Heterodox Economics Newsletter

Issue 234 March 11, 2024 web pdf Heterodox Economics Directory

In a side note in his History of Economic Analysis Joseph Schumpeter anticipated the idea of a 'scientific paradigm', which has later been introduced by Thomas S. Kuhn in his Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The latter has been published in 1962, that is, eight years after the first edition of the History had been printed. However, instead of a 'paradigm', Schumpeter speaks of a "preanalytic cognitive act" or a "vision", that precedes any “analytic effort” (p. 41).

Thereby, it comes as no surprise that such a “preanalytic vision” also carries some normative baggage: it leads us to emphasize some problems over others (e.g. unemployment over sustainability, or efficiency over unemployment and the like) and to inspect some aspects more closely than others (e.g. do we look at the welfare gains or the environmental hazards emerging from international trade?). Effectively, it was one of the great achievements of Gunnar Myrdal to point out this aspect – that every economic paradigm is related to some political doctrine and that analytical ideal types and political ideals are often mutually related – already in the 1930s (see here).

Against this backdrop, I found it very delighting to read the recent study on the political identity of economists and its relation to their perception of the stability of capitalism published in the Review of Radical Political Economy. The authors show how the political identity of economists acts as a suitable predictor for answers given on more ‘foundational’ questions related to our economic system. The latter include questions on its ecological and financial stability, the nature of the business cycle or current distributional trends. It helps to show to what extent the mainstream of the discipline tends to share the concerns voiced at its margins (e.g. in the context of ecological or distributional questions) and where it strongly disagrees with more radical views (e.g. in case of the question “does capitalism tend towards monopoly?”). And finally, studies like these shed some light on why alternative approaches to teaching in research in economics are often confronted with hostility (see here for a current example) - simply because they implicitly question or challenge the dominance of certain "preanalytical visions" over others.

In sum, the original material presented in the paper indicates nicely, how our perceptual and conceptual awareness is often too closely tied to our most favorite theoretical assumptions. It is a study in the tradition of Schumpeter, Kuhn and Myrdal, and it is one of those studies that is enlightening, not because its results are so surprising, but, on the contrary, because it provides some systematic and independent confirmation on what is tacitly obvious anyway.

All the best,
Jakob

© public domain

Table of contents

Call for Papers

13th Bielefeld Graduate School of Economics and Management (BiGSEM) Doctoral Workshop on Economic Theory (Bielefeld, Dec. 2018)

10-11 December, 2018 | Bielefeld, Germany

The “13th BiGSEM Doctoral Workshop on Economic Theory”, organized by Bielefeld Graduate School of Economics and Management (BiGSEM) doctoral students, is aimed at bringing together doctoral students in theoretical economics by providing an opportunity for presenting and discussing their research (with peers and established researchers) in an informal atmosphere. We are currently accepting applications for participation in the workshop. The workshop is open to contributions from all areas and strands of economic theory.

A flyer can be found here and further information can be found here.

Full papers or extended abstracst should be send as a PDF-file to bigsemworkshop@uni-bielefeld.de.

Submission deadline: 15 September, 2018

3rd annual conference of the Association for socioeconomic education and research (ASEER) on "Crossing borders, embracing pluralism. Perspectives on teaching socio-economics and pluralism in economics" (Duisburg-Essen, Feb. 2019)

21-22 February, 2019 | Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Proposals for presentations on the second day of the conference (22 February, 2019) and/or submissions for articles to be in the conference volume, can be made until 7 September, 2018.

We encourage the submission of proposals on the following questions:

Abstracts have to be in German or English. They must contain your name, email address, your institution, working title as well as information on topics, guiding questions, theoretical concepts, methodical design and anticipated results. Please specify in your submission, if you would like to (a) present your paper at the conference, (b) submit your paper to the double blind review process for the conference volume, or (c) both.

The original call for papers can be found here.

Please submit a short abstract (max. 250 words) to kontakt@soziooekonomie-bildung.eu.

Submission deadline: 7 September, 2018

Annual State of Power report of The Transnational Institute (TNI)

The Transnational Institute (TNI) in the Netherlands is issuing an open call for essays, short papers, infographics and artistic collaborations for its forthcoming State of Power report launched in late January 2019 to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos. In 2019, we are particularly looking for accessible, engaging essays and artistic explorations that explore the issue of finance and power.

TNI’s annual State of Power reports have, since their launch in 2012, become a must-see reference point for citizens, activists and academics concerned with understanding the nature of power in our globalised world in order to inform struggles for justice.

With a mixture of compelling infographics and insightful essays, State of Power has examined dimensions of power (economic, political, social), exposed the key players who control power, and highlighted movements of counter-power seeking to transform our world. Recent State of Power reports have been widely praised for their inspiring essays and brilliant art.

Finance and power

The financial sector is embedded in the emergence of capitalism and imperialism. Financial firms were critical to colonial adventures, underpinned slavery, and have consistently exacerbated inequality, reinforced political elites, held revolutionary movements hostage, and treated the poor and vulnerable as collateral damage in regular cycles of crisis.

In recent decades, though, financial power has reached new precedented heights. The financial sector has come to dominate the global economy, taken over ever larger sections of public life, commodified everything from air (carbon trading) to education, rewritten global economic rules and policies, taken over global institutions, put a stranglehold on any government that dares defy it and even transformed our culture and language.

Perhaps the greatest evidence of its power is the way that the sector has emerged unregulated and even stronger despite precipitating the global economic crisis in 2008 ten years ago. And there is little sign of its power being contained, as new waves of financialisation unfold. Moreover, obscured behind a screen of jargon and algorithms, far too few social movements or progressive politicians dare to stand up and challenge it.

Yet, at the same time, financial power is fragile, riven with and, in fact, driven forward by contradictions and crises - and therefore also has the potential to be challenged and overthrown. But this will require unmasking its power and understanding our own power and capacity to take control of money and finance.

How can we better understand and thereby unmask the financial sector? What is the nature of its power? How are we to understand their power-grab? Where might Big Finance’s Achilles heel be? What are the fissures and friction-points within the financial world that can become opportunities for struggle? Are there successful examples of confronting financial power? How can social movements better confront Big Finance? How can we regain popular democratic control over finance and money?

Please find the full call for papers here.

Abstracts of a maximum of 1,000 words should be sent to stateofpower@tni.org

Submission deadline: 7 September, 2018

Capital & Class: Special issue on "Machines & Measure"

The use of technology in workplaces is nothing new, but the ubiquity and sophistication of these processes, where technology pervades the very fabric of our lives and organisations today, has brought about much broadcasting and hyped analysis in several spheres and sectors. Computers have been able to read text and numbers for many years. Now, computers can see, hear and speak, and the contribution of technological progress to economic growth is being touted with breathless anticipation in various camps. The economic impact of the automation of knowledge, work, robots and vehicles could reach between EUR6.5 trillion and EUR12 trillion annually by 2025. The market for technological solutions in artificial intelligence (AI) and robots is set to grow to EUR142 billion by 2020 (European Commission 2017). Directly resulting from AI, GDP globally is predicted to rise by 14% by 2030 (PwC 2018). These and several other recent forecasts emphasise that robots, AI and the rise of workplace technologies will make significant global changes, some of them predicted to be positive, but by no means, all.

This Special Issue for the journal Capital & Class will reflect on the possible risks that are arising in the context of machines and modes of measure in the workplace. Theorising how this occurs through discussions about the physical machine, the calculation machine and the social machine, this Special Issue re-visits questions of the incorporation and absorption of workers as appendages within the machine as Marx identified, as well as new methods to numerate without, necessarily, remuneration. This journal has a history of value theory, labour process theory and has pioneered research in the areas of work and technology (see list of publications below).

In particular, the editors for this Special Issue are seeking papers that are written from a Marxist feminist perspective; which address issues arising relating to technology at work and development; look at technologies and financial markets; and ultimately, where resistance is emerging. This is not a comprehensive list, however there are a number or existing submissions that cover some themes already so ideally we can recruit papers within these categories.

This Special Issue is intended to reflect the event ‘Machines and Measure’ 16/02/18 which was a CSE South Group event, and the stream for International Labour Process Conference (ILPC) 24 - 26 April 2019 'Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Work' organisers Juan Grigera, Phoebe Moore, Lydia Hughes and Jamie Woodcock.

Editors: Phoebe Moore, Kenda Briken, Frank Engster (and possibly others as emerging from publications out of the ILPC panels). Email us with interest.

Florence School of Regulation Climate: Annual Conference on "Economic Assessment of European Climate Policies" (Florence, Nov. 2018)

26-27 November, 2018 | Florence, Italy

The Florence School of Regulation Climate (FSR Climate) is pleased to announce its Annual Conference on the Economic Assessment of European Climate Policies to take place at the European University institute in Florence on 26-27 November 2018.

The conference will cover the main climate-related existing policies, at EU, national and subnational levels and will include plenary sessions on Energy efficiency, Renewable policies, Environmental taxation, and Emissions Trading.

Papers on the above topics should be submitted in pdf to FSRClimate@EUI.eu and include: title, abstract, full text and email address of one of the authors. Submitted papers will be evaluated by the Conference Scientific Committee.

Please find the original call for papers here.

Submission deadline: 30 September, 2018

Historical Materialism Sydney 2018: "Contesting the Survival of Capitalism" (Sydney, Dec. 2018)

13-14 December, 2018 | Sydney, Australia

Capitalism has been able to attenuate but not resolve the contradictions of capital, doing so by occupying and producing space, extending urbanism, programming consumption, expanding the frontiers of primitive accumulation, and sustaining the reproduction of the relations of production. This is not an inexorable process; nor are its participant-witnesses ignorant of the continued constitution and presence of spaces of non-capitalism. Yet within considerations of the survival of capitalism there has been less focus granted towards the social reproduction of the relations of production comprising gendered, racialised, ecological, decolonial and class hierarchies. It was Henri Lefebvre in The Survival of Capitalism who indicated that the theory of reproduction brings out the imperative for critical analysis to consider the false “new” within capitalism. ‘The false new gets christened neo-something or other’, he stated. But under neoliberalism what is the relation between the fragmentation of space and the capacity of the relations of production to produce space on a planetary scale? How does the jigsaw puzzle of the rural and the urban come together in processes of “development” forming the survival of capitalism? Where are the spaces of social reproduction embedded in the materialisation of the relations of production and their ongoing arrangement? On which terrains of confrontation are the social reproduction of the relations of production that decentre and contest the survival of capitalism located? How do cultural relations participate in, or potentially resist, processes of social reproduction? How does culture in the broad sense of the term constitute a field in which the dynamic tension between representation and material (re-)production plays out?

The organisers of Historical Materialism Sydney 2018 invite proposals for panels and individual papers dealing with these themes or any other topics that engage with historical materialist thought from critical sociology and geography; heterodox economics and the critique of political economy; cultural, literary and aesthetic theory; political science and theory; history and historiography; philosophy; law; science studies and any other relevant discipline.

Abstracts should be no more than 250 words in length and should be sent to hmaustralasia@gmail.com

All conference information including registration, venue and program details will be available here as it becomes available.

Submission deadline: 30 September, 2018

Keynote Speakers

Lisa Adkins

Lisa Adkins is Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Sydney. Her home Department is Sociology and Social Policy. She is also an Academy of Finland Distinguished Professor (2015-19). She has previously held Chairs in Sociology at the University of Manchester and at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has served as a member of the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts (Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences Panel), 2011-13. Lisa’s contributions and interventions in the discipline of Sociology lie in the areas of economic sociology, social theory and feminist theory. Her recent research has focused on the restructuring of labour, money and time in the context of the growth of finance. A book based on this research – The Time of Money – will be published in 2018 by Stanford University Press. The book appears in the Currencies: New Thinking for Financial Times series edited by Melinda Cooper and Martijn Konings. Her recent research has also focused on the condition of unemployment and on wageless life. This has been supported by the Australian Research Council, the Academy of Finland and by a 2018 National Library of Australia (NLA) Fellowship. Lisa is joint editor-in-chief of the journal Australian Feminist Studies (Routledge/Taylor&Francis).

Andreas Bieler

Andreas Bieler is Professor of Political Economy and Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice at the University of Nottingham, UK. Prof. Bieler’s main research interest deals with the global dynamics of capitalism, neoliberal globalisation and the possibilities for resistance. Particular emphasis is placed on the potential role of trade unions in resistance to restructuring, the possibilities for labour movements more generally to establish links of transnational solidarity across borders, as well as theoretical discussions of how these struggles can be conceptualised from a historical materialist perspective. Moreover, he has analysed struggles over the future European Union model of capitalism and the possibilities of national economic-political models different from a neoliberal, Anglo-American model of capitalism. His most recent book, co-authored with Adam David Morton, is Global Capitalism, Global War, Global Crisis, published by Cambridge University Press. He runs the blog on Trade unions and global restructuring, providing analytical commentary on labour movements and their attempts to resist exploitation in today’s neoliberal, global capitalism.

Melinda Cooper

Melinda Cooper graduated from the University of Paris VIII in 2001 and is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the broad areas of social studies of finance, biomedical economies, neoliberalism and new social conservatisms. She has recently completed a manuscript Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism, which has been published in Zone Book’s Near Futures series. She is one of the editors of the Journal of Cultural Economy and (with Martijn Konings) of the Stanford University Press book series Currencies: New Thinking for Financial Times. You can consult the book series here.

New Middle Eastern Studies (NMES): Special issue on "The Dynamics of Unevenness and Politics of (Under)development in the Middle East"

The Dynamics of Unevenness and Politics of (Under)development in the Middle East

The development of capitalism and its social, economic, political, juridical, and ideological forms in the Middle East has followed different patterns compared to its counterparts in the Western world. Indeed, countries in the Middle East have been characterised by dynamics of unevenness, underdevelopment, and inequality not only in comparison to Western countries but also among various parts of the Middle East region itself. Yet, peoples of the Middle East have often risen up against oppression in the form of social movements against imperialism, colonialism, and authoritarianism leaving Western dominant and the ruling classes in awe.

This special issue aims to foster a critical and interdisciplinary debate on unevenness, underdevelopment, and resistance in the Middle East drawing from a great variety of disciplines. Contributions can focus on, but are not limited to, political economy, foreign affairs, forms and regimes of state, environment, trade unions and social forces in general, race, immigration, religion and secularism, and war and peace.

New Middle Eastern Studies (NMES)

New Middle Eastern Studies (NMES) is a refereed journal hosted by University of Leicester Open Journals and brings together original research on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). MENA covers a wide region, extending from Morocco to Pakistan, including all the Mashreq and Maghreb countries.

The journal welcomes contributions on all aspects of MENA from the following disciplines and fields: political science, anthropology, sociology, history, literature, international relations, political economy and religious studies.

Abstracts should not be longer than 250 words.

For further information please contact Dr Gönenç Uysal

Please find the original Call for Papers here.

Submission deadline: 21 December, 2018

Organization: Special Issue and Paper Development Workshop on "Theoretical Perspectives on Organisations and Organizing in a Post-Growth Era" (London, Dec. 2018)

12-13 December, 2018 | London, UK

The aim for this Special Issue is to invite scholars from different disciplines to address these challenges. Are there theoretical resources in the management and organizational studies field (and/or in source disciplines) that generate new and fruitful questions about degrowth? Can the degrowth and post-growth paradigm enrich theoretical thinking about organizations and organizing? Are there new empirical questions that flow from the juxtaposition of the growth critique literature and the mission and typical subject matter published in Organization? We are seeking theoretical and empirical papers that harness the growth critique literature and elaborate it in new and bold ways of relevance to organizational and management studies scholars and to scholars in related fields.

We invite papers that explore a wide range of themes and questions including the following:

Please find the orignial call for papers here.

Paper development workshop

In preparing this special issue the guest editors will conduct a one-and-a half-day paper development workshop in London during December 12-13 hosted by ETHOS: The Centre for Responsible Enterprise at Cass Business School. Limited funding is available for one night’s accommodation for selected participants. To be considered for the workshop, short papers (maximum 12 double-spacedpages including references, tables and figures) should be submitted to bobby.banerjee@city.ac.uk. The guest editors will select a number of papers for the workshop. In order to maximize the number of papers discussed at the workshop only one author per paper will be invited to attend. Participation in the workshop is not a guarantee of acceptance of the paper for the special issue.

Submission Deadline for the workshop: 8 October, 2018

Submission to the special issue

Papers may be submitted electronically from 30 April 2019 onwards (final deadline) to SAGETrack. Papers should be no more than 10,000 words, excluding references, and will be blind reviewed following the journal’s standard review process. Manuscripts should be prepared according to the guidelines published in Organization and on the journal’s website.

Submission deadline for the special issue: 30 May, 2019

Research in Political Economy: Call for Contributions on “Class History and Class Practices in the Periphery of Capitalism”

“Class History and Class Practices in the Periphery of Capitalism” is the subject of Volume 34 of the Research in Political Economy, edited by Paul Zarembka.

An historical focus on countries or regions is desired for the volume, reasonably implying two decades of coverage, or more. Given some contributions from well-established scholars already committed or planned, a focus on countries or regions of Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and South Asia is particularly encouraged.

The Research is a hardback annual published since 1977, now by Emerald. Word count should be limited to 15,000 although exceptions can be entertained. Please send abstracts as soon as possible to Paul Zarembka. Submissions of full manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed.

Submission deadline: 15 December, 2018

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Symposium on "The Significance of oral sources for the history of economics and economic thought"

In recent years scholarly interest in oral history has increased as historians have acknowledged the importance of oral accounts to augment their traditional research methods. Although oral sources are regularly consulted by historians of several genres, their use in the history of economics has been quite limited.

The editors of Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology (RHTEM) invite contributions to a symposium on the significance of oral sources for the history of economics and economic thought.

We expect to publish the symposium in January 2021. If you are interested in contributing please send a brief summary of your potential contribution to Luca Fiorito.

Submission deadline 31 December, 2019

Symposium "Marx & the City" (London, Nov. 2018)

2 November, 2018 | London, United Kingdom

One-day symposium at Arcadia University, The College of Global Studies, London Center, 16-17 Southampton Place, London

There are three interlocking aims behind Marx and the City, the first symposium to be held at Arcadia University's London study abroad centre in Holborn. The first point is to mark the life and work of Karl Marx: we do so both in the two hundredth year since his birth and in a building a mere ten-minute walk from his first proper London home. Second, we wish to stress 'the city' as an object of study that makes a mock of and does away with rigid disciplinary boundaries. As such, we encourage abstracts from anyone and everyone, most certainly including those outside the academy. Finally, this symposium will seek to involve Arcadia students at all levels of decision-making. All too rarely do students get to see their teachers' ideas challenged publicly: by contrast, Marx and the City will invite some of Arcadia's fall 2018 intake to actively participate through chairing and attending panels, reviewing abstract submissions, and so on. Karl Marx found in the industrialising cities of the nineteenth century both the epitome of modern capitalist exploitation and the revolutionary agents of capitalism's demise. Marx himself has extensive contact with the city; he spent most of his life living as a revolutionary exile in London, the city at the heart of the British Empire. This symposium examines Marx's approach to the city, how he envisaged its revolutionary transformation as well as the relevance and resonances of his approach.

We welcome abstracts for papers or contributions in other media. A non-proscriptive list of potential subjects follows:

Please send proposals for 20-minute contributions to connellyk@arcadia.edu and danielsm@arcadia.edu. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words.

Submission deadline: 3 September, 2018

Workshop on "New ways of innovation policy design and its evaluation - insights from complex adaptive systems and beyong" (Budapest, Nov 2018)

15-16 November, 2018 | Budapest, Hungary

The objective of this workshop is to bring together btheoretical, conceptual, and empirical research on system dynamics, system failures, systemic interventions and innovation policy design. We welcome presentations in the following exemplary research fields , all of which are able to take a broad and creative individual approach to matters of methodology and their general approach.

Exemplary research questions:

Further topics related to these issues are highly welcome as well.

Submissions

We invite contributions within the thematic scope described which also address one or more of the research questions outlined above. Please submit extended abstracts (500-750 words, PDF or Word) to: rax2018@andrassyuni.hu.

Please find the original call for papers here.

For further Information click here.

Submission deadline: 31 August, 2018

World Economic Association Conference on "The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On: In Retrospect, Context and Prospect" (online, Oct. 2018)

The 2008 Economic Crisis Ten Years On: In Retrospect, Context, and Prospect

The 2008 economic crisis, which often is appraised only as a “financial crisis”, has in fact acquired a manifold character involving the socio-economic structures at worldwide level. Indeed, the crisis was triggered in the financial sector - in particular, with the crisis of the subprime mortgage market in the US, which ended up in a general banking crisis and the bankruptcy among many other institutions, and of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. But at the same time this event marked the culmination of a long-term trend of financialisation of the economic system, which gained more impetus with the neo-liberal shift of the 1980s.

This Conference addresses the fact that, after 10 years, structural problems are still present and waiting for policy responses. As a matter of fact, the policies addressing the crisis have rarely gone beyond “emergency measures”, such as bank recapitalisation, debt consolidation, and various forms of “quantitative easing”, sometimes accompanied by moderately expansive fiscal policies. These measures, while having the merit of avoiding a complete collapse (like that of the 1929 crisis) and allowing a slight recovery in some cases, are far from solving the structural aspects of the crisis.

Main Tracks

We welcome contributions aimed at casting light on the manifold aspects of the 2008 global crisis and how to address them in policy action. These contributions can be both theoretical and empirical, focusing on retrospective, contextual and prospective dimensions.

The main tracks include, but are not limited to, the following intertwined topics:

  1. The financialisation of the economy
  2. Investment and global competition
  3. Employment and working conditions
  4. Social, economic and political imbalances
  5. Institutional challenges and alternatives

After the Conference, a book will be published by WEA

Relevant information

Please find more information as well as the original call for papers here.

Submission deadline: 15 September, 2018

Call for Participants

50th UK History of Economic Thought Conference (Oxford, Aug. 2018)

29-31 August, 2018 | Oxford, United Kingdom

The 50th UK HET Conference will be held at Balliol College, 29-31 August 2018. There is a full schedule of 40+ papers (plenary sessions only), and conference dinner in Balliol.

The Conference is financially supported by Oxford Economic Papers Association.

Further details and information on registration arrangements from james.forder@balliol.ox.ac.uk

Commons Video Contest

It is 50 years ago that Hardin published his essay Tragedy of the Commons. Hardin’s essay remains one of the most frequently assigned readings in higher education, often without much broader context. Empirical and comparative research of Ostrom et al. provide a wider spectrum of outcomes compared to the limited open access case of Hardin. The International Association for the Study of the Commons is organizing a video contest to communicate commons scholarship to a broader audience, and hopefully we get a collection of good videos that can be used in higher education (and also help to educate the instructors). So join this creative question.

Videos should be sent to iasc@asu.edu. Videos must be submitted in one of the file formats supported by YouTube (.MOV, .MPEG4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS .FLV, 3GPP and WebM) and be no longer than 3 minutes!

Further information can be found here.

Submission deadline: 1 November, 2018

Job Postings

Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola Unversity, USA

Job title: Economic Policy Specialist

The Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI), College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University New Orleans invites applications for the position of Economic Policy Specialist holding non tenure track faculty rank as professional staff of the Institute.

Qualifications include

Application procedure

Application letter, résumé, three reference letters, one writing example, and an official transcript of highest degree should be addressed to: Executive Director, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Loyola University New Orleans, Campus Box 94, 6363 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118, email jsri@loyno.edu.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Position available August 1, 2018. Loyola University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Women and ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply. Please visit our website.

Kingston University, UK

Job title: Professor in Economics

Kingston University is appointing a new Professor in Economics. The Economics department at Kingston has an active Political Economy Research and offers an MA in Political Economy. Applications with an interest in heterodox and pluralist economics are strongly encouraged.

Please see here for further details and the job specification.

The Role

We are seeking to appoint a candidate with an established internationally excellent research profile as Professor in Economics (Chair) to play a key role in: (1) producing high quality research outputs through a well-planned and consistently maintained programme of personal research, (ii) creating a significant potential for collaboration with other academic areas in the department through research leadership, (iii) inspiring/supporting the performance of colleagues as a research mentor, and (iv) delivering high quality and student-centred education in our core UG/PGT/PGR courses by contributing to teaching excellence, development of economics curricula, research supervision, student support and tutoring activities. The post holder will contribute significantly to the delivery of Departmental/School strategies and participate in administrative and academic management tasks as required.

While we welcome strong applications in any field of economics, preference will be given to candidates who can substantially contribute to thrust areas of the two research groups, PERG (Political Economy Research Group) and AERG (Applied Econometrics Research Group), contributing to their research activities and contributing to the department’s REF submission. The ideal candidate should demonstrate the ability and experience to lead/co-lead at least one research group in the department; working alongside and in collaboration with existing research staff, the appointed person will contribute to the development of the intellectual, creative and innovative portfolio of research and enterprise activities of that group and in turn contribute to the reputation of the School’s research-centre CResCID (Centre for Research on Communities, Identity and Difference (CResCID). The appointee will be expected to fully engage in the ongoing development of the department’s research profile.

The Person

The applicant will have a PhD in Economics (or relevant subject), a distinguished record of international research published in high quality journals, and a proven track record of research grant capture, managing external research grants and research impact. The appointed person will be required to make a significant contribution to the research profile of the department/school through their personal research (peer review publication, research grant income and impact) as well through research leadership/mentoring. They will also be committed in delivering a rewarding and stimulating experience to our students through excellent pedagogy, research supervision, teaching innovation and curriculum development. They will be expected to contribute fully to the life and work of the Department/School.

For any queries relating to this role, please contact Professor Evanthia Lyons (Head of School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences) or Dr Homagni Choudhury (Associate Professor in Economics and Head of Economics)or +44 (0)20 8417 4012.

Application deadline: 21 September 2018.

Sarah Lawrence College, USA

Job-title: Tenure-Track Faculty in Economics

Job description:

Sarah Lawrence College invites applications for a full-time tenure track position at the assistant professor level, supported by the John A. Hill Chair in economics, to begin Fall 2019. Sarah Lawrence is a small liberal arts college with a unique pedagogy based on small classes and individual tutorials; interdisciplinary work is a central component of the curriculum.

We are seeking an economist with expertise in a range of fields including environmental/ ecological economics, microeconomics, and quantitative methods. The successful candidate will be familiar with both mainstream and heterodox economic theory; we are particularly interested in applicants whose work emphasizes historical and institutional approaches. All members of the economics department are expected to teach courses in introductory and intermediate level theory and history of economic thought on a rotating basis. A Ph.D. in economics or a closely allied interdisciplinary field must be completed by the time of appointment and evidence of successful teaching experience is required.

The application should include the following: a cover letter; a statement of educational philosophy; a statement of teaching and research interests; curriculum vitae; three letters of reference; course descriptions and syllabi for environmental/ecological economics and intermediate microeconomics; a sample of scholarly writing; and graduate transcript(s).

Please find more information here.

The original job posting as well as a link to apply for this job can be found here.

Application deadline: 26 October, 2018.

Journals

Competition & Change, 22 (4)

Shahrukh Rafi Khan: Reinventing capitalism to address automation: Sharing work to secure employment and income

Robson Rocha and Monica Abreu: Emerging strategies and flexible forms of governance: The dynamics of role exchange in local value chains

Special Section on Financialization in South Africa

Ewa Karwowski, Ben Fine, and Samantha Ashman: Introduction to the special section ‘Financialization in South Africa’

Andrew Bowman: Financialization and the extractive industries: The case of South African platinum mining

Ewa Karwowski: Corporate financialization in South Africa: From investment strike to housing bubble

Gilad Isaacs and Annina Kaltenbrunner: Financialization and liberalization: South Africa’s new forms of external vulnerability

Ecological Economics, 153

Analysis

Rhys Manners and Consuelo Varela-Ortega: The Role of Decision-making in Ecosystem Service Trade-offs in Lowland Bolivia's Amazonian Agricultural Systems

Thomas Eichner and Rüdiger Pethig: Self-enforcing Biodiversity Agreements with Financial Support from North to South

Allen Blackman and Peter Veit: Titled Amazon Indigenous Communities Cut Forest Carbon Emissions

Sebastian Strunz and Harry Schindler: Identifying Barriers Toward a Post-growth Economy – A Political Economy View

Jing Liu and Tianbao Qin: A Comparative Analysis of Fishing Rights From a Transaction Cost Perspective

Tongzhe Li, Jill J. McCluskey and Kent D. Messer: Ignorance Is Bliss? Experimental Evidence on Wine Produced from Grapes Irrigated with Recycled Water

Vivien Sainte Fare Garnot, Andreas Grothv and Michael Ghil: Coupled Climate-Economic Modes in the Sahel's Interannual Variability

Liang Yuan, Kongjoo Shin and Shunsuke Managi: Subjective Well-being and Environmental Quality: The Impact of Air Pollution and Green Coverage in China

Tiho Ancev and Danielle Merrett: Security Bonding in Unconventional Gas Development: Evidence from an Economic Experiment

Miguel Cárdenas Rodríguez, Ivan Haščič and Martin Souchier: Environmentally Adjusted Multifactor Productivity: Methodology and Empirical Results for OECD and G20 Countries

Frédéric Salladarré, Patrice Guillotreau, Gervaise Debucquet and Gilles Lazuech: Some Good Reasons for Buying Fish Exclusively From Community-Supported Fisheries: The Case of Yeu Island in France

Marco P.V. Franco: Searching for a Scientific Paradigm in Ecological Economics: The History of Ecological Economic Thought, 1880s–1930s

Irmelin Slettemoen Helgesen, Anders Skonhoft and Arne Eide: Maximum Yield Fishing and Optimal Fleet Composition. A Stage Structured Model Analysis With an Example From the Norwegian North-East Arctic Cod Fishery

Eric Kemp-Benedict: Investing in a Green Transition

Frank Pothen and Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños: The Distribution of Material Footprints in Germany

Methodological and Ideological Option

Jing Tian, Celio Andraded, Julio Lumbreras, Dabo Guan, Fangzhi Wang and Hua Liao: Integrating Sustainability Into City-level CO Accounting: Social Consumption Pattern and Income Distribution

Wei Zhen, Quande Qin, Xiaoying Qian and Yi-Ming Wei: Inequality across China's Staple Crops in Energy Consumption and Related GHG Emissions

Ray Galvin and Minna Sunikka-Blank: Economic Inequality and Household Energy Consumption in High-income Countries: A Challenge for Social Science Based Energy Research

Sergio L. Franklin and Robert S. Pindyck: Tropical Forests, Tipping Points, and the Social Cost of Deforestation

Silvie Daniels, J. Ryan Bellmore, Joseph R. Benjamin, Nele Witters, Jaco Vangronsveld and Steven Van Passel: Quantification of the Indirect Use Value of Functional Group Diversity Based on the Ecological Role of Species in the Ecosystem

Economy and Society, 47 (2)

Katie Bales and Lucy Mayblin: Unfree labour in immigration detention: exploitation and coercion of a captive immigrant workforce

Bronwyn Parry: Surrogate labour: exceptional for whom?

Jemima Repo: Gary Becker’s economics of population: reproduction and neoliberal biopolitics

Ray Forrest and Yosuke Hirayama: Late home ownership and social re-stratification

Léna Pellandini-Simányi and Zsuzsanna Vargha: Spatializing the future: financial expectations, EU convergence and the Eastern European Forex mortgage crisis

Katerina Dalacoura: Islamism, secularization, secularity: the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a phenomenon of a secular age

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 9 (3)

Moritz Hütten, Daniel Maman, Zeev Rosenhek and Matthias Thiemann: Critical financial literacy: an agenda

Sanja Grubacic and Julian Schuster: Economic nationalism in the history of international economics

Fritz Helmedag: Barter, efficiency, and money prices: dissecting Nash's bargaining example

Scott L.B. McConnell, Anthony Eisenbarth and Brian Eisenbarth: Critical pedagogy and Veblen's pecuniary interests of higher education

Manuel Couret Branco: Teaching political economy for human rights

Gerda J. Kits: Educating for reconciliation in the economics classroom

Journal of Economic Methodology, 25 (3)

N. Emrah Aydinonat: Philosophy of Economics Rules: introduction to the symposium

Uskali Mäki: Rights and wrongs of economic modelling: refining Rodrik

N. Emrah Aydinonat: The diversity of models as a means to better explanations in economics

Jaakko Kuorikoski and Aki Lehtinen: Model selection in macroeconomics: DSGE and ad hocness

Till Grüne-Yanoff and Caterina Marchionni: Modeling model selection in model pluralism

Dani Rodrik: Second thoughts on economics rules

Moneta e Credito, 71 (281)

Ignazio Visco: Banks and Finance since the Crisis: Lessons and Challenges

Marco Onado: A Comment on Montanaro and Tonveronachi

Paolo Angelini: Do High Levels of NPLs Reduce Banks' Ability to Lend?

Salvatore Maccarone: Notes on An Essay by Montanaro and Tonveronachi

Vito Meli: Problems and Prospects of the Italian Banking System

Problemas del Desarrollo, 49 (193)

Fernando Gómez Zaldívar and Edmundo Molina: Special Economic Zones and their Impact on Regional Economic Development

Rafael Borrayo and Luis Quintana: Creativity, Efficiency, and Spatial Concentration in Mexico

Marco Antonio Márquez: The Spillover Effects of Industrial Exports in Latin American Countries

Cintya Lanchimba and Daniela Medina: The Impact of Franchising on Development

Angélica Tacuba and Luis Augusto Chávez: Managing Pemex as a State Productive Enterprise

Felipe Torres and Agustín Rojas: Obesity and Public Health in Mexico: Transforming the Hegemonic Food Supply and Demand Pattern

Yasmani Jimenez-Barrera: A Critical Approach to the Principal Theories on Technological Change

Review of Keynesian Economics, 6 (3)

Arslan Razmi: Is planet Earth as a whole likely to be wage-led?

Elissa Braunstein and Stephanie Seguino: The impact of economic policy and structural change on gender employment inequality in Latin America, 1990–2010

Julio López G.: Growth dilemmas in open middle-income economies: a reflection on Mexico's recent experience

Ariel Dvoskin and Germán David Feldman: Income distribution and the balance of payments: a formal reconstruction of some Argentinian structuralist contributions- Part I: Technical dependency

Ariel Dvoskin and Germán David Feldman: Income distribution and the balance of payments: a formal reconstruction of some Argentinian structuralist contributions- Part II: Financial dependency

Alejandro González and Esteban Pérez-Caldentey: The financial instability hypothesis and the paradox of debt: a microeconometric approach for Latin America

Review of Radical Political Economics, 50 (2)

William A. Jackson: Strategic Pluralism and Monism in Heterodox Economics

Pedro M. Rey Araujo: Institutional Change in Social Structures of Accumulation Theory: An Anti-essentialist Approach

Richard Sobel and Annette Disselkamp: Arendt and the Social Question: A Post-Marxist Analysis

Jason Rodriguez: The US Minimalist Movement: Radical Political Practice?

Stephen Thompson: Profit Squeeze in the Duménil and Lévy Model

Vangelis Papadimitropoulos: Reflections on the Contradictions of the Commons

Sirisha C. Naidu and Lyn Ossome: Work, Gender, and Immiseration in South Africa and India

Ricardo Summa and Franklin Serrano: Distribution and Conflict Inflation in Brazil under Inflation Targeting, 1999–2014

Juan Pablo Mateo: The Accumulation of Capital and Economic Growth in Brazil: A Long-Term Perspective (1950–2008)

Víctor Ramiro Fernández, Matthias Ebenau, and Alcides Bazza: Rethinking Varieties of Capitalism from the Latin American Periphery

Hao Qi: “Distribution According to Work”: An Historical Analysis of the Incentive System in China’s State-Owned Sector

Socio-Economic Review, 16 (3)

Svetlana Kharchenkova and Olav Velthuis: How to become a judgment device: valuation practices and the role of auctions in the emerging Chinese art market

Elizabeth Carter: For what it’s worth: the political construction of quality in French and Italian wine markets

Fabian Ochsenfeld: Mercantilist dualization: the introduction of the euro, redistribution of industry rents, and wage inequality in Germany, 1993–2008

Flavia Fossati: How regimes shape preferences. A study of political actors’ labour market policy preferences in flexicurity and dualizing countries

Takanori Sumino: Identity priming and public opinion on income inequality: robustness testing of the micro-level mechanism of the paradox of redistribution

Matías Dewey: Domestic obstacles to labor standards: law enforcement and informal institutions in Argentina’s garment industry

Discussion Forum

Arndt Sorge and Wolfgang Streeck: Diversified quality production revisited: its contribution to German socio-economic performance over time

Lucio Baccaro, Virginia Doellgast, Tony Edwards and Josh Whitford: Diversified Quality Production 2.0: on Arndt Sorge and Wolfgang Streeck, ‘Diversified quality production re-visited: Its contribution to German socioeconomic performance over time’

Books and Book Series

Declarations of Dependence: Money, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Care

by Scott Ferguson | 2018, University of Nebraska Press

Declarations of Dependence rethinks the historical relationship between money and aesthetics in an effort to make critical theory newly answerable to politics. Scott Ferguson regrounds critical theory in the alternative conception of money articulated by the contemporary heterodox school of political economy known as Modern Monetary Theory. Applying the insights of this theory, Ferguson contends that money, rather than representing a private, finite, and alienating technology, is instead a public and fundamentally unlimited medium that harbors still-unrealized powers for inclusion, cultivation, and care.

Ferguson calls Modern Monetary Theory’s capacious ontology of money the “unheard-of center” of modern life. Here he installs this unheard-of center at the heart of critique to inaugurate a new critical theory that aims to actualize money’s curative potential in a sensuous here-and-now. Declarations of Dependence reimagines the relation between money and aesthetics in a manner that points beyond neoliberal privation and violence and, by doing so, lends critical theory fresh relevance and force.

Please find a link to the book here.

Global Capitalism, Global War, Global Crisis

by Andreas Bieler and Adam D. Morton | 2018, Cambridge University Press

This book assesses the forces of social struggle shaping the past and present of the global political economy from the perspective of historical materialism. Based on the philosophy of internal relations, the character of capital is understood in such a way that the ties between the relations of production, state-civil society, and conditions of class struggle can be realised. By conceiving the internal relationship of global capitalism, global war, global crisis as a struggle-driven process, the book provides a novel intervention on debates within theories of 'the international'. Through a set of conceptual reflections, on agency, structure and the role of discourses embedded in the economy, class struggle is established as our point of departure. This involves analysing historical and contemporary themes on the expansion of capitalism through uneven and combined development, the role of the state and geopolitics, and conditions of exploitation and resistance. These conceptual reflections and thematic considerations are then extended in a series of empirical interventions, including a focus on the 'rising powers' of the BRICS, conditions of the 'new imperialism', and the ongoing financial crisis. The book delivers a radically open-ended dialectical consideration of ruptures of resistance within the global political economy.

Please find a link to the book here.

Value, Competition and Exploitation Marx's Legacy Revisited

by Jonathan F. Cogliano, Peter Flaschel, Reiner Franke, Nils Fröhlich, Roberto Veneziani | 2018, Edward Elgar Publishing

This book provides a comprehensive and rigorous, yet accessible, analysis of classical and Marxian price and value theory using the tools of contemporary economic analysis. The broad conceptual framework and methodology of Marx and the classical authors offers interesting and relevant perspectives on the basic structure and evolution of modern capitalist economies. Arguably, the book provides a deeper and more nuanced understanding of today's economic problems than can be gained via mainstream approaches

The 2008 financial crisis presented the opportunity to overturn and rethink much of the stale or misguided parts of economic theory and, in so doing, build a rich and empirically meaningful social science. This never happened. By reconsidering the classical-Marxian tradition using modern tools of economic analysis, this book offers an alternative to the mainstream understanding of notions of value, price, and competition, concepts which serve as the foundation for a theoretically and empirically robust economic theory.

Providing a unique synthesis of modern input-output analysis and classical political economics, this book combines current economic theory with historical economic thought. In this way, Value, Competition and Exploitation offers a deeper and more nuanced understanding of today’s economic problems than can be gained through mainstream approaches. With a rigorous and empirically informed approach to classical theories of value and price, this book demonstrates that Marx’s labor theory of value remains a valuable tool in understanding the structure and dynamics of capitalist economies.

Written in an accessible style and presented with a clear structure, this book will be invaluable to economics students of all levels. The topics analyzed will also be of interest to scholars of classical and Marxian economics, as well as scholars of economics more widely.

Please find a link to the book here.

Book Reviews

Cents and Sensibility - What Economics Can Learn from the Humanities

by Gary S. Morson and Morton Schapiro | 2017, Princeton University Press

Gary Saul Morson and Morton Schapiro trace the connection between Adam Smith's great classic, The Wealth of Nations, and his less celebrated book on The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and contend that a few decades later Jane Austen invented her groundbreaking method of novelistic narration in order to give life to the empathy that Smith believed essential to humanity.

Morson and Schapiro argue that Smith's heirs include Austen, Anton Chekhov, and Leo Tolstoy as well as John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman. Economists need a richer appreciation of behavior, ethics, culture, and narrative—all of which the great writers teach better than anyone.

Cents and Sensibility demonstrates the benefits of a freewheeling dialogue between economics and the humanities by addressing a wide range of problems drawn from the economics of higher education, the economics of the family, and the development of poor nations. It offers new insights about everything from the manipulation of college rankings to why some countries grow faster than others. At the same time, the book shows how looking at real-world problems can revitalize the study of literature itself.

Reviewed by Sebastian Berger: Download the full book review here.

Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships and Grants

Fully Funded PhD positions at UWE Bristol

Fully funded PhD studentships at University of the West of England Bristol

An opportunity for fully-funded PhD studentships is currently being offered by the Faculty of Business and Law. Starting January 2019.

About the studentship

The funding will cover the annual tuition fees (Home/EU rate) and annual stipend (RCUK rate) for three years. The studentship will only fully fund applicants who are eligible for Home/EU fees. Applicants who are normally required to cover overseas fees will have to cover the difference between the Home/EU and the overseas tuition fee rates.

We are looking for applications from strong candidates who are wishing to complete a PhD project in a subject area that aligns with the Faculty’s research strengths. You can explore the Business and Law research groups and centres for further information on these research strengths.

We strongly encourage you to discuss your proposed research topic with an academic staff member in your chosen subject area, search staff profiles using subject-area search terms (e.g. economics) or an individual's name.

How to apply

Download and complete the Graduate School studentship application form and send it directly to the UWE Bristol Graduate School. Please ensure you have identified a prospective supervisor and include the title of the research project you propose to undertake, and detail why you are interested in undertaking this PhD project and what relevant knowledge, experience and qualifications you would bring to the research. Please see the Graduate School studentship application guidance notes for further information about how to complete the application form.

Please also complete the Equal Opportunities monitoring form and complete the first section of the Graduate School application reference sheet before sending to your nominated referees.

Please find more information here.

Application deadline: 1 October, 2018

Fully fundend PhD in "New Political Economy of Europe" at University College Dublin

Fully Funded PhD: New Political Economy of Europe at University College Dublin, Ireland

The New Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at UCD's School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe) invites applications for PhD funding in the New Political Economy of Europe: Re-Engaging the Street. The successful applicant will be supervised by Dr Aidan Regan.

We welcome original and independent PhD project proposals. Proposals should address any research question in the comparative political economy of Europe; social movements; the euro crisis; populism; protest and electoral politics; democratic legitimacy; and/or economic governance. The candidate will also be expected to contribute toward the promotion and development of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in the New Political Economy of Europe

Eligibility

Candidates must hold a master’s degree (or equivalent) in the social sciences and have received training in political science, international relations or re­lated disciplines. Candidates must have a willingness and ambition to contribute toward the institutional development of the new centre of excellence, and a keen interest in the new political economy of Europe. A firm command of English is required.

Fellowship conditions

Tax-free scholarship (€16,000 p.a. plus EU fees grant); three-year contract; access to structured PhD training programme; conference, research assistance and fieldwork expenses available. Start date: late summer 2018.

Application procedure

Required documents: a CV; a personal cover letter describing why you want the position (2 pages maximum); a PhD thesis project proposal (2,000 words maximum including abstract); and a writing sample such as an article, master thesis chapter, or term paper. Applications should be sent to Caitriona Devery.

Please find the original posting here.

Application deadline: 25 August, 2018.

Volkswagen Stiftung Grant for "Global Issues – Integrating Different Perspectives on Social Inequality"

Objective

This call for funding is part of a broader international funding framework entitled "Global Issues – Integrating Different Perspectives”, which aims to enable international research collaboration and to generate new insights on understudied issues of global relevance. The different thematic areas that are addressed through this overarching funding scheme are oriented towards those challenges that have been acknowledged by the United Nations’ sustainable development agenda as requiring specific action. "Global Issues” aims to stimulate and strengthen collaboration between researchers based in different parts of the world who usually do not join forces.

Thematic Call: Global Issues – Integrating Different Perspectives on Social Inequality

Over the last decades, inequalities – in various states and on a number of socio-economic, political as well as (socio-)cultural dimensions – have increased, despite strong economic growth rates in general. Worldwide, millions of people are still disadvantaged and excluded from, for instance, social and political participation, health care, or educational opportunities. Against the backdrop of these developments and the persistence of (in part deeply engrained) social inequalities, there have been numerous studies attempting to understand the drivers for growing disparities or to develop measures that could have an impact on equality and justice.

The funding initiative wants to enable collaboration between researchers based in high as well as low and middle income countries that problematise aspects surrounding the development and reproduction of social inequality, especially in light of one of the following aspects:

The Foundations strongly encourage research that moves beyond traditional questions and approaches and significantly advances the current state of the art.

Scope of Funding

This call for funding targets mainly the social sciences, but by no means excludes the involvement of other disciplines. Funding will be provided for small, but strongly interacting research consortia of up to five partners. Besides one partner working at an institution in a European High Income Country (preferably in one of the countries where one of the cooperating Foundations is located), the involvement of two partners currently based in Low and Middle Income Countries is generally required. Purely European partnerships are excluded from this call. Funding will be provided for up to four years and covers all direct project-related costs. Project consortia may apply for a maximum amount of EUR 1.5 million.

Details of requirements as well as the application procedure can be found under Information for Applicants 116.

Background

The funding initiative "Global Issues" was established in 2017 with the aim of promoting research focussing on the changes impacting society at the beginning of the 21st century (as framed by the SDGs). This is the first thematic call and a joint funding initiative of Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy), Novo Nordisk Fonden (Denmark), Riksbankens Jubileumsfond Sweden), and the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany). Further calls on other thematic areas – addressing a variety of disciplines – will follow.

Please find a link to the application system here.

Submission deadline: 30 October, 2018

Newsletters

Rebuilding Macroeconomics August Newsletter

The current issue of the Rebuilding Macroeconomics Newsletter can be found here.

For Your Information

University of Vermont: Hostile actions against critical teaching

John Summa, Ph.D., is currently taking a case against the denial of his reappointment at the University of Vermont to the VT Supreme Court. Before he filed a law suit, the Chair of Summa’s department used exaggerated and false claims to convince the Dean to deny Summa’s reappointment. These claims included him not teaching “good” economics (Chair’s choice of words) because Summa used to introduce students to ecological critiques of standard (supply and demand) neoclassical model economics including the failure of these models to address global warming, growing inequality and systemic market failure.

More information as well as a possibility to support John can be found here.

To find out more about Summa’s teaching curriculum click here.