leading scholars of Keynes and monetary economics and Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London
7. Ann Pettifor, who predicted an Anglo-American debt-deflation crisis, and in 2006 published The Coming First World Debt Crisis

The Transforming Finance conference has been organised by an alliance of think tanks and NGOs with an interest making the financial system work for people and planet, including Friends of the Earth, the New Economics Foundation, the Finance Innovation Lab, Respublica, Civitas, Fair Pensions, the World Development Movement and Positive Money.

We are targeting the event at leaders in civil society, academia, policy-making, finance and journalism. Do please forward to colleagues that you think might be interested.

Yours sincerely,

Beth Stratford

Transforming Finance Coordinator

Find out more: www.transformingfinance.org.uk

Follow us on twitter: @tranfin

Job Postings for Heterodox Economists

Dickinson College, US

One-year Visiting Position | Economics

The Department of Economics at Dickinson College invites applications for a one-year visiting position at the Assistant Professor level, beginning Fall 2013. Primary teaching responsibilities will include introductory and intermediate level macroeconomics. Ability to offer Econometrics will be highly valued. The teaching load will be five courses per year. Candidates for the position should have already earned a Ph.D. in economics or be near completion of such a degree. Teaching experience is required, and demonstrated excellence in teaching and ability to create inclusive learning environments for an increasingly diverse student body will be important characteristics of the successful candidate.

Dickinson College is a liberal arts college where excellence in teaching and research are strongly emphasized, and where innovative, interdisciplinary courses and programs are strongly supported. An interest in interactive pedagogies at the introductory level would be desirable. The Department of Economics also values and teaches from a diversity of economic perspectives and knowledge of heterodox theories are valued within our Department. Salary and benefits are competitive and commensurate with qualifications.

PhD preferred. ABD will be considered. Open until filled.

Contact: Ebru Kongar, Economics

Dickinson College

Online Application Here.

Hamilton College, US

Visiting Assistant Professor | Economics

Any Field

The Economics Department at Hamilton College invites applications for a visiting position for the 2013-2014 academic year (with the possibility of renewal). We are looking for strong teachers who will be able to add to our curriculum. The teaching load in the department is 5 courses per year. Applicants should hold a Ph.D. in Economics or expect to complete all requirements by Fall 2013. Applicants should send vita, three letters of recommendation, documentation of teaching effectiveness, research sample, and graduate transcript (unofficial or official), addressed to Chris Georges, Chair, Economics Department, Hamilton College, via

Interfolio at http://www.interfolio.com/apply/21236. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Hamilton College is a residential liberal arts college located in upstate New York. Applicants with dual-career considerations can find other Hamilton and nearby academic job listings at www.upstatenyherc.org. Hamilton College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity in all areas of the campus community. Hamilton provides domestic partner benefits. Candidates from underrepresented groups in higher education are especially encouraged to apply.

Middlesex University Business School, UK

There are several opportunities in the Business School for economics, finance and business for professor, senior lecturer, and research fellows.  

See the details here:  http://www.mdx.ac.uk/investinginexcellence

Conference Papers, Reports, and Podcasts

PKSG Keynes Seminar Podcast

The podcast of the discussion at the Keynes Seminar of Dany Lang's paper on “The NAIRU: Still 'Not An Interesting Rate of Unemployment' ” with Jonathan Perraton on 12 February, together with the slides, is now available here.

Past, Present, and Future of the UMass Economics Department

Three faculty members got together on October 6th 2009 to address the unique trajectory of the economics department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The purpose of the event was to openly discuss the past, present, and possible future of the department. Donald Katzner moderated the discussion while Stephen Resnick and Samuel Bowles made their remarks. Resnick and Bowles were two members of the original “radical package” that came to UMass in 1973, as they have been called since then. In the early 1970s the university, with the support of Dean Alfange, hired Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, Stephen Resnick, Richard Wolff, and Richard Edwards all at the same time with the purpose of bringing contending economic theories to the core of the curriculum. The department then moved to teach and develop new radical thinking for the last 40 years. You can now watch the full recording of the event.

Watch the video here.

Heterodox Journals

Capital & Class, 37(1): Feb. 2013

Journal website: http://cnc.sagepub.com 

Articles

1. Introduction to the special issue on the regulation approach and the contemporary crisis / Charlie Dannreuther and Pascal Petit
2. Revisiting the regulation approach: Critical reflections on the contradictions, dilemmas, fixes and crisis dynamics of growth regimes / Bob Jessop
3. In search of politically sustainable growth regimes / Pascal Petit
4. Uncertain states: The political construction of the small firm, the individualisation of risk and the financial crisis / Charlie Dannreuther and Lew Perren
5. The financial crisis and intangible value / Ronen Palan
6. Twenty-first century breakdown: Negotiating new regulatory regimes in the Nordic lands / Cathie Jo Martin
7. Global crisis, Turkey and the regulation of economic crisis / Zülküf Aydin
8. Regulation beyond growth / Cédric Durand and Philippe Légé
9. Fears and hopes: The crisis of the liberal-productivist model and its green alternative / Alain Lipietz

Extended book review

1. Good companions or usual suspects? / Tom Brass

Book reviews

1. The Risorgimento Revisited: Nationalism and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Italy, by Silvana Patriarca and Lucy Riall (eds.) / Houman Barekat
2. Globalisation and European Integration: Critical Approaches to Regional Order and International Relations, by Petros Nousios, Henk Overbeek and Andreas Tsolakis (eds.) / Ian Bruff
3. Imperialism, by J. A. Hobson / Rasa Balockaite
4. Tommy Sheridan: From Hero to Zero? A Political Biography, by Gregor Gall / John Kelly
5. Anarchism and Moral Philosophy, by Benjamin Franks and Matthew Wilson (eds.) / Benjamin Daniels
6. Marx et l’invention historique, by Isabelle Garo / Romain Felli
7. The Politics of Genocide, by Edward S. Herman and David Peterson / Chandran Komath
8. The Myth about Global Civil Society: Domestic Politics to Ban Landmines, by Daniela Tepe / Michael Merlingen
9. Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State, by Mary Harper / Rebecca Richards
10. Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam, and Peacebuilding, by Afyare Abdi Elmi / Aikande Clement Kwayu

European Journal of Economic and Social Systems, 24(1-2): 2011

Journal website: http://ejess.revuesonline.com/resnum.jsp?editionId=1692 

SOMMAIRE  [GRATUIT]

INTRODUCTION  [GRATUIT] / D.LEBERT, C.VERCELLONE

Partie 1. Le travail cognitif : enjeux théoriques et analyse empirique

1. De l’ouvrier-masse au travail cognitif. Valeur, travail et répartition dans le capitalisme cognitif / C.VERCELLONE
2. Le travail mort dans le capitalisme cognitif / L.BARONIAN
3. Appropriation des savoirs et prescription de la subjectivité dans le travail cognitif / P.MÍGUEZ
4. Welfare systems and social services during the systemic crisis of cognitive capitalism  / S.LUCARELLI, C.VERCELLONE

Partie 2. Valeur et répartition dans le capitalisme cognitif

1. Errements du capitalisme cognitif ? Éléments de réponse à la critique de Fine, Jeon et Gimm (2010) / D.LEBERT
2. Marx’s social analysis of value and Big Pharma. Rethinking the social determinants of value in cognitive capitalism / M.GAGNON
3. Connaissance, finance et économie de guerre permanente. Une approche veblenienne / E.GENTILUCCI, A.GIULIANI
4. La logique financiaro-rentière des sociétés transnationales / C.SERFATI

Partie 3. Capitalisme cognitif et crise

1. Sur le devenir rente du profit / C.MARAZZI
2. Thinking about the crisis and its end. The contribution of André Orlean, and beyond / A.FUMAGALLI, S.LUCARELLI

Oeconomia – History/Methodology/Philosophy, 3(1): March 2013

Journal website: http://www.necplus.eu/action/displayJournal?jid=OEC

Varia

1. Guglielmo Forges Davanzati / Gunnar Myrdal on Labour Market Regulation and Economic Development
2. Ariane Dupont-Kieffer / Mesure de l’utilité marginale et indice de prix chez Ragnar Frisch. Le difficile mariage de la théorie économique et des instruments statistiques

Economics Imperialism / L’impérialisme économique

1. Steven G. Medema / Creating a Paradox: Self-Interest, Civic Duty, and the Evolution of the Theory of the Rational Voter in the Formative Era of Public Choice Analysis
2. Cléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche / L'économie des discriminations : conquête impérialiste ou contribution à la théorie des prix?
3. John B. Davis / Economics Imperialism under the Impact of Psychology. The Case of Behavioral Development Economics

Review essays | Essais critiques

1. Koen Decancq / Taking preferences seriously
2. Jeffrey T. Young / A Review of Some Recent Smith Scholarship

Reviews | Comptes rendus

1. Sophie Swaton / Jean-Michel Servet, Les Monnaies du lien
2. Malcolm Rutherford / David Reisman, The Social Economics of Thorstein Veblen

Oeconomicus, XIII: 2013

Journal website: http://cas.umkc.edu/economics/sa-oeconomicus.asp 

The 2013 issue (Vol XIII) of Oeconomicus has been published and is available for download from the UMKC Economics Department's website. The direct download link for this current issue is here.  You can view the past issues here.

1. Endogenous Growth and Technological Change within a Capitalist Economy: Applying Cumulative Causation to Circular Production / Avraham Izhar Baranes
2. What the Mexican Revolution Can Teach Us About Economic Development / Sergio Torre
3. Smith, Marx and Kropotkin on the Labor Process / Mitch Green
4. Unemployment as an Instituted Problem of Capitalist Economy and Policies to Resolve Unemployment from
5. a Post Keynesian Perspective / Kalpana Khanal
6. Eminent Domain : An Austrian Critique / Alex Schroeder
7. Book Review: Aristotle, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx: On Some Fundamental Issues in 21st Century
8. Political Economy by Spencer J. Pack / Payam Sharifi

World Economic Review, 2: 2013

Journal website: http://wer.worldeconomicsassociation.org/ 

Download the issue in full

1. Regional Monetary Cooperation: Lessons from the Euro Crisis for Developing Areas? / Sebastian Dullien, Barbara Fritz, Laurissa Mühlich [Download PDF]
2. Institutional Support and Technological Upgrading:  Evidence from Dynamic Clusters in Latin America and Asia / Rajah Rasiah, Jebamalai Vinanchiarachi [Download PDF]
3. Transacting Without Pricing, Pricing Without Transacting / Jacques-Olivier Charron [Download PDF]
4. Merit Regulation via the Suitability Rules / Ronald J Colombo [Download PDF]
5. Basel III and the Strengthening of Capital Requirement: The obstinacy in mistake or why “it” will happen again / Bernard Vallageas [Download PDF]
6. Deconstructing the Theory of Comparative Advantage / Reinhard Schumacher [Download PDF]
7. The Emergence of Profit and Interest in the Monetary Circuit / Egmont Kakarot-Handtke [Download PDF]
8. Book Review: Why Nations fail - the origins of power, prosperity and poverty / Deniz Kellecioglu [Download PDF]

Heterodox Newsletters

Global Labour Column

1. India: Nation-wide Strike on 20-21 February 2013 by Sharit Bhowmik
2. Unpacking the Marikana Massacre by Crispen Chinguno
3. Modelling a Global Union Strategy. The Arena of Global Production Networks, Global Framework Agreements and Trade Union Networks by Michael Fichter

Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE)

1. Climate Impacts on Agriculture: A Challenge to Complacency? by Frank Ackerman and Elizabeth A. Stanton
2. Green Keynesianism: Beyond Standard Growth Paradigms, by Jonathan M. Harris.
3. Population, Resources, and Energy in the Global Economy:  A Vindication of Herman Daly’s Vision by Jonathan M. Harris.
4. Poisoning the Well, or How Economic Theory Damages Moral Imagination by Julie A. Nelson.
5. The Global Food Crisis: Policy Analysis for Structural Reform
6. Food Crisis Update: Main drivers of price volatility still not addressed

Levy News

New Publications:

1. Lessons from an Unconventional Central Banker, One-Pager No. 37, January 28, 2013. By Thorvald Grung Moe
2. Long-Term Benefits from Temporary Migration: Does the Gender of the Migrant Matter?, Sanjaya DeSilva. Working Paper No. 756, February 2013
3. The Economics of Inclusion: Building an Argument for a Shared Society, Michael A. Valenti and Olivier Giovannoni. Working Paper No. 755, February 2013
4. Growth Trends and Cycles in the American Postwar Period, with Implications for Policy, Olivier Giovannoni. Working Paper No. 754, February 2013
5. The Missing Macro Link, Eugenio Caverzasi. Working Paper No. 753, February 2013
6. Inequality and Household Finance during the Consumer Age, Barry Z. Cynamon and Steven M. Fazzari. Working Paper No. 752, February 2013
7. Arresting Financial Crises: The Fed versus the Classicals, Thomas M. Humphrey. Working Paper No. 751, February 2013
8. Endogenous Bank Credit and Its Link to Housing in OECD Countries, Philip Arestis and Ana Rosa González.  Working Paper No. 750, January 2013.
9. Weak Expansions: A Distinctive Feature of the Business Cycle in Latin America and the Caribbean, Esteban Pérez Caldentey, Daniel Titelman, and Pablo Carvallo. Working Paper No. 749, January 2013

Events:

1. 22nd Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference: Building a Financial Structure for a More Stable and Equitable Economy. April 17--19, 2013
2. The Hyman P. Minsky Summer Seminar, Blithewood, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. June 14--22, 2013

World Economic Association Newsletter, 3(1): Feb. 2013

The newsletter is now available as a pdf file for download here.

In this issue:

1. Timetable for WEA Conferences in 2013
2. WEA Conference: inequalities in Asia
3. Sustainability—post conference feature
4. WER—latest issue 3
5. 118 books on new and appropriate economics
6. Kickstarter appeal — Steve Keen’s Minsky project
7. Book stalls at WEA conferences
8. Focus on IDEAs
9. Report to WEA Executive Committee
10. A French student initiative
11. Interview with Frank Stillwell
12. Contacts and announcements

Heterodox Books and Book Series

A Prelude to the Foundation of Political Economy: Oil, War, and Global Polity

By Cyrus Bina

Feb. 2013. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-0-230-11561-3 | website | Download sample chapter

This is a groundbreaking volume of theory and strategy on political economy and polity of the twenty-first century, which unites domains of economics, politics, international relations, and the environment in an organic whole. Distilled in concrete terms, it elucidates the enigma of oil in view of the centrality of global social relations and with respect to two major exigencies of our time, namely, world peace, and defense of our ecosystem.A Prelude to the Foundation of Political Economy also highlights the need for detachment of US foreign policy from dependence on oil, to reveal rather vividly the illusion of America's power and leadership. This book is a wakeup call to the altered reality in which we live.

Business, Politics, and the State in Africa: Challenging the Orthodoxies on Growth and Transformation

By Tim Kelsall

January 2013. Zed Books. ISBN: 9781780324210 | website

In recent years Africa appears to have turned a corner economically. It is posting increased growth rates and is no longer the world's slowest growing region. Commentators are beginning to ask whether emerging from Africa is a new generation of 'lion' economies to challenge the East Asian 'tigers'? This book goes behind the headlines to examine the conditions necessary not just for growth in Africa but for a wider business and economic transformation. Contrary to neoliberal economics, it argues that governments can play an important role in this through selective interventions to correct market failures, and, controversially, that neo-patrimonial governance need not be an obstacle to improved business and economic conditions.

The Future of South-South Economic Relations

By Adil Najam and Rachel Thrasher

December 2012. Zed Books. ISBN: 9781780323923 | website

Covering a wide range of topics, including regional trade integration in Africa, the environmental impact of increased South-South trade, the changing patterns of South-South investment, and the effect of conflict on trade in South Asia, this ground-breaking volume presents an analysis of South-South economic relations, and how they might impact and be impacted by the rest of the world.

Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire

By Radhika Desai

Feb. 2013. Zed Books. ISBN: 9780745329925 | website

Geopolitical Economy radically reinterprets the historical evolution of the world order, as a multi-polar world emerges from the dust of the financial and economic crisis. Radhika Desai offers a radical critique of the theories of US hegemony, globalisation and empire which dominate academic international political economy and international relations, revealing their ideological origins in successive failed US attempts at world dominance through the dollar.

Gross Domestic Problem: The Politics Behind the World's Most Powerful Number

By Lorenzo Fioramonti

January 2013. Zed Books. ISBN: 9781780322728  | website

In Gross Domestic Problem, Lorenzo Fioramonti takes apart the 'content' of GDP - what it measures, what it doesn't and why - and reveals the powerful political interests that have allowed it to dominate today's economies. In doing so, he demonstrates just how little relevance GDP has to moral principles such as equity, social justice and redistribution, and shows that an alternative is possible, as evinced by the 'de-growth' movement and initiatives such as transition towns.

Societies Beyond Oil: Oil Dregs and Social Futures

By John Urry

January 2013. Zed Books. ISBN: 9781780321684 | website

In this groundbreaking book, John Urry analyzes how the twentieth century created a kind of mirage of the future that is unsustainable into even the medium term and envisions the future of an oil-dependent world facing energy descent. Without a large-scale plan B, how can the energizing of society possibly be going into reverse?

To Live and Die in America: Class, Power, Health and Healthcare

By Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson

Feb. 2013. Zed Books. ISBN: ISBN: 9780745332123 | website

To Live and Die in America details how the United States has among the worst indicators of health in the industrialised world and at the same time spends significantly more on its health care system than any other industrial nation.

Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson explain this contradictory phenomenon as the product of the unique brand of capitalism that has developed in the US. It is this particular form of capitalism that created both the social and economic conditions that largely influence health outcomes and the inefficient, unpopular and inaccessible health care system that is incapable of dealing with them.

Historical Materialism Book Series expands for 2013

2013 will see significant growth for the Historical Materialism Book Series, with substantial and ground-breaking books in all areas of Marxist theory. The aim of the series is to publish important theoretical contributions as the basis for vigorous intellectual debate and exchange on the left. We are convinced that, in a time of capitalist crisis and resurgent interest in critical Marxist ideas, a project of this kind can make an important contribution to the revitalisation of critical politics and intellectual culture.

The peer-reviewed series publishes original monographs, translated texts and reprints of ‘classics’ across the bounds of academic disciplinary agendas, and across the divisions of the left. The series is particularly concerned to encourage the internationalisation of Marxist debate, and aims to translate significant studies from beyond the English speaking world. We have previously published important studies of Marxist thinkers, key collections of sources from the socialist movement, works of philosophy, history and literary criticism, as well as political and economic studies.

Future publication plans include texts in the fields of cultural and aesthetic theory, sociology and geography. We are also preparing ambitious multi-volume collections of the works of Marxists as diverse as György Lukács, Ernst Bloch, Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, Isaac Illich Rubin, Andreu Nin, Alexander Bogdanov, and Roman Rosdolsky – too long unavailable in English – as well as new translations of texts by Marx and Trotsky. Please contact us if you would be interested in collaborating in such projects.

Each of our titles appears first in hardback edition with Brill and twelve months later in paperback through Haymarket. Receive all titles in the HM Book Series through the Haymarket Book Club add-on, from just $20/month: see here for details. The Haymarket Book Club offers many other discounted titles of interest to HM readers – see here.

This year also sees Historical Materialism embark upon an exciting new partnership with Aakar Books, who will be publishing some among our most popular titles in economic format for the South Asian market. See here for a list of planned volumes, or email aakarbooks@gmail.com  for more details.

Heterodox Book Reviews

The Economics of Social Responsibility: The world of social enterprises

1. Edited by Leonardo Becchetti and Carlo Borzaga. New York, NY: Routledge, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-415-63234-8; 219 pages.
2. Reviewed for the Heterodox Economics Newsletter by Benjamin C. Wilson, University of Missouri-Kansas City
3. Download the review.

Valuing the Unique: Economics of Singularities

1. By Lucien Karpik. Translated from the French by Nora Scott. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780691137100; 280 pages.
2. Reviewed for the Heterodox Economics Newsletter by Cameron M. Weber, New School for Social Research
3. Download the review.

Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

1. Andy Blunden on Gogol, Dialectic of Philosophy and Organization
2. Christian Lotz on Žižek, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously
3. Bill Bowering on Engelskirchen, Capital as a Social Kind
4. Chris Byron on Losurdo, Liberalism: A Counter-History
5. Hans G. Despain on Foster and McChesney, The Endless Crisis
6. Matthew Wood on Kliman, The Failure of Capitalist Production
7. Ryan Paul on Alain Badiou: Key Concepts

And a new list of books for review, all available here.

Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships, and Grants

MSc Global Economy and Business Institutions, University of Hertfordshire, UK

This research-informed programme, entitled ‘MSc Global Economy and Business Institutions’, will build on institutional and evolutionary economics and on political economy, and will be delivered members of the Group for Research in Organisational Evolution (GROE) led by Prof. Geoff Hodgson and the Global Economy and Business Research Unit (GEBRU) led by Prof. Jane Hardy.

Needless to say, it will be a heterodox programme that will attempt to fill the void in current UK higher education where, if one excludes a couple of Masters programmes at SOAS and elsewhere (mainly focused on political economy rather than on institutional and evolutionary economics per se), neoclassical economics reigns supreme.

For more information, visit the program website 1 or website 2.

Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia: MA, PhD Scholarships

MA/PhD scholarships to study Technology Governance in Estonia

Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance (former Department of Public Administration) at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, invites prospective MA students to apply for the the Ragnar Nurkse scholarship (7,200 euros) to be awarded to a student who will start his/her studies at the MA in Technology Governance (Innovation Policy & Development Economics) programme in the academic year 2013/2014.

Please send scholarship applications (a 1-2 page letter describing your thesis proposal and previous professional experience; proof of previous academic results; CV; academic recommendation letter) and other inquiries to Rainer Kattel at rainer.kattel@ttu.ee no later than April 1st 2013. Please use .pdf files.

There is a limited number of tuition waivers for MA applicants, accepted students can apply for the DoRa 9 scholarship (288 eur / month).

RNS also offers a PhD programme with research interests in Public Administration and/or Technology Governance with an official admission taking place each year in June. Prospective international PhD students are encouraged to contact RNS throughout the year in case of interest in our PhD program. PhD students from universities around the world are encouraged to apply for the DoRa 5 scholarships for short term (1-10 months) study visits.

Please visit the website for further information.

Call for Support

Steve Keen: Promote & Support the "Kickstarter" Campaign for Minsky

Steve Keen is trying to raise development funds for his monetary modeling tool Minsky on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.

"Minsky" is a visual tool for designing dynamic monetary economic models. Similar programs (known as system dynamics programs, and including Matlab's Simulink, Vissim, Vensim and Stella) use flowcharts to build dynamic mathematical models visually, and they have revolutionised engineering in the last 2 decades..

They have never caught on in economics, largely because they are inherently dynamic, and Neoclassical economics isn't. But they also haven't caught on with heterodox economists, because while these programs are excellent for modeling physical flows, they are poorly suited to modeling financial flows.

Minsky adds a double-entry bookkeeping tool to the system dynamics toolbox, making it very easy to include monetary flows in a dynamic economic model.

The INET grant with which Minsky 1.0 was developed paid for about 1,000 hours of programming time. The Kickstarter campaign will enable its development to continue. A donation can be as small as $1 or as large as $10,000. $25,000 has already been raised in the first 4 days of a 36 day campaign--half-way to the minimum target of $50,000 (which will pay for another 500 hours of programming). If more is raised, then more programming can be financed--see the Minsky campaign page for details.

If you'd like to help, please do so soon since the campaign ends on March 18. The program is Open Source and completely free. It can be downloaded from the following sites: Windows; Mac; Sourcecode.

For Your Information

G.C. Harcourt: A Tribute to Frank Hahn 1926-2013

“Frank Hahn was a serious intellectual who thought deeply and was willing  to change his mind. He had extremely high standards that he applied even more  harshly to himself than to others. He has left an indelible mark on the thinking of  serious members of the profession and I doubt if we will see his like again.”

Download the tribute.