Heterodox Economics Newsletter

Issue 227 March 12, 2018 web pdf Heterodox Economics Directory

A highly interesting and sometimes irritating feature of modern economics is its tendency to develop practices that not only ignore, but rather invert standard epistemological guidelines for doing "good science". One such instance relates to the question whether we should aim tocritically assess the empirical validity of our most basic assumptions. In this context the standard view in philosophy of science is that, if possible, this should be done eagerly as it is one of the best ways to further corroborate existing theories or find some errors in them.

However, in economics, this view is often inverted which is exemplified by in the insistence on "microfoundations in macroeconomics" and associated focus on DSGE-models as the only way to go in modern macro. Here, the reliance on a series of rather shaky basic assumptions - like the representative agent, utility maximizing investment decisions or the Euler Equation for determining consumption spending - is typically interpreted as a criterion of excellence. In this case, what should be subject to the greatest scrutiny is, instead, taken as a sign of objectivity, or in the words of Noah Smith, a probably more neutral source:

"I've often thought that macroeconomists should be more careful about checking their "intermediate results". In other words, macro theorists tend to make a bunch of assumptions, throw a bunch of equations into a model, see what comes out at the end, and then (loosely) compare those final results to the data. But usually, those equations lead to smaller-scale "intermediate results" that can be tested directly. This Euler Equation is an example. I say, test the parts, not just the whole. Why not?"

Another instance of ignorance towards basic understandings of good scientific practice, is the economists tendency to defend one's turf against alternative ideas and conceptions instead of trying to constructively engage with what is perceived as "input from outside". While this tendency is well-known to heterodox economists, a recent instance refers to the broader issue of ethics in economics and relates to a review of the TheOxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics published by the eminent Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)in its book review section. While reviews in the JEL are known to be sharp, this one is especially so, implicitly chastizing the authors as "idealists [that] advocate entirely impractical or unattainable actions" (p. 216). While such a criticism would surely be legitimate in principle, the problem here is that this statement amounts to stark misrepresentation of the books actual content and thereby violates a basic standard of academic conversation, namely not to misrepresent the object of one's criticism. In this context, I would urge you to have a look at the JEL's review and the related reply by the Handbooks's editors published in the recent issue of Econ Journal Watch. Doing so really sharpens the intuition about the degree and intensity of prevailing groupthink in economics, the means and attitudes used to defend this way of thought as well as the biases emerging from such an attitude.

Eventually, let me emphasize that you should not let these reflections distract you from this issue's actual content, which not only features a series of highly interesting Conferences, Journals and Books, but also contains entries on four different summerschools (here, here, here and here) dedicating to the younger cohorts of heterodox economists. These entries also complement the notes on further summerschools in heterodox economics as published in other recent issues of the Heterodox Economics Newsletter (here, here and here).

All the best,

Jakob

© public domain

Table of contents

Call for Papers

10th Annual PhD Student Conference of the Post Keynesian Economics Society

30 May 2018 | Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

The Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES) is calling for participants to its 10 Annual PhD Student Conference on 30 May 2018, 9am-7pm. Presenters will be PhD students in their second and third year who are currently enrolled in a PhD programme, and are working on topics relevant to Post Keynesian economics and political economy. The aim is to give an opportunity to students to present a draft paper out of their PhD dissertation and receive feedback from senior researchers, as well as other students.

We invite submission of novel contributions at the stage of pre-publication. Thus, we expect completed dissertation chapters or papers for submission rather than literature reviews. Note that we usually do not accept dissertation outlines or papers based on Master theses for presentation.

Please submit an abstract of a paper (about 250 words) and a brief cover letter describing your research interests, dissertation and the name and email address of a potential referee (who could be your PhD supervisor) by email to phdconference.econ@greenwich.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions is 20 March 2018. Applicants will be informed by mid-April. Please also note that we will ask for full papers on 2 May, so please submit an abstract only if you can meet the deadline for the full paper.

The PhD Student Conference will be followed by the Annual PKES Workshop at Goldsmiths on 1 June 2018. All students are welcome to attend. The programme of the Annual Workshop will be available at the conference website in due course.

Please note that there is no participation fee.

Location

Accommodation

We are unable to make arrangements for accommodation. The closest hotel to the venue is the Staycity Aparthotel Deptford Bridge. Please arrange your own booking.

Conference organising committee:

About the Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES)

PKES (formerly PKSG) was founded in 1988 by Philip Arestis and Victoria Chick with the support of the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The purpose of the Study Group is to encourage collaboration among scholars and students of Post Keynesian economics, defined broadly as a theoretical approach that draws upon the work of Keynes, Kalecki, Joan Robinson, Kaldor, Kahn and Sraffa. This approach is distinguished by the central role of the principle of effective demand (that demand matters in the long run) and an insistence that history, social structure and institutional practice be embodied in its theory and reflected in its policy recommendations. These aims broadly correspond to those of Cambridge Journal of Economics, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Review of Political Economy and Intervention: European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies.

Link to the conference website can be found here.

13th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference (Oxford, June 2018)

16-18 June, 2018 | St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, UK

We are living in a transition period. What lies ahead for energy, technology, finance and lifestyle?

This Conference will focus on the current economic, social, political and epistemological debates about the way we are living and the implications for the world's economy. Indeed, the need for climate actions has never been so necessary.

Papers are requested on the following subjects: Green Cities, Health, Mental Health and fear of change, Well-being and the sustainable development goals, Survivability and resilience in a complex society, Climate finance, Philosophy and ontology of economics, Methodology in heterodoxy, Heterodox economics in solving today,s urgent crises, Changes in income, work and labour markets, The role of uberisation of the economy, Financialisation of the economy, The future of Europe, The future of democracy, Migration and the economy, Climate change, Global and personal carbon budgets, Climate science, Technofixes in the economy, Hi tech economics, Economics and corruption, Large multinational corporations and their civic engagement and duty, Tax and inequalities, besides many other subjects.

The conference will this year be run with a range of partners, including the Heterodox Economics Association, the GEI Academy, the GEI Conferences, the Green Economics Institute Charitable Trust and2tonnes of carbon Ltd, among other organisations that are supporting us to make sure this is a really important conference with useful outputs and outcomes. It will have a global reach with inputs from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and also from the Arctic Circle and Indigenous Sami Peoples amongst others.

Selected papers will be published in The International Journal of Green Economics and in books and academic proceedings published by the Green Economics Institute Publishing House.

Please send your enquiries and papers to info@geiconferences.org

This conference calls for a deep reflection on how this new situation challenges all historic philosophical schools. This reflection requires interdisciplinary approaches to develop completely new thinking, philosophy and economic theory. Furthermore current investment patterns, human ‘civilisation,’ global sustainability, planetary survivability absolutely now must comprise an utterly new paradigm. In order to build the foundations of the resilient, economy which can cope with the challenge of threatened 6th ever mass extinction, our new must be inclusive, secure, and able to support all life on earth, all species and all nations and provide the necessary resources for social and environmental justice. It must be an economy of caring, sharing and supporting each other. It must also now respect planetary boundaries, carrying capacities, habitat requirements of species and need for planetary systems to survive in a format which can support humans and their economy.

The Green Economics Institute is calling for papers with a view to producing:

  1. Academic Proceedings for the Conference to be held at The University of Oxforde
  2. A special issue of the Academic Journal International Journal of Green Economics in 2018
  3. A special issue of its Members Magazine -The Green Economist
  4. A Project to create a renaissance in useful economics around the world
  5. Sessions at its annual Conference June 16th 17th 18th 2018
  6. A special new series of Economics Books to mark launch of its Progressive Economics Renaissance Project and new website launch

The conference websites are populated with the most recent information on an ongoing basis, more information will be uploaded very shortly. For a detailed list of suggested subjects for the economics stream of the conference, to give an idea of the nature of this stream, please click HERE.

For more information about the conference in general, please visit: greeneconomicsinstitutetrust.org

For Conference Tickets, Registration Form and Bookings geiconferences.org

15th European Association for Comparative Economic Studies Conference (Warsaw, Sept 2018)

6-8 September, 2018 | Warsaw, Poland

The 15th Biannual Conference of EACES will be held in Warsaw, Poland, on 6-8 September 2018, hosted by the Department of International Comparative Studies and Department of Economics I, affiliated to Collegium of Economic Analysis at Warsaw School of Economics (Szkoła Główna Handlowa, SGH). To guide prospective authors and participants, the conference theme is:

Post-Transition and Emerging Economies ten years after the Financial Crisis: Policies, Response, Performance and Challenges

For more details see the overview subpage.

Paper submission

The scientific committee invites proposals for papers (abstracts up to 250 words) and panels (session topic and abstracts for 3-5 papers), reflecting current and ongoing research on any facet of the broad theme above. However, topics of inquiry and presentations at the conference will not be limited, and we encourage proposals for papers and panels of papers on any theme of comparative economics including socio-economic, sociological, historical and political topics. Therefore, work from cognate disciplines and methods is also welcome. Proposals can be uploaded via our conference website on www.eacesconference.eu.

The deadline for abstract and panel submission has been extended to 15th of April, 2018.

Speakers

Confirmed plenary speakers include Professor Stanisław Gomułka and Professor Domenico Mario Nuti. Professor Stanisław Gomułka was for many years Reader of Economics at the London School of Economics, one of the most accomplished consultants to various Polish post-Communist governments, and leading the effort to design a coherent reform policy after the collapse of Communism. Professor Domenico Mario Nuti is among the leading researchers of comparative economics, at present professor emeritus at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. He was advisor to various international organizations and governments in the East Central and Eastern European region and is the author of numerous publications on comparative economic systems.

The conference will host a “Meet the editors” session, where representatives of journals dealing with comparative economics issues will be present, including the journal of the association: European Journal of Comparative Economics.

Organizers

The European Association for Comparative Economic Studies (EACES) was founded in 1990. The principal focus of the association was and remains the comparative study of real economic systems, including the economies of East and West, North and South, as well as the economic interactions among systems and among regional areas, such as the EU. The Association is a broadly based organization in which all schools of economic thought can exchange views and ideas on current and prospective research.

The Department of Comparative Studies at the Warsaw School of Economics was established in 1992 by Professor Leszek Balcerowicz, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in the first two democratic governments in Poland and subsequently in 1997-2000, widely credited with the economic transformation of Poland. The Department integrates didactic and scientific activities in the field of international comparative studies, which encompasses macro- and microeconomic perspective. The department is headed by Professor Piotr Ciżkowicz.

The Department of Economics I conducts research in the field of economics, taking a broad perspective. The research interests of the team at the Department of Economics I focus on the problems of labor economics, pension economics, health economics, education economics, social insurance and the problems of economic regulation. These areas largely refer to modern economic and social policy. The Department of Economics I is chaired by Professor Marek Góra, the co-author of the Polish pension reform from 1999, which made Poland one of a small number of countries which are believed to have successfully coped with the economic consequences of aging.

The Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) is the oldest economic-oriented university in Poland.

Important dates

Conference fees

Payment instructions will be given here during the registration period, i.e. when submissions will no longer be accepted (after April, 15th).

Contact

Local organiser is prof. Piotr Ciżkowicz (Warsaw School of Economics), e-mail: piotr.cizkowicz@sgh.waw.pl.

Link to the conference website can be found here.

30th Annual EAEPE Conference (Nice, Sept 2018): Research Area CfP

6-8 September, 2018 | University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France

General Theme: "Evolutionary foundations at a crossroad: Assessments, outcomes and implications for policy makers"

More details about the Conference and the General Call for Papers can be found in our past issue HEN225.

Particularly encouraged are submissions for the following special sessions:

  1. The economic and financial impact of climate change
  2. Financial stability, monetary policy and inequality: agent-based and stock-flow consistent approaches
  3. Demand regimes, financialisation and varieties of capitalism. Post-Keynesian Economics meets International and Comparative Political Economy
  4. Debt, cycles and income distribution

Below you can find the Call for Papers of different Research Areas. Some CfP were already covered in our last issue HEN226.

Deadline for paper proposals: March 31st

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Research Area [Q] - Complexity Economics

First represented at the EAEPE conference in 2017, the RA [Q] – Complexity Economics sessions were a great success. The research area’s sessions demonstrated the diversity and relevance of the eld of compleeity economics and inspired intriguing discussions. This year, we hope to continue to provide a fertile ground for eechange and future research for scholars in compleeity economics and related elds.

This is all the more important as both the possibilities for complee systems science and their impact on real-world social and economic systems continue to grow. Which new insights may be gained in economic systems through big data and the use of methods of modern complee systems sciences? What impacts will the dissemination of these tools have on infrastructure planning, on the economy, and on society? Will we be able to solve longstanding economic concerns such as poverty and inequality, or will we face a dark future without any privacy, freedom, and hope?

It is our great pleasure to announce that we welcome submissions on topics within the eld of economic compleeity. We are particularly eecited about

We will also consider contributions on other topics that are closely related to compleeity economics. That said, we would urge interested scholars to consider carefully, which research area their work ts best; we are working closely together with neighboring research areas.

A full description of the Research Area [Q] can be found here.

Please feel free to distribute this call to any colleague who might be interested. Abstracts should be submitted through the offical submission system on the EAEPE website. Please select Research Area [Q] (Compleeity Economics) in the drop-down menu for the eld the abstract should be considered for.

If you have contact Torsten Heinrich: torsten.heinrich@maths.ox.ac.uk

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Research Area [V] "Conceptions of Evolutionary Political Economy"

In this research area we explore conceptions of evolutionary political economy in the spirit of Marx, Schumpeter, Veblen and Georgescu-Roegen. We pursue an undogmatic account in investigating collectives of inertia, change and progress (e.g. assemblages, actor-networks, meso structures). Technology and institutions are assigned an equal and interdependent role in evolutionary political economic change where socio-technical complexes are subject to ideological appropriation and are therefore in the center of hegemonic conflicts.We invite contributions aiming to synthesize two or more of the following approaches:

This year we invite contributions to the following topic: "Work and planetary-scale computation in political economic evolution"

With the arrival of planetary-scale computation, we have approached a potential bifurcation in the evolution of the capitalist political economy. This technological, economic, societal and geo-political transformation has been recently discussed as the emergence of “The Stack“ (Bratton 2015). The evolution of capitalism is thereby shaped through a series of spatial (re)configurations and (de)territorializations. Platform infrastructures - e.g. Google, Facebook, Amazon or Apple - are deployed as a network “enveloping” the planet, bound to extractive infrastructures providing the energetic and mineral basis for cloud computing. This carbosilicon machine (re)produces territories in conflictive environments (i.e. creating space by occupying it) and urbanizes the planet through establishing enclaves and exclaves instrumentalized for the purposes of political economic control (e. g. special economic zones). Crucially, these spatial processes contribute to the petrification of capitalist subjectivity. In particular we can identify the emergence of an exploited user subjectivity as part of digital labourin addition to a proliferation of wage-labour relations. The rhetoric of sharing economies’ resource-efficient, decentralized, emancipated, and connected societies shall be also contested in this respect. For-profit big sharing has been shown to not only justify flexible work relations and facilitate labor fragmentation, but also to normalize precarious and meaningless jobs. Hence, as criticised by postwork scholars, labour still remains foundational in capitalist societies, serving as a criterion to participate in societies, to distribute income and to control, discipline, subjectivise, dividualise and geographically expel societies’ members and subjects, while thriving the extraction of fossil-fuel energy which remains the energetic basis of contemporary capitalism.Therefore, we ask: How to break through the vicious circle of dissent against capitalism and reinforcement of capitalism's resilience? What are potential strategies for the appropriation of existing capitalist infrastructures in order to provoke the emergence of post-capitalist infrastructures? Can enclaves and zones of exception provide a window of opportunity for a successful transition to a postwork society? We encourage explorations about infrastructures of planetary-scale computation and their capacity to enable or disable different scenarios of fossil-fuel independent postwork societies. The potential entanglement of the evolutionary trajectories of energy and calculation is as promising as problematic.

Abstract submissions via the EAEPE website – choose RA [V] Conceptions of Evolutionary Political Economy.

Abstract submission deadline is March 31st, 2018. Notification of acceptance will be sent out on April 30th, 2018.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us in case of further questions:

Lukáš Likavčan (likavcan.lukas@gmail.com), Ernest Aigner (ernest.aigner@wu.ac.at), Katarzyna Gruszka (katarzyna.gruszka@wu.ac.at) and Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle (manuel.scholz-waeckerle@wu.ac.at).

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Research area [L] Labour Economics

Coordinators:

The Research Area [L] on Labour economics tries to understand and explain dynamics and functioning of labour market, both at theoretical and empirical levels. The field has a significant policy orientation, with a strong theoretical background.

Theoretical background and empirical context

The mainstream approaches towards labour economics is micro-economically founded and based on the concept of labour marginal productivity which in equilibrium is equal to labour compensation, i.e., to the wage. Following this approach involuntary unemployment does not exist and labour market is always cleared by wages and prices flexibility. Only labour supply side policies such as labour flexibility, elimination of labour rigidities, employment centers and agencies etc, should be implemented in order to improve the matching between demand and supply of labour. On the contrary, the Keynesian approach admits unemployment positions when, at macro-economic level, the aggregate demand is insufficient. Demand side policies able to boost demand and a higher income activity level should be strongly supported. Further neo-Keynesian and post-Keynesian development includes efficiency wages theories, NAIRU and other similar approaches which however justify disequilibria in the labour market. In this context institutional approaches and evolutionary theories can easily find space for additional theoretical development and policies suggestions.

The labour market – which has to be considered as a social institution in order to be deeply understood - seems to be one of the most important factors for economic growth since the latter is mainly determined by labour productivity. Recently, the mainstream recipe to foster labour productivity growth has been labour flexibility. However, in the European Union, where in the last decade the labour market was subject to radical reforms which increased labour flexibility, one can still observe in many countries high unemployment rates. At the same time, higher levels of flexibility and other supply side policies in the labour market were neither able to increase labour productivity.

Possible fields of research

Both theoretical and empirical works are welcomed. These may include:

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Research Area [E1] – Industrial Policy and Development

This research area is interested on the necessity and possibility of industrial policy drawing upon arguments of development and evolutionary economics. Following these arguments the need for industrial policy especially for countries encountering convergence problems, stems from the non automatic nature of the catching-up process, the recognition that economic systems are complex, dynamic and differentiating according to their institutional and structural characteristics and the existence of systemic failures.

In the context of globalisation and delocalisation of productive activities, industrial policy has to be considered as a vision and strategy of industrial development with important significance for employment and sustainability. As industrial development is determined by many factors, complex relations and interdependencies, we need a holistic and dynamic approach to industrial policy, meaning that we need to design a policy that takes into account the whole economic system in which industry is a component part considering that all parts co-evolve.

We do not reduce industry to manufacturing but consider industry as all productive sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and services. In this context we are also interested in the issue of developing specific industrial activities that may contribute significantly to growth, job creation and internationalization in specific socio-economic contexts (such as e.g. creative, low tech industries, KIBS etc.).

For this year's Annual EAEPE Conference in Nice our research area in addition to the general topics that fall within the description of RAE1, invites papers that offer insights to the following topics:

  1. Explanations for the productivity slow down observed in the Triad countries. Are structural reforms and neo-liberal recipes bad for innovation, productivity, employment and social sustainability?
  2. Τhe effect of the digital revolution on different industries, on unemployment, wages and inequality. What are the challenges for policy implementation?
  3. How industrial policy could support the development of indigenous innovative capabilities in different productive (less or more developed) and organisational contexts (large firms, SMEs or networks of firms)?
  4. What is the role of formal and informal networks in local and regional embeddedness of industries?

Please submit your abstract (min 600-1200 words) through the online submission system and select RA[E1].

Coordinators:

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Research Area [I] – Comparative Political Economy

Theme: Evolutionary concepts, institutions and the comparative evidence

The focus of the research area I “Comparative political economy” is to promote rich comparative empirical work in many different settings (developed economies, former socialist economies, Southern emerging economies, etc.) to study the economic and political dynamics of capitalist systems, in particular concerning their institutional framework. In line with this year’s general conference theme, we propose a call for papers taking stock of the contribution of evolutionary approaches to comparative political economy, and of the potential of comparative political economy to enrich evolutionary approaches with new perspectives.

According to the basic evolutionary approach, the process of change involves the search for and emergence of new solutions, a selection mechanism, and finally imitation and diffusion of successful solutions. This approach seems to be mostly bottom-up and underlines the differentiation of individuals as a source of new solutions. As the emerging solutions are embedded in pre-existing reality, a phenomenon of path dependence emerges.

We invite contributions which will explore to what degree this approach is relevant to study the institutional dynamics of capitalist systems across countries at the national level and in given sub-fields of the economy (financial markets, labour markets, environmental issues, innovation, social systems, State intervention…), and conversely to what extent comparative political economy approaches can offer new insights for the evolutionary perspective. Contributions could for example examine the following topics:

- To what extent are the actors of institutional and economic change not only individuals but also powerful collective agents? How do they bear on economic change, sometimes through political processes? What is the recent evidence on the relative importance of the spontaneous emergence of new institutions and their deliberate promotion against their introduction by purposeful actors?

- How can the selection mechanism be qualified? How is “the fittest” chosen in contemporary situations, where not only economic efficiency matters, but also the approval by some social actors? The history of financial de-re-regulation shows that economic efficiency is not the only selection factor. The global negative outcomes of deregulation and populist reactions made it necessary to partially reverse deregulation with (some) reregulation.

- How relevant is path dependence, due to cognitive, institutional and political factors? To what extent can political constituencies shape the process of institutional change? Are institutions “transplantations” of foreign solutions to other historical and cultural contexts always unsuccessful, or can successful examples be observed? What is the temporality of path dependence, as in some former socialist countries institutional change that once seemed favourable is sometimes being reversed in recent times?

We invite all researchers interested either in discussing the theoretical underpinnings of evolutionary theory and its application to institutions and capitalist change or in analysing the relevance of these perspectives on concrete examples to submit abstract proposals.

Abstract submissions via the EAEPE website – choose RA [I] Comparative Political Economy:

Abstract submission deadline is March 31st, 2018. Notification of acceptance will be sent out on April 30th, 2018.

In case of any questions please contact the Research Area Coordinators:

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Call for a special session on "History, definition and theoretical cores of Heterodox Economics"

Special Session organized by RA C (institutional change), RA Q (complexity economics) and RA T (history of political economy)

The precise definition of ‘heterodox economics’ remains contested. Various definitions have been put forward in the literature of such aggregates as ‘mainstream economics’ – as distinct e.g. from neoclassical or marginalist economics – and ‘heterodox economics’, as part of, or distinct from, ‘political economy’ or related concepts. The session will therefore investigate and discuss the nature, role and relevance of heterodox economics from a theoretical, institutional and historical point of view.

Two editors of the recently published Routledge Handbook of Heterodox Economics, along with a number of its contributors, will present papers and take part in the discussions.

Possible topics include but are not restricted to

Submissions

Submissions should specify that the contribution is on the theme of the special session.
Abstracts (300-750 words) should include the name(s), email(s) and (if possible) affiliation(s) of the author(s).

They should be submitted electronically at the conference website and forwarded to anyone of the following:

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Important dates

9th International Conference in Political Economy (Pula, Sept 2018): Working Groups & Panels CfP

12-14 September, 2018 | University of Pula, Pula, Croatia

General Theme: "The state of capitalism and the State of Political Economy"

IIPPE calls for general submissions for the Conference, and particularly welcomes those on its core themes the state of capitalism and the state of political economy, which will be the focus for the plenary sessions. Proposals for presentations will, however, be considered on all aspects of political economy. New participants committed to political economy, interdisciplinarity, history of political and economic thought, critique of mainstream politics and economics, and/or their application to policy analysis and activism are encouraged to submit an abstract.

Submissions may be made as (a) proposals for individual papers (which IIPPE will group into panels), (b) proposals for panels, (c) proposals for streams of panels, or (d) proposals on activism. To submit a proposal, please go to the following Electronic Proposal Form (EPF), and carefully follow the instructions.

The general deadline for proposals is March 15, 2018. All other deadline dates are included on the Electronic Proposal Form.

For general information about IIPPE, the Working Groups and the Conference, click here.

Below you find Call for Papers of different Working Groups. Some CfP were already covered in our last issue HEN226.

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Political Economy of Health and Healthcare Working Group

The IIPPE Political Economy of Health and Healthcare Working Group, in collaboration with both the International Health and Political Economy of Health Research Group (ihpeh – QMUL/UK) and the Health, State and Contemporary Capitalism Research Group (University of Sao Paulo/Brazil) calls for abstract submissions in the areas of: Political Economy of Health and Contemporary Capitalism; National States and Health; Health Systems, Health Inequalities, International Health. Our intention is to establish at least one discussion panel at the IIPPE Annual Conference around Political Economy and Health.

Please indicate in your submission that the paper is directed to the ‘Political Economy of Health’ Working Group.

To complete your submission access this Submission Link

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Political Economy and Religions Working Group

At the Market of Values. Religions, Traditions and Human Ethics to Understand the Political Economy

The Call for Paper aims at fulfilling essential purposes. To understand how actually the recent and financial crisis is also a crisis of religious and ethical values that have been excluded from the economic science legislation all over the centuries, starting from its financial origins to its effects on the real economy of citizens and enterprises. Incidentally, in its purpose, we want to analyze the ethical values of religious origin, such as solidarity, subsidiarity, common good, universal destination of good, social good, care and charity and see how these values can correct, lead and support the element that have been distorted by the traditional conventional economy of positivistic and marginal tendency. The comprehension of the religious influences that are able to change the direction of the conventional economy and those of the global capitalism means to use a non-conventional, practical and theoretical point of view, able to connect economy to the dimension from which depended before (the religion) and, therefore, the consequent philosophies and anthropologies deriving from that. An approach that is necessary, in order to understand the direction of the world capitalism in the XXI century and to consider the political economy as a result of the societies and cultures occurred over history.

Basically, we try to give an answer to the following questions: what are the religious roots, considered as the basis of the economic conception and of the capitalism of its logic and of its history? What are the reasons of the abandon of values and of the religious elements made by economy started from the middle of the XIX century, after the sunset of the civil-religious economy of the European enlightenment reformism? What are the proposals, the suggestions and the directions that the religions can give to the global capitalistic economy with their thoughts and politics, in a period of constant religious growth and where the structural crisis of the capitalism and the disparity among social classes, people and Nations increases?

We encourage abstracts from theoretical and practical point of view. To submit a paper, please go on IIPPE website (www.iippe.org) and fill the online Electronic Proposal Form, choosing “Political Economy and Religions” Working Group. Moreover, please send the abstract at the WG Coordinator, Salvatore Drago:

The deadline for submission is 15 March 2018. The proposers may be included in the WG even if unable to attending the Conference.

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World Economy Working Group: Call for Papers on "Why the ‘west’ should learn from the ‘rest’"

Mainstream commentators are talking up synchronised global economic growth. But this does not alter the evidence that a genuine recovery from the 2007/8 global economic crisis has not taken place. The world economy is in a state of deep systemic turbulence while the capitalist system is manifesting that it is not fit for the purpose assigned to it by neoliberal economists. This means that it fails to deliver for the world’s majority, and that failed majority now also includes increasingly larger proportions of the population of the core capitalist economies. The institution of the state is globally being transformed to service the accumulation of capital, and now more overtly performs an authoritarian function in controlling labour on behalf of capital.

The resulting crisis of legitimacy in the core is creating a fertile ground for the rise of racism and fascism. In this context, it is ever more important to look to the peripheries and semi-peripheries for two main overlapping reasons. One, they are the living examples of what and how things can go wrong even further. In many cases, structural adjustment programmes and austerity measures have been first implemented in the peripheries and then come to the core, and back again. And two, in terms of political alternatives the left has much to learn from the long-standing struggles against capitalist imperialism in the peripheries. While Latin America is now witnessing the inglorious end of the ‘populist’ governments that tried to tame neoliberalism with redistributive policies, for example, the same policies are now presented as the way out of the political crisis in the core. It is time for the west to learn from the rest.
At this year’s IIPPE Conference, we wish to continue the debates on the world economy that we started last year in Berlin. We invite scholars with theoretical, regional, local and beyond expertise on peripheral, semi-peripheral and core countries who see the connections between the forces of capitalist imperialism and the multivariate spaces and places it exploits, as well as those of labour and social movements internationally.

We welcome submission on:

Papers and panel proposals can be submitted on iippe.org by 15 March 2018, ticking World Economy Working Group.

For queries and proposals please contact the World Economy Working Group coordinators: Abelardo Marina Flores (abmf60@me.com), Lucia Pradella (lucia.pradella@kcl.ac.uk), and Rubens Sawaya (rrsawaya@gmail.com).

For queries and proposals on the post-Soviet space theme, please contact Yuliya Yurchenko (Y.Yurchenko@greenwich.ac.uk)

For queries and proposals on the political economy of contemporary Middle East theme, please contact Sahar Rad (st54@soas.ac.uk)

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Joint Call for Papers from the Political Economy of Work and Social Reproduction Working Groups

The Political Economy of Work and Social Reproduction Working Groups invite you to submit proposals for individual papers, themed panels or streams of panels related to our lines of inquiry. These may include theoretical and empirical contributions that focus primarily on the relationship between work and social reproduction. Previous IIPPE conferences have highlighted the clear overlaps and synergies in many contributions on the Political Economy of Work and on Social Reproduction. Our aim at the Pula conference is therefore to deepen and strengthen such synergies. In this spirit, we welcome contributions on the following themes:

We encourage the submission of panel proposals (consisting of up to four presentations) as an opportunity to showcase the work of study groups in greater depth than is possible in single presentations.

Papers and panel proposals can be submitted on iippe.org by 15 March 2018, ticking the Social Reproduction and/or Political Economy of Work Working Groups as part of your submission.

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Political Economy of China's Development Working Group

China’s grand plan for the New Belt and Road Initiative is advancing rapidly, forging new partnerships and alliances across the world. The new global policies are shaping the political economy of the world system, and many countries in the South are increasingly attracted by the Chinese development model.

The legitimacy and interest in state planning are likely to revive in many countries over the coming decades, where central state planning will regulate and direct the economic productive forces, to the contrary of the neoliberal doctrines. The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and China Development Bank may pose direct challenges to the policies and practices of the World Bank and the IMF and provide resources for an alternative development model, especially in terms of industrialisation in Africa, Asia and South America. This raises a number of questions such as:

These are just a few of the big questions that this Working Group are exploring, and we also welcome papers that can contribute to the understanding of the historical and contemporary political economy of China.

The submission deadline for abstracts is 15 March 2018. Submissions must be done via this website electronic application forms to IIPPE indicating the Working Group.

In case you cannot access the submission forms, or have any questions concerning your paper submission, please contact the China Working Group coordinators Sam-Kee Cheng and Niels Hahn.

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Social Reproduction and Teaching PE Working Groups

The Social Reproduction and Teaching Political Economy Working Groups invite proposals for individual papers or panels in a joint stream on ""Teaching Gender". Teaching on gender and social reproduction is central to heterodox and pluralist approaches to economics and political economy. However, the integration of perspectives on gender and social reproduction across various political economy modules is scattered and diverse. It might reflect the bounded legitimacy granted to the fields feminist economics and feminist/Marxist political economy by their broader disciplines of reference: they are recognised as self-contained sub-branches but key insights are seldom integrated in general and foundational modules in economics and political economy. In economics, gender might appear as an add-on, deprived of its conceptualisation as one type of power relations.

The study of gender relations may acquire greater depth in specific modules on feminist and gender economics. However, these modules might reinforce silos and attract students who are more sensitive to gender inequality as they are more likely to experience discrimination. These modules are often taught by women and may be perceived as secondary to or less challenging than others, thus strengthening gendered power imbalances in the workplace and society. What are the best ways to teach gender? Can political economy/economics learn from other disciplines in the social sciences? How do we encourage more students to take interest in gender inequality? This panel welcomes perspectives on these debates, within the fields of economics, political economy and beyond. In particular, we welcome perspectives on the following themes:

Papers and panel proposals can be submitted on iippe.org by 15 March 2018, ticking the Social Reproduction and/or Teaching Political Economy Working Groups as part of your submission.

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Africa Working Group

The Africa Working Group aims at promoting intellectual and practical exchange between scholars and activists of African political economy, and those in other IIPPE working groups. It regularly contributes to the IIPPE annual conference to bring together activists and scholars of Africa who share an interest in radical approaches to political economy, acknowledging the power dynamics in capitalism and often with a critical Marxist perspective (visit here for more information). The call is open to contributions addressing themes that are relevant to central concerns of radical political economic analysis.

To submit a proposal, please go to the Electronic Proposal Form, and follow the instructions carefully.

In the form, you need to specify that you are submitting your proposal to the Africa Working Group.

As the Africa Working Group, we welcome panel proposals and single paper proposals. If you intend to submit a panel proposal, please get in touch with the group coordinators (Hannah Cross and Elisa Greco).

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Agrarian Change Working Group

A sense of urgency animates the study of agrarian social formations in this conjuncture of multi-layered crises of production, reproduction, politics and ideology. In the wake of failed neoliberalism and the limited and contradictory achievements of several experiences of left- leaning governments, interest has been reignited in Agrarian Political Economy in the study of contemporary capitalist development and crisis.

Politically, the recurrent crises and instability have led to calls for, and promises of, greater role for the state in regulating economic life. In the context of increased control of agriculture by agribusiness, from commodity chains to upstream and downstream sectors, this is an opportune moment to take stock of the complex and interrelated ways in which the states connect to agrarian systems. Through laws, policies, and the exercise of power, states influence the distribution of land and other productive resources, help determine what is produced and how production is organised, regulate the technical parameters of production, and impact the distribution and marketing of goods, as well as the conditions of labour. The state is also a strategic space where national and transnational actors deploy their strategies to secure access to natural resources, markets, and financial support. What role have states been playing in the agrarian systems of the 21st century and how have/can activists influence the direction it will take?

The agrarian change working group invites you to submit proposals for individual papers, thematic panels or streams of panels. While papers, panels and streams may focus on theoretical and empirical contributions, both historical and contemporary, for any part of the world, we are especially interested in empirically-grounded interventions in contemporary struggles and debates. In this spirit we welcome contributions on the following themes.

We encourage the submission of panel proposals (consisting of up to four presentations) as an opportunity to showcase the work of study groups in greater depth than is possible in single presentations. We particularly encourage the submission of papers and panels that engage in comparatives studies, either cross-national within a region, cross-regional, or different national cases through a global commodity chain or a policy.

Abstracts of individual papers (max. 500 words) or panel proposals (max. 500 words plus abstracts of the individual papers) can be submitted via the IIPPE Webpage.

For questions and additional information contact: Leandro Vergara-Camus, and Jens Lerche.

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The deadline for submitting abstracts and panel proposal is March 15, 2018.

For general information about IIPPE, its Working Groups, and the Conference, visit the IIPPE website.

9th International Marx & Engels Colloquium (Campinas, July 2108)

17-20 July, 2018 | Marxist Studies Centre at University of Campinas, Brazil

The 9th International Colloquium Marx and Engels of the Marxist Studies Centre (Cemarx) will be held from 17 to 20 July 2018 at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at Unicamp.

Papers should be submitted by March 20th 2018 at the conference website (Please note that the submission form is in Portuguese, but in case of any problem regarding to the language, please contact us: cemarx@unicamp.br)

General Information

The 9th International Marx & Engels Colloquium accepts three modalities of participation: papers (to be presented in Thematic Groups), Roundtables and Posters. In all modalities, the submissions have to achieve one of the following aims: a) to have the Marxist theory as their subject of research in order to analyse this theory, criticize it or develop it; and b) to utilize the Marxist theoretical framework in empirical researches. The submitted papers and proposal must fit into the event's Thematic Groups (see below).

Each researcher can make only one submission. One modality has to be chosen.. In case of papers, it is necessary to indicate which Thematic Group they fit in. Occasionally, the 9th International Marx & Engels Colloquium Organizing Committee might reallocate the papers from one group to another.

The 9th Colloquium's Thematic Groups are the following:

*TG 1 – Theoretical work of Marx and Marxism*

Critical examination of Marx and Engels' work and classical Marxism works in the 19th and 20th centuries. Polemics stimulated by Marx's theoretical work.

*TG 2 - Marxism*

Critical examination of the different branches and schools of Marxist thought and their transformations during the 19th and 20th centuries. Theoretical work of Brazilian and Latin American Marxists. Issues on the renovation of Marxism.

*TG 3 - Marxism and Human Sciences *

Examination of the Marxism's influence on Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, History, International Relations, Law, Geography and Social Work. Examination of the Marxist critique of Human Sciences and the contributions of Human Sciences for the development of Marxism. Marxist theoretical polemics and conceptual developments in these areas of knowledge. The presence of Marxism in the Brazilian and Latin American universities.

*TG 4 – Economy and politics *

The Marxist approach to economical, political and social transformations of capitalism at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. New accumulation patterns of capital, new imperialist phase, transformations of the State and capitalist democracy. The condition of dominant and dependent countries. Brazil and Latin America. Capitalism and ecology.

*TG 5 – Class relations and social struggle *

The Marxist approach to the transformations of class structure. Laborers, working class, "new working class" and "middle class". The petite bourgeoisie. The peasants in current capitalism. The current debate on the decline of class polarization in the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. The working classes and the new configuration of the bourgeoisie. The social classes in Brazil and Latin America. The Marxist concept of social class and class struggle in contemporary capitalism. Social movements and popular protests in local and international context.

*TG 6 – Work and production *

Social Theory, labor and production. The labor theory of value and contemporary capitalism. Theoretical conceptions on production structure. Production processes: process of valorisation and process of work. Control and management of the production process. Class struggle in production. Theories on the affirmation and denial of the "centrality of work". The new forms of labour exploitation: immaterial labour, casual labour, precarious labour and informational work. Work and social emancipation.

*TG 7 – Gender, race and sexuality *

Reflection on gender, race and sexuality relations, and their role in the reproduction of capitalism. Analysis of the relationship between exploitation and oppression, and configurations of the social, sexual and racial divisions of labor today. Discussion on consubstantiality/ intersectionality of social relations and the Marxist theory. Debates on politics, Marxism and feminist, black and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) movements.

*TG 8- Education, capitalism and socialism*

The relationships between the educational system and capitalism according to the Marxist perspective: training of workforce; education and social classes; ideology and educational process; educational policy. The Marxist analysis of education in Brazil and Latin America. The cultural apparatuses of capitalism (universities, research centres). The cultural centres created by the socialist movement. Analysis of the innovative educational experiences in the societies emerged in the revolutions of the 20th century. Marxist theory and education.

*TG 9 - Culture, capitalism and socialism*

Capitalism and cultural production: the new tendencies; plastic arts, literature and cultural industry. Marxist analysis of culture in Brazil and Latin America. Culture and socialism: the cultural movements in the societies originated in the revolutions of the 20th century. Marxism and cultural production.

*TG 10 - Socialism in the 21st century*

Marxist analysis of the 20th century Revolutions. The communist and socialist heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries and the socialism of the 21st century. Marxism and socialism. The issue of renovation of socialism. The theory of transition to socialism. Workers and socialist transition. Strong points and obstacles for the reconstruction of the socialist movement in the 21st century.

Modalities of submission (Portuguese, Spanish or English)

Papers

Papers can be based on on-going or finished research (research projects do not fit in this modality). Papers should have between fifteen and twenty thousand characters (including spaces and footnotes), in 12 points Times New Roman font format. Submissions must not exceed this limit; otherwise, it will be rejected. Papers should include proposed title, author's name and position (professor, lecturer, post-graduate student, independent researcher). Papers should clearly define the topic/subject that will be examined, including theses and arguments, and making explicit the debate (theoretical, historiographical or political) within the paper is inserted. Important: papers should follow the citation rules displayed at Cemarx's website. The accepted papers will be published in the Annals of the colloquium. Some papers may subsequently be selected for publication in books organized by Cemarx or in the journals associated with the latter. In such cases, the author should do a review of the text submitted having, therefore, the opportunity to develop the paper further.

Registration fee: 35 USD

Roundtables

Roundtables are proposals submitted by groups, research centers or even scientific and cultural associations. A Roundtable is composed of a set of at least three and no more than four presentations. For a roundtable, the submitted proposals should be more developed than those submitted as communication papers in thematic groups. Only a small number of roundtables will be accepted. The coordinator of the roundtable must submit in his/her proposal including the title and summary of the roundtable in which there is a brief explanation of the topic addressed. After submitting the proposal and his/her own paper, the Coordinator must indicate the full name and email of other members. They, in turn, will submit their own papers on a proper form.. The submission of participants' paper of the roundtable must follow the same format that was specified in the general information (see above).

Registration fee per member of roundtable: 35 USD

Posters

The 9th International Marx & Engels Colloquium is open for participation of undergraduate students who can present scientific initiation papers whose subjects fit in one of the Thematic Groups of the colloquium.

The paper abstract should have between three to five thousand characters (including spaces and footnotes) in Times New Roman font format, 12 points. The paper should include title, author's name and the undergraduate course in which he/she is enrolled. Papers should present the research's subject and its main ideas and information. The poster submission format will be published at Cemarx's website.

Registration fee: 15 USD

Submission of papers

Papers should be submitted by March 20th. Researchers should fill in the on line submission form at Cemarx's website.

The form is in Portuguese, but in case of any problem regarding to the language, please contact us: cemarx@unicamp.br. Foreign researchers can pay the registration fee only during the event.

Notification of Acceptance

Accepted papers will be divulged at Cemarx's website by April 2015.

Important dates

Annual International Workshop on "The Changing Political Economy of Research & Innovation" (Lancaster, July 2018)

23-24 July, 2018 | Institute for Social Futures, Lancaster University, UK

Main theme: "Making & Doing Technoscientific Futures Better"

We cordially invite submissions to the 6th Changing Political Economy of Research & Innovation (CPERI) workshop, following previous events at Lancaster (2012), Toronto (2013), San Diego (2015), Liège (2016) and Boston (2017). CPERI is a unique global forum for the exploration of scholarship regarding the political economy of research & innovation (R&I), and hence at the intersection of STS, political economy and multiple other cognate disciplines, including geography, sociology, politics, law, education, medicine, engineering, computing & philosophy. The workshop series is dedicated to cultivating a growing community of committed and engaged international scholars of the political economy of R&I who will continue to build on their CPERI connections at subsequent workshops and conferences, and through collaboration on research. We aim to bring this crucial but neglected issue more centrally to major conferences in adjacent fields, where it remains overlooked. With these goals in mind, and to assist attendance from as diverse a group as possible, the workshop is also being held directly before the EASST Conference 2018, also in Lancaster. Attendance is free.

Keynote speakers:

Note: Further keynote speakers for the event will be confirmed shortly.

There is no shortage of scholarship identifying the profound challenges of contemporary techno-scientific lifeworlds, whether regarding the Anthropocene (Hamilton 2017, Bonneuil & Fressoz 2016), emergence of post- (or even trans-) human ‘digital disruptive innovation’ (Harari 2016, Lanier 2017), or their conjunction in the emergent ‘technosphere’ (e.g. Haff 2016, Szerszynski 2017). Meanwhile, and not unrelated, public spheres (viz. CPERI 2016, Liège) continue to be upended and turbulently transformed as digital social media, and potentially their deepening percolation into material life, unleashes social division, economic inequality and ‘culture wars’ polarization. Indeed, 2017 was the year in which a new ‘reasonable’ or ‘respectable’ declinism regarding ‘civilization’ (often identified with Western and/or liberal democracy) went mainstream (Luce 2017, Reich 2017, King 2017, Cf Mishra 2017).

Techno-science, and thereby the research and innovation (R&I) from which it hails, plays a crucial role in all these narratives, whether optimistic and utopian or pessimistic and dystopian. Indeed, the zeitgeist of doom and incipient barbarism raises with renewed urgency long-standing but fundamental, ‘big’ questions about the crucial role of science and technology and innovation – and, crucially, education – in the evolution and formation of ‘civilizations’ and stable, thriving societies (e.g. Mumford 2010, Mauss 2006, Beinhocker 2007). With digital social media, built on privately-owned and deliberately addictive platforms, parsing up the public sphere, are there even socio-technical grounds any longer for a single, shared (if not ‘objective’) body of knowledge that both binds a society together and is itself collaboratively developed and disseminated by its R&I and educational institutions?

There is a grave danger that this new Western declinism simply serves to enact and perform its bleakest premonitions, even as it may aim to forestall them. For which socio-political forces benefit most from deepening the public sense of things ‘falling apart’? Indeed, this challenge resonates particularly strongly with the contemporary situation of STS more generally. On the one hand, the situated co-production of (materialized) knowledges with worlds and selves is increasingly accepted not only across academia, but is now also spilling over into public common-sense. But, on the other, today STS finds itself in a predicament arising from neglect of many of its traditional presuppositions, which now appear in radical flux. Many core insights are being (ab)used in ways that undermine the sociopolitical causes that STS has traditionally supported, and instead taken to legitimate practices of ‘post-truth’ and nihilist rejection of expertise (see CPERI 2017, Boston); while post hoccritiques of specific technological trajectories and technocratic programmes of anticipatory forecasting only serve to deepen political paralysis vis-à-vis a daunting future.

To counter this downward dynamic meaningfully, however, demands not just the voluntaristic politico-cultural formulation of new ‘narratives’ or ‘myths’ for society, even as these are undoubtedly both powerful and crucial. It also calls for new forms of active engagement with R&I that both underpin such new narratives with demonstrable practical experiment, and thereby bring a hands-on, in-depth and appreciative understanding of current R&I frontiers that can possibly direct these from within, not just criticize or critique from without.

Such future-oriented and engaged research must also go beyond simple activism by actively interrogating and illuminating the political economic and ‘structural’ conditions of any such particular techno-scientific initiative as these are changing in parallel. Amidst the Anthropocene, post-human innovation and cosmopolitized globalism, we see transformations underway in (global) political economy, political ecology and human self-definition, driven by the US-dominated, neoliberal conditions in which STS has largely developed to date – and has not only taken for granted but sometimes refused to examine. STS must thus engage more concertedly with these changing but presupposed aspects of its research, and vice versa.

In short, what remains urgently needed is (re-)constructive research that engages with changing and shaping emergent techno-scientific futures in ‘better’ directions. This encompasses not only positive agendas and initiatives – e.g. ‘responsible research & innovation’ – across the systems of socio-technical life – e.g. health & medicine, environment, mobility, energy, cities & construction, production & consumption etc… – but also regarding the institutions and practices of knowledge production.

This workshop invites papers at the boundaries of STS and political economy and/or political ecology, across the spectrum of positions (including (trans-) feminist, post-human(ist) and non-Western scholarship), investigating new perspectives on key global challenges in ways that offer promising approaches to future-oriented action.

Papers are invited (for 20 minute presentations) on any theme of contemporary R&I or higher education, insofar as they engage with making and/or doing technoscientific futures better, for instance:

We especially encourage contributions from scholars from Eastern and Southern Europe and beyond, areas which are not well-represented within our network, and with whom we would like to foster opportunities for future collaboration, particularly at the early-to-mid career stage.

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words, and should include the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information.

Questions and abstracts should be sent via email toCPERIWorkshop2018@gmail.com by 30 March.

Organizers:

Link to the conference website can be found here.

Conference on "Economic Theory for the Anthropocene - Towards Heterodox Understandings of Sustainable Economies" (Guildford, July 2018)

3-4 July, 2018 | University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

The Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity, and the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Surrey are pleased to announce a call for contributions to a free, one and a half day workshop where researchers can share and discuss early stage work focusing on heterodox theories of sustainable economies.

In the 10 years since the financial crisis, heterodox theories of the economy have flourished. With an interdisciplinary outlook, they offer a much richer potential path towards sustainable economies than orthodox economics alone. But, to date, most research into the relationship between the environment and the economy has been undertaken through the narrow lens of orthodox economics. Consequently, the question of what a sustainable economy might look like remains largely unanswered.

Without developing a coherent body of theory that is relevant to sustainability, heterodox economic thinking will remain side-lined in the sustainability debate. We aim to fill this gap by providing a friendly but critical space for the discussion of heterodox theories of sustainable economies. The workshop will offer a unique opportunity for researchers from a wide range of disciplines to engage with and develop heterodox understandings of sustainable economic systems. In this way, we hope to strengthen and support the growing community of researchers striving to articulate heterodox theories of sustainable economies.

Confirmed speakers:

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

We are inviting contributions that explore heterodox theories of the economy and how they could help us transition to sustainable societies. We encourage national and international contributions from a variety of economic and non-economic disciplines. Work should be in the early stages of development. In particular, we invite abstracts of between 500 and 1000 words (excluding references) in the following areas:

The workshop (including accommodation and food) is free, but space is strictly limited.

Abstracts should be emailed to Simon Mair.

More information can be found at the University of Surrey website.

Historical Materialism Symposium: "50 Years of Socialist Feminism" (Toronto, 2019)

26-29 September, 2019 | Toronto, Canada

2019 marks 50 years since the publication of Margaret Benston's "The Political Economy of Women's Liberation," a seminal article in the modern development of socialist feminism. In it, Benston proposes that "housework" (as she called the labour of sustaining this and the next generation of workers) be considered in relation to processes of capitalist value creation. Widely circulated prior to its publication in /Monthly Review/, and debated internationally for years afterward, Benston's article opened the doors to a socio-materialist critique of women's oppression that has defined socialist feminist theory and politics ever since.

Historical Materialism Toronto is organizing a symposium, to take place in Toronto, September 26th to 29th, 2019, to commemorate this important contribution, as well as to explore the ways in which socialist feminist theorising and politics has grown through and beyond Benston's intervention. We wish to bring together a new generation of socialist feminist theorists to discuss the current state of socialist feminist politics, our continued strengths, and the weaknesses that we still need to address to truly apply a socio-materialist critique of social oppressions and exploitation. What is the current state of socialist feminist theorising, where is it going, and where should we be going?

We will give priority consideration to papers that discuss socialist feminist approaches to questions of race and racialization, imperialism, colonialism, indigeneity, ecology, sexualities, gendered violence, and disability.

We invite you to submit an abstract for a paper that engages current ideas, debates and discussions relevant to socialist feminist theory and politics. Presenters will circulate their papers in advance, and use the Symposium to further clarify and elaborate their work. A selection of papers will be organized into a volume to be submitted for publication (either as an edited collection or a journal special issue).

Abstracts should be between 200 and 250 words. To submit, please email your name, affiliation, contact information, and abstract to historicalmaterialismtoronto@gmail.com no later than April 30, 2018.

Link to the conference website can be found here.

History of Economics Society Conference (Chicago, June 2018)

14-17 June, 2018 | Loyola University, Chicago, US

Papers dealing with any aspect of the history of economic thought are welcome, including work related to any period or any school of economic thought. Also welcome are papers that situate economics in wider intellectual and cultural contexts or relate it to other disciplines.

Extended Deadline: 21 March 2018

More details about this Call for Papers can be found in our past issue: HEN223.

The committee (Joe Persky, UIC and John Berdell, DePaul) prefer correspondence and proposals for papers or sessions to be sent to: 2018heschicago@gmail.com

Please use HES2018 in the subject line.

The early registration deadline is March 31.

IGLP Conference "Corporate Power in Global Society" (Cambridge, June 2018)

2-3 June, 2018 | Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US

Institute for Global Law and Policy (ILGP), Havard Law School, is pleased to announce that from June 2-3, 2018, the IGLP will host an international conference at Harvard Law School to showcase innovative thinking about global law and policy. We look forward to welcoming scholars from around the world who bring new ideas and perspectives to comparative and international legal research and policy. We invite all those who have participated in our network–and those who would like to join with us–to come to Cambridge and share your ideas. The 2018 Conference will offer the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, meet others who share your intellectual passions, present your research, and engage with innovative scholars from around the world.

We are currently accepting submissions for IGLP Conference Panels and Conference Papers! If you have an idea for a Panel or are interested in presenting your work at the conference, please fill out the appropriate form. We particularly encourage alumni of past Workshops to submit proposals.

Deadline for Submissions: March 30, 2018

IGLP 2018 Conference – Panel Application

IGLP 2018 Conference – Paper Application

Call for Papers: Corporate Power in Global Society II—Challenging Limits and Expanding Horizons

When corporate ordering seems ubiquitous and central to the conduct of social, economic and political life across the globe, and local, national and international political institutions seem everywhere in struggle for resources, legitimacy, capacity and authority, we thought it important to revisit the theme of corporate power with a view to exploring challenges and limits we’ve encountered in our research and expanding our collective repertoire of strategies for (re)engagement and critique. We welcome proposals from scholars of the corporation and corporate power working in law, political economy, economics, anthropology, sociology, history, geography, management, organizational studies, cultural studies, sex and gender studies, (post) colonial studies, Africana studies, Queer Theory, or other disciplines.

In a series of themed panels over the two days we hope to explore some of the following questions:

To submit a paper proposal,

To submit a paper proposal, click here and complete the online submission form. The form will require you to include an abstract of no more than 250 words describing the paper you propose to present along with short description of how the paper fits into your broader research.

At present, we have no resources for travel. Meals will be provided for all participants and lodging will be available in Harvard University facilities at or below cost in accordance with IGLP policies for the conference.

The June 2018 mini-conference continues a multi-year investigation of corporate power in global society by scholars affiliated with the IGLP. In June 2014, the IGLP Corporation in Global Society research group, in collaboration with The Critical Corporation Project, City, University of London and the Program on the Corporation, Law and Global Society, Northeastern University School of Law, hosted a two-day interdisciplinary conference entitled “Corporate Power in Global Society: Explication, Critique, Engagement, Resistance” at which both panellists and participants interrogated the theme of “corporate power” through a wide array of substantive legal regimes and disciplinary perspectives. In June 2015 we followed this with a one-day Corporation in Global Society research conference. Since that time, the varieties and implications of corporate power have continued to morph and proliferate while scholars of the corporation have proliferated as well, employing ever more diverse, eclectic and inter-disciplinary approaches to engage the complexity and significance of the phenomena we study.

Further information can be found at the IGLP conference website.

For more information about the IGLP and its other activities, see iglp.law.harvard.edu.

To reach the co-convenors, contact Grietje Baars at Grietje.Baars.1@city.ac.uk; Dan Danielsen at d.danielsen@northeastern.edu.

International Symposium on "Karl Marx in the 21st Century" (Tokyo, Dec 2018)

22-23 December, 2018 | Satta Hall, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

Topic: “Karl Marx” – Dead or Alive in the 21st Century?

The International Symposium on K. Marx in the 21st Century will be held at Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, on December 22-23, 2018. The year of 2018 is the bicentenary anniversary of K. Marx's birth. This great thinker's name has been incorporated into modern world history. Even today, we still suffer from antagonisms and critical tendencies that can be comparable to what K. Marx regarded as the results of capitalist economy. So, the name of this revolutionary intellectual giant in the 19th Century arouses uneasiness both in every field of politics, economics, social thought, and philosophy, and in social and political movements.

Among the debates to which Marx’s life and work has given rise, one fundamental question is this: Have Marx's ideas on the problems of modern economic system and society already become outmoded? If it is the case, can Marx’s theory and ideas be renewed on the grounds of accumulated knowledge, and using advanced analytical tools? In general, what is the message of this bearded man for people who live more than a century after his death? These problematics will provide the central thematic focus for our 2018 conference.

K. Marx was not a prophet. He was a man who wished to ground his ideas in the materialistic view of history and declared his willingness to receive any scientific criticisms to his theory. On the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth, seven major academic societies engaging Marxian studies in Japan are jointly organizing an international symposium on "K. Marx in the 21st century" in Tokyo. Prominent international researchers will discuss Marx's ideas, focusing on both historical and theoretical approaches. Attention to history is crucial, because Marx’s ideas were formulated in the 19th Century and gave rise to “Marxism,” which influenced intellectuals and social and political movements in the 20th Century. Theoretically, we should examine his ideas in the dual context of the system he intended to establish and of new 21st century developments. In 2017, a preliminary symposium on the 150th anniversary of K. Marx's Capital was held in Tokyo; the proceedings of that event (appearing soon on our webpages) will provide one point of departure for what we anticipate will be critical analyses and reappraisals undertaken on a broader basis in “K. Marx in the 21st Century.”

We look forward to the participation of leading Marxian researchers overseas as well as in Japan in proposing answers to the question that will guide our 2018 symposium.

Dr. Tetsuji Kawamura
President of the Japanese Society for Political Economy Chairman of the Executive Committee of K. Marx in the 21st Century Symposium

Proposals and Paper Submission

The symposium’s thematic fields:

The general scheme of the symposium covers the following three major sub-categories:

  1. Historically and objectively investigating K. Marx's theories and thoughts
  2. Recapturing past impacts and experiences of K. Marx and Marxism
  3. Identifying features of Marx's theories and thoughts and those of the successors or the alternatives to them in the 21st century of ours.

The Executive Committee is arranging a special plenary session on the third field listed above. This will be open to the interested public with simultaneous translation from English to Japanese. Other presentations are contained in the parallel sessions (in English or in Japanese possibly with simultaneous translation in English).

Proposals and Deadline:

Paper proposals must be 400-1,000 words in length, with preference given to those corresponding to one of the three fields listed above. Proposals should be sent, in the period March 1-March 31, 2018, to this email address: marxinthe21stcentury.jspe@gmail.com

Applicants will be notified about the decision regarding their proposals no later than May 31, 2018. Those whose proposals are accepted must send their full papers to the above email address by October 31, 2018; this will permit timely posting of these papers on the conference website. The organizing committee will consider symposium papers for publication in academic journals or edited books.

Registration & participation fee

Participation fee is US$100.00 (+ reception party fee: US$50.00). The registration deadline is July 31, 2018

Procedures and payment methods will be announced on the conference webpage.

The Executive Committee: Why in Japan? Who are we?

Since their rather late arrival in Japan in the early 20th Century, the ideas of K. Marx have nourished generations of scholars and activists. During the long history of applying K. Marx's ideas to Japan’s capitalist economic system and society, Japanese scholars have made unique contributions to Marxian studies. Just as Marx himself regarded the investigation of political economy as the key to analyze the structure and movement of modern society, Marxian investigations in Japan have centered on political economy, even while informing explorations of wide-ranging aspects of social relations. Building on this long tradition of Marxian studies in Japan, the Executive Committee for the international symposium on K. Marx in the 21st Century is an initiative of the Japan Society of Political Economy (JSPE) and of the Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought (JSHET), together with leading academic societies of Marxian studies in Japan – the Institute for Fundamental Political Economy (IFPE), the Japanese Society for the Study of Materialism (JSSM), the Japanese Society for the Study of Credit Theory (JSSCT) and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Marx-Engels-Forscher (AMEF). A scientific committee, including leading overseas scholars, is being assembled to advise the Executive Committee on the selection of proposals and on publication possibilities.

The Executive Committee of K. Marx in the 21st Century Symposium

Chairman: Tetsuji Kawamura (President of JSPE: Hosei Univ.)
JSPE: Kiichiro Yagi, Makoto Itoh, Yasuo Gotoh, Hiroshi Ohnishi; JSHET: Koji Daikoku, Susumu Takenaga; IFPE: Nobuyo Gotoh, Takeo Nakatani; JSSM: Sadaharu Oya, Norimasa Watanabe; JSCCT: Yukihiko Maehata, Akira Matsumoto; AMEF: Izumi Omura, Akira Miyagawa

Administration Members

Atsushi Shimizu (Secretary General), Takeo Hidai, Kei Ehara, Yosuke Kobayashi, Tomoyuki Niida Postal Address c/o Dr. Atsushi Shimizu’s Office, Department of Economics, Musashi University

Conference Venue: 26-1, Toyotamakami 1- chome, Nerima-ku, Tokyo 176-8534 JAPAN

E-mail:marxinthe21stcentury.jspe@gmail.com

International Workshop on "Forms of Power in Economics" (Giessen, Dec 2018)

6-8 December, 2018 | University of Giessen, Germany

Topic: "Forms of Power in Economics: New perspectives for the Social Studies of Economics between networks, discourses and fields"

Economics as an academic discipline and a profession has gained influence and power during the last decades, in many countries and in several social spheres. The forms of power, domination and authority that open up different channels of influence for economics are complex and widespread; but economics is not only a source of power, it is also the product of power and domination through discourses, fields, networks and other means and tools.

For example, economists occupy positions at the top of the institutional hierarchy in different sectors, such as banks and firms, the state and media as well as within academia. They serve as consultants and advisors in several policy fields ranging from fiscal to health and social security policy. Economists are appointed to boards of big corporations, as governance experts, high civil servants and central bankers. Economists are also part of consulting teams for newspapers and other media, regularly publish op-eds and lead articles and thus exert influence on public debates. Actually, leading newspapers in the German- Speaking area have started to establish their own economists ranking based on their impact in several societal spheres.

Additionally, economists have become a dominant professional group, compared to traditional professions and other social science disciplines. At the international level, economists work in influential organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO and the ECB. They have also been able to constitute one of the most advanced examples of an international scientific field, resulting from a long process of standardization of practices, careers and curricula, as well as an adoption of external technical tools from mathematics and physics.

Yet, economists do not form a homogeneous group and their power is unequally distributed amongst members of the profession. Strong hierarchies, compared to other academic disciplines and professions, characterize economics. There are only few expressions for alternative approaches compared to the dominant orthodoxy in the field. This hierarchy, combined with a strong insularity of their field, helps to define a sentiment of self-confidence and superiority among group members. Economists face a strong imbalance in the distribution of related capitals and this stratification of the profession has implications on some features of their profiles. Economists are clearly under-feminised and it can also be hypothesized that for the most part they come from high social backgrounds. Women, individuals with a working class background and individuals with a particularly local profile are more or less excluded from resources in terms of chairs, research funds, grants and editorial board positions. Nonetheless, such individuals are sometimes able to oppose real challenges to the dominant actors of the field.

The idea of our workshop is to understand economics as a phenomenon that is involved in many different power games. Power, authority and domination cannot be reduced to sovereignty, ideology and strategic capacities. It is rather a complex phenomenon that accounts for the special role of economics in current societies. However, we will discuss the following aspects of power, related to economics as an academic discipline and social profession:

The diverse forms of power of the profession as well as the various challenges it has been confronted with lately need to be analysed from a critical and interdisciplinary perspective. The support of diverse disciplines such as sociology, history, political science, linguistics or economics are definitely needed in this process, alongside various theoretical approaches, methodological orientations and materials: field analysis, social network analysis, discourse analysis, life-course analysis, interview surveys, ethnography, bibliometrics, historical sources analysis and so many more.

Selected papers of our workshop will be invited to contribute to our forthcoming book project. In order to facilitate this process, we ask everybody to submit a paper proposal of about 6000 to 10.000 words until 10 November 2018.

Please send proposals to jens.maesse@sowi.uni-giessen.de

The deadline for paper proposals is June 30 2018

The deadline for full papers is November 10 2018

Organizing committee

Pierre Benz (University of Lausanne), Jens Maesse (University of Giessen), Stephan Pühringer (University of Linz) and Thierry Rossier (University of Lausanne).

Oeconomicus: Call for submissions

We are currently soliciting submissions for our 2017-18 issue of Oeconomicus. Oeconomicus is an annually published interdisciplinary journal of economic issues written, refereed, edited and published by MA and PhD students in the social sciences at UMKC.

The focus of the journal is on critical or heterodox approaches to issues of economic methodology and theory, history of economic thought, economic history, political economy, and economic policy. All heterodox traditions within the social sciences -- including but not limited to -- Post Keynesian, Marxist, Institutionalist, Austrian, Feminist, and Poststructuralist/Postmodern are welcomed. We welcome full-length articles, book reviews, interviews, or comments. Submissions should be no more than 5000 words and should be submitted in MS Word format.

All editorial inquiries and submissions should be sent to the editor, Richard Twumasi, at rat446@mail.umkc.edu.

The deadline for abstracts is March 31, 2018. The deadline for final papers is April 15, 2018.

Review of Economics and Economic Methodology: Special Issue on "On the Principles of Political Economy Two Hundred years after Ricardo"

Review of Economics and Economic Methodology is a peer-reviewed, bi-annual academic journal with a focus on economic theory, economic methodology, economic history and ethics in economics. It is set up and managed by the coordinators of the Movement for Economic Pluralism, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana.

We are calling for papers for Volume II, Issue 2, Winter 2018.

REEM welcomes contributions from both, established scholars and prospective students, in so far as the latter have support by a professor. REEM is an open access journal, all its content is permanently available online without subscription or payment. Every article has a unique and permanent URL.

The second issue is a special issue:"On the Principles of Political Economy Two Hundred years after Ricardo"

In 1817 David Ricardo published his magnum opus On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. It would prove to be one of the most influential books in political economy influencing modern trade theory, providing a foundation for free trade ideology and Marx's eventual critique of the subject. The book itself represented a thorough critique of Adam Smith's theory of value and distribution, due to its circular reasoning, a quality which would later emerge again in the marginalist doctrine. Famously the chapter On Machinery represents perhaps one of the earliest, thorough and prophetic analyses of technological unemployment and its impacts on different classes of society. A formal expression of Ricardo's economic system is found in Sraffa's obscure Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory.

There is something about the methodological approach of David Ricardo that has managed to influence both mainstream economic theory and its most ardent methodological opponents. This is a very rare trait and one which perhaps no other author can lay claim to the same extent. This diversity of economic theory inspired by Ricardo's Principles is why the Review of Economics and Economics Methodology has decided to have a special call for papers marking the anniversary of what is undoubtedly one of the most influential works in economic theory.

All other contributions that are within the scope of the journal and are not connected to Ricardian theory and its various interpretations are also welcome. The research domains are:

  1. Economic theory: We welcome contributions from different schools in economics, papers are not discriminated by their paradigmatic content, but by the quality of research.
  2. Economic methodology: We welcome the methodological analysis of concepts, theories and techniques of economics, either mainstream or heterodox.
  3. History of economic thought: We welcome papers that deal with historical development of ideas, concepts, theories and methods in economics.
  4. Ethics and economics: We welcome contributions in philosophy, political science and moral philosophy, in so far as there is some clear link to economics.

All submissions must show a clear connection to economics, but can be non-economical, possibly with a focus on conceptual or methodological issues, and should in some way indicate the link with published research.

Specifications for the submission

The Review of Economics and Economic Methodology accepts papers sent to reemslovenia@gmail.com and written in English (possibly Slovenian) in order to check for potential eligibility. Once you send us a contribution, one of the journal editors will be assigned to your paper and all further communication concerning it. You will receive an acknowledgement of your submission and you will be notified within a week whether or not your paper has been accepted for peer review. All received papers are subjected to a double-blind peer review procedure in which they are reviewed by at least one other lecturer and two reviewing editors from the REEM editorial board. The results of the review process will be known in about 4 weeks time.

REEM publishes work that is original and has not been published elsewhere. If an author wishes to publish his or her work elsewhere, as a whole or in part, this must be reported upon submission or immediately after. REEM reserves the right to edit submissions. It will be made possible for authors to view editorial changes before publication, if the work is received by REEM on time.

REEM reserves the right not to publish work if it does not conform to the standards set out by the editorial board.

Manuscripts should be double-spaced, all pages should be numbered consecutively, with short titles and subtitles. Manuscripts (original articles) should be roughly between 4000 and 7500 words (including references, tables and figures). All manuscripts should be submitted in Word format. Manuscripts should not contain the name(s) of the author(s).

A separate Word file should contain the following information: (i) the title; (ii) the name(s) and institutional affiliation(s) of the author(s); (iii) the full mailing address of the corresponding author; (iv) an abstract of 200-250 words; (v) full contact details of authors; (vi) 3-6 keywords; (vii) 3-5 JEL codes; (vii) word count. Manuscripts (original articles) below 4000 or above 7500 words may not be accepted for publication by the reviewers.

Possible contributions:

  1. Original articles: on any of the research domains of the Journal. Approximate length: 4000-7500 words (including references, tables and figures).
  2. Book reviews: of recent publications in the field. Approximate length: 1000-2000 words (including references, tables and figures).
  3. Critical comments: responses to articles or book reviews previously published in the Journal. Approximate length: 1500-3000 words (including references, tables and figures).
  4. Bachelor, Master or PhD thesis summaries: of recent graduates in any area covered by the Journal. Approximate length: 2000-4000 words (including references, tables and figures).

All articles should be edited in accordance with the Author Guidelines listed here: http://www.reemslovenia.com/submissions.html.

Editorial Team:

Important Dates:

Deadline of the submission of full papers: April 15th 2018

For more information please visit the journal website or write an email inquiry to reemslovenia@gmail.com.

Revista de Economía Crítica: Special Issue on "20 Years of the Euro: Taking stock and looking ahead"

Guest Editor: Eladio Febrero
Proposed date of publication: 30 June 2019.

In 2019 it will be 20 years since the launch of the euro. Throughout that period of time, 10 years of relative prosperity preceded another 10 years during which there has been a serious economic crisis, from which we are emerging slowly and which has almost cost us the breakdown of the euro. The crisis has made four things clear. First, that the eurozone lacked the mechanisms required to correct the imbalances that accumulated throughout the prosperity phase. Second, that the eurozone lacked the necessary institutions to implement an economic policy alternative to fiscal austerity and wage devaluation. Third, that such institutions tend to generate a strong backlash, especially in the country with the greatest economic weight in the area, Germany, and that it would only accept a greater level of integration in exchange for more economic discipline at the national level.

The fourth point is that, without the institutional ingredients that are present in a full monetary union, the process of emerging from the crisis is delayed significantly, is weak and is notably non- inclusive.

The 20th anniversary of the euro seems an appropriate time to rethink the single currency. With this objective, the Revista de Economía Crítica has organized a special issue under the title:

“20 Years of the Euro: Taking stock and looking ahead”

We welcome submissions of papers addressing the issue at hand with a variety of different research focuses including but not limited to:

REC will select up to six papers for publication.

Timetable for submission:

Submissions should be sent to revistaec@gmail.com with the subject “20 years euro”.

For further information visit the journal website.

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

29-31 August, 2018 | Balliol College, Oxford, UK

The 50th annual UK History of Economic Thought conference in conjunction with The History of Economic Thought Society will take place at Balliol College, Oxford, from 29 until 31 August 2018.

Submissions of abstracts of papers in all areas of the history of economic thought, to James Forder (james.forder@balliol.ox.ac.uk), are invited. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis after 18 April 2018.

The conference is financially supported by a grant from the Oxford Economic Papers Association. That grant may inter alia provide support for students presenting original work at the conference. Those wishing to apply for such support should submit full papers and arrange for a letter of recommendation from a suitably qualified person to arrive strictly by 18 April 2018.

The editors of Oxford Economic Papers will consider papers from the conference for a special issue of the journal for which Roger Backhouse will be guest editor. Submissions to that issue will be subject to the normal refereeing process of the journal and acceptance of papers will be by the Editorial Board.

Limited accommodation will be available in the college (www.balliol.ox.ac.uk) and will be available for booking shortly after 18 April.

Link to the conference website can be found here.

URPE @ Southern Economic Association Conference (Washington D.C., Nov 2018)

18-20 November, 2018 | Washington D.C., US

URPE is now accepting paper submissions for the 2018 Southern Economic Association Conference. This year the conference is at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC from November 18-20, 2018 (see link here).

Please submit your panels and/or individual papers to the following link.

THE URPE DEADLINE IS MARCH 31, 2018

If you have any further questions please email conference coordinator Scott Carter at scott-carter@utulsa.edu.

URPE-IAFFE joint sessions @ ASSA (Jan 2019)

Call for Papers and Panels - ASSA Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, January 4-6, 2019

Joint URPE/IAFFE sessions using feminist and radical political economy approaches

Once again, URPE (Union of Radical Political Economics) and IAFFE (International Association for Feminist Economics) plan to co-sponsor up to three sessions at the ASSA annual meeting in 2019. I will be coordinating these for IAFFE and working closely with URPE program coordinators for the ASSAs (Armağan Gezici) and IAFFE program coordinator (and president-elect) Naila Kabeer.

We welcome proposals on feminist and radical political economic theory and applied analysis. The number of panels allocated to heterodox organizations is very limited. The joint IAFFE/URPE panels are allocated to URPE. Please note that anyone who presents a paper must be a member of URPE or IAFFE at the time of submission of the paper or panel proposal. Preference will be given to presenters who are members of both organizations. We also expect that participants make an effort to be engaged in all IAFFE and URPE sessions, not just their own, as the AEA does keep track of participants and may reduce the number of sessions accordingly.

Proposals for individual papers should include the title and an abstract (100 words). A longer depiction of the paper (include methods used) is desired, but not required. We will also need name, institutional affiliation, phone, email, and membership status in URPE and IAFFE for all authors. Please send your paper proposal and all requested information to elissa.braunstein@colostate.edu.

Proposals for complete sessions are also possible. If you want to propose a panel, please contact me. And if you are interested in/willing to be a chair or discussant, please let me know.

The deadline for proposed papers for joint URPE/IAFFE panels is May 1, 2018.

Contact urpe@labornet.org for URPE membership. Contact iaffe.org for IAFFE membership information. We will confirm membership prior to accepting proposals and URPE reserves the right to cancel panels in which any members (besides chairs or discussants) are not URPE or IAFFE members.

You should receive word if your paper/session is accepted by mid-June. Please note that the date, time, and location of sessions are assigned by ASSA in the summer, not URPE or IAFFE. You are expected to have a paper prepared and provided to all members of your panel in early December.

Call for Participants

21th Summer School on "History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and Economic History" (Volos, Aug-Sept 2018)

31 August – 4 September, 2018 | University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece

Conference and Cultural Center old Paou Monastery (Argalasti, South Pelion, Magnesia, Greece; http://mpaou.uth.gr/en/),

Topic: “Fairness and the Economy: Theoretical, Ethical and Political Aspects”

The 21th Summer School is organized by the University of Thessaly (Greece) and Phare (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France), with the support of the ESHET. The Summer School is open to PhD students and young scholars (PhD degree after January 2017) from the fields of History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and Economic History. Approximately 20 proposals will be selected for presentation. Previous summer schools have taken place in Como (2017), Cargese-Corsica (2016), Stuttgart-Hohenheim, (2015), Zaragoza, (2014), Ankara, (2013). The full list of the summer schools can be found in the ESHET website.

Participants: PhD students and young scholars (PhD degree after January 2017)

Fields: History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and Economic History (approx. 20 proposals will be selected for presentation)

Deadline for abstract submissions: May 21st, 2018

Abstracts must be sent to Michel Zouboulakis: mzoub@uth.gr

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Young Scholar Workshops

Four to six papers will be presented each day on open themes, chosen on the basis of the students' field of research, related to the history of economic thought, economic methodology, economic philosophy or economic history. The subjects of the papers may differ from the Summer School's main theme “Fairness and the Economy: Theoretical, Ethical and Political Aspects”.

The students´ presentations will take place in the presence of the members of the scientific committee and of some invited speakers, thus covering a broad area of expertise. Each presentation will be commented by a discussant, chosen among the young scholars, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Contributions will be selected from extended abstracts in English of 750 to 1000 words, or full-paper proposals of up to 7500 words. Abstracts must be sent, together with the application form, a CV, and a letter of recommendation from a supervisor, to Michel Zouboulakis: mzoub@uth.gr

Applications not including the required documents –abstract or full paper in English, application form, CV, and a letter of recommendation– will not be taken into consideration.

Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements and pay their travel costs. The registration fee is 120 €. Registration fees include hotel accommodation (6 nights, check-in August 30st, check-out September 5th), materials, daily breakfast and lunch and participation to the leisure program.

By mid-June 2018, the Scientific Committee will inform allthe applicants about the outcome of the selection process.

Seminar´s Theme: “Fairness and the Economy: Theoretical, Ethical and Political Aspects”

The aim of this summer school would be to examine the impact of this concept of central importance from its different aspects. Historically, the idea of fairness in commercial transactions is present since the medieval times at least in the great discussion between Christian Theologists against usury. In Classical Political Economy the idea of fair trade is present in the Wealth of Nations both in individual and foreign exchanges. Since, it was never retrieved from the mainstream economic thinking (e.g. Marshall’s Industry and Trade) but did flourish mainly in the heterodox thinking, especially in Marx and his followers. Recently, in their best-selling book Animal Spirits (Princeton 2009, p.25), Akerlof and Shiller wrote this: “Considerations of fairness are a major motivator in many economic decisions and are related to our sense of confidence and our ability to work effectively together. Current economics has an ambiguous view of fairness. While on the one hand there is a considerable literature on what is fair or unfair, there is also a tradition that such considerations should take second place in the explanation of economic events. […] On the contrary, we think phenomena as basic as the existence of involuntary unemployment and the relation between inflation and the aggregate output can be explained when fairness is taken into account.”

Today, a great social movement in developing countries claims fairness in international trade and beyond. Many international organizations promote the idea of fairness both in production and trade in order to sustain the economy of less developed countries. The same is true in alternative consumer movements across many European and North American countries where fair trade commodities are sold in higher than massive consumption prices. Even the European Commission has put forward a “memo on alternative trade” and the European Parliament adopted the "Resolution on Fair Trade" in 2006. Finally, the European Law is trying recently to comprehend Unfair Commercial Practices in order to crystallize the modern perception of fairness in trade.

There is no better place to contemplate on those important topics, but into a former eastern orthodox monastery of the 18th c., surrounded by 1250 olive trees and under the ruthless light of the Greek summer sun. The 21th Summer School in History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and History of Economics, will give the opportunity of discussing them, 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, such as 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 this Summer School on History of Economic Thought, Economic Philosophy and Economic History, sessions will be dedicated to about 8 conferences on the topic Fairness and the Economy: Theoretical, Ethical and Political Aspects. This topic is to be tackled according to the scientific commitments that are the hallmark of this Summer School:

Program (outline of daily schedule)

Venue and stay

Local Organizing Committee

Scientific Committee

6th Schumpeter Summer School "Smart Technologies – a New Industrial Age?" at University of Graz

9-13 September, 2018 | Graz, Austria

Topic: Smart Technologies – a New Industrial Age? Approaches to Radical Innovation and Economic Transformation

Modern economies are currently subject to a technological transformation about which widely divergent views are put forward. Some believe that disruptive innovations will trigger a fourth industrial revolution boosting economic growth, whereas others see the specter of persistent and massive technological unemployment haunting modern society. What to make of this? For economists, it evokes a number of more specific and far-reaching questions, such as:

The Summer School will deal with theories, analytical tools and empirical evidence to tackle the problems at hand. Invited lecturers will expose junior fellows to the most advanced methods and approaches in the area of innovation and technological change. Thematic workshops are scheduled in which participants may present their own work. We invite pre-docs and post-docs with an interest in fields such as innovation research, the economics of technological change and knowledge, institutional economics, and structural change. Scholars approaching issues and theories of technological change and economic transformation from a historical point of view are also highly welcome.

Lectures will be given by:

Admission is open to up to 30 junior fellows, that is, graduate students and recent Ph.D.s. A significant part of the time will be devoted to seminars in which junior fellows are given the opportunity to present their research work and get feedbacks from peers. Successful participation in the Summer School will be certified.

Organising Committee:

Application: Applications should include: a CV; a one-page statement of the junior fellow’s motivation to participate in the Summer School; two letters of recommendation from university professors. The application form will be available on the homepage and should be completed and attached to any application. The material should be sent to: schumpeter.centre@uni-graz.at by June 15, 2018. For questions about the application procedure and the Summer School in general, please contact us per E-mail: schumpeter.centre@uni-graz.at

Applicants who are interested to present their research in a refereed session have to submit a paper together with the application (deadline: June 15, 2018). Submission of a paper is also mandatory for those who want to undertake assessment for academic credit. The scientific committee will decide about acceptance of submitted papers within short time.

Tuition fee: The tuition fee of € 600,- includes course materials, accommodation for five nights, full board, and participation in social events. Accommodation is provided at the Summer School venue (Bildungshaus Mariatrost). Travel costs cannot be covered.

Location and Venue: Graz is the capital city of the province Styria (Steiermark) and with approx. 300.000 inhabitants Austria’s second largest city. The Old Town of Graz is one of the best preserved in Europe and was awarded World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1999. The charm of the city itself, the perfect accessibility and bustling cultural life are but a few advantages Graz has to offer. The Summer School will be held at the Seminar Center Mariatrost, an enjoyable location at the periphery of Graz, which is well connected with the historic city centre by public transport.

Travel: Graz has an international airport with direct connections to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, and Zurich. The Summer School venue can be reached with public transport.

Cooperation: The Graz Schumpeter Centre cooperates with the University of Nanjing, China, and other Asian as well as European academic institutions to secure a diversified scientific board and a broad attendance. The partnership with other academic institutions creates a scientific network ensuring useful spillover effects.

Contact: For further information on application and funding, please access the Summer School Website at schumpeter-centre.uni-graz.at or contact the Summer School Office: schumpeter.centre@uni-graz.at

Green Economics Summer School (Oxford, June 2018)

20-22 June, 2018 | University of Oxford, UK

This Summer School Programme can boost your learning. Bringing together people from all over the world, this 3 day Summer School is an exciting opportunity to enrich your curriculum with tutorials designed by highly regarded scholars.

Main sessions

Goals

Please send your enquiries to info@geiacademy.org

Registration and booking at Summer School Tickets

Further information is available on our new website: geiacademy.org

IIPPE Training Workshop: "Political Economy and Africa" (London, March 2018)

26 March, 2018 | SOAS, University of London

Join International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) for our next Training Workshop

Place: Room B202, in the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London

Programme:

9.30am: Registration

10am to 1pm: Trajectories of neoliberalism in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ewa Karwowski: Financialisation and neoliberalism in post-apartheid South Africa

Elisa van Waeyenberge and Hannah Bargawi on the transition from structural adjustment to development plans (by way of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers) in Uganda

2pm to 6pm:

Theoretical session: Development of capitalism and the development of underdevelopment (overview of debates on imperialism and potential for revolutionary change)

Thematic Session: Labour and surplus population (overview of debates on structural transformation and agrarian change)

With: the Editorial Working Group members of the Review of African Political Economy, including Hannah Cross, Elisa Greco and Matteo Rizzo

This Workshop will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, junior academics and activists who have a particular interest in acquainting themselves with the relevance of Marxian political economy to the contemporary world.

Pre-registration is essential because of room capacity constraints. Please register for free via Eventbrite.

To learn about IIPPE, their activities, working groups and events, access www.iippe.org, join us on twitter @IIPPE_ and listen to our podcasts at https://soundcloud.com/iippe

International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics seeks delegates for European Dialogue (Berlin, April 2018)

25-27 April, 2018 | Hans-Böckler-Foundation, Berlin, Germany

Once again we, the International Student Initiative for Pluralism in Economics, have the chance to attend the European Dialogue hosted by Hans-Böckler-Foundation. As a young pluralist group we want to discuss the state of plural economics in our home universities and the necessity of a more plural teaching and the next steps of our worldwide movement. What is the goal for the next year and how can we achieve it? We will plan our stay and visit the conference as a group of ISIPE altogether. This is a great chance to gather and we will surely have a great time, so don’t miss it!

As a participant you will have the opportunity to actively participate in the debates, put forward your ideas and contribute to a pluralist view of economic thinking. Attending this conference will also allow you to get involved with the work developed by ISIPE and to strengthen the bound between fellow pluralists. A meeting will be held to promote and enhance internal discussions on how to intensify our international cooperation. If you are accepted as a member of the ISIPE Delegation your reasonable travel expenditures will be reimbursed by Hans-Böckler-Foundation. accomodation in a hotel will be provided from April 25th to 27th. We are very much looking forward to your applications!

Please send the following documents as PDF to european-dialogue@plurale-oekonomik.de:

Submission deadline: March 18th

A confirmation can be expected around March 19th. Reimbursement of travel expenditures will be payed after having participated. If there are any questions regarding the application process, please feel free to contact us: europeandialogue@plurale-oekonomik.de

Reshaping Economics Conference (Tutzing, April 2018)

27-29 April, 2018 | Tutzing, Germany

At least since the financial crisis of 2008 Economics as an academic discipline has increasingly become the focus of critical public scrutiny. Not only are its underlying economic theories being questioned but also the way these impact society itself. Is it possible that economics, while having not only failed to predict the crisis, can be considered to have also brought it about?

These considerations lead to the fundamental issue of (economic) science and its relationship to reality. The concept of an objective science producing a reality-based representation of its area of knowledge is being increasingly questioned. How should the assertion that economics exerts a determining influence on the economy, politics and society be critically approached?

Economic textbooks play a central role in this issue, the goal of which, according to Greg Mankiw, one of today’s most important textbook authors, is to alter students’ perceptive faculties. What is meant when students are to learn how to look at economic phenomena in a new way? How are they being influenced by this?

Economic teaching, moreover, is being repeatedly critiqued for being monolithic, for failing to provide comparative study of varying theories, whereby the neo-classical „mainstream“ is often taught in the context of a scientific claim to truth. Is this critique a legitimate one? If so, what does this signify for the kind of consulting economists offer with regard to policy?

We cordially invite you to the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing to discuss and analyze the status and influence of research and teaching in economics with representatives from various fields of expertise. Moreover, we will take a look at the recent approach offered by behavioral economics, the representatives of which in part seek to change consumer behavior through „nudging“. We will address Economics‘ social responsibility and discuss pluralist approaches to research and teaching.

Organising committee

More details (program, prices, etc.) can be found at the conference website.

School of Advanced Studies in the Reappraisal of the Surplus Approach (Rome, July 2018)

6-14 July, 2018 | Department of Economics of Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy

The Centro Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa" organizes a Summer School open to PhD students and young scholars with an interest in the modern revival of Classical Theory.

Objective of the School

The School's purpose is to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the surplus approach as taken up and developed by Piero Sraffa and subsequent authors. Participants will therefore be introduced to the analyses of the Classical economists and to the modern research conducted within the reappraisal of their theoretical framework. The activity will embrace different topics, ranging from the thory of value and distribution to the study of economic growth, also dealing with applied analyses and policy issues.

In addition, the School aims to stinulate participants into developing their own research by fostering contacts and scientific exchange between young researchers and expert scholars. To this purpose, a selected number of papers by young scholars will be presented and discussed in a specific session.

Organization of the School

The activity of the Summer School is organized at two intertwined levels: lectures designed for a post graduated audience will be held in the morning, and afternoon sessions will be devoted to seminars at a more advanced level on topics that may suggest research subjects for young scholars.

The lectures will introduce participants to the foundations of the main lines of research within the modern revival of Classical theory:

By the beginning of March Centro Sraffa will be issuing the full announcement, complete with details and the application form. Young scholars wishing to present a contribution on any of the School themes will be invited to submit an abstract.

Organizing and Scientific Committee:

Roberto Ciccone, Saverio M. Fratini, E. Sergio Levrero, Antonella Palumbo, Daria Pignalosa, Antonella Stirati, Paolo Trabucchi, Attilio Trezzini.

E-mail: centro.sraffa@uniroma3.it

Science Policy Research Units PhD Forum (Brighton, May 2018)

17-18 May, 2018 | University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

The 24th Annual Science Policy Research Units (SPRU) PhD Forum will be held on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th May 2018 at the University of Sussex. The theme this year is 'Science, Technology and Innovation for a World in Transition: Interdisciplinary Perspectives' with an emphasis on thinking across disciplinary boundaries, and connecting and integrating different views and approaches to the challenges faced by our changing world.

The SPRU PhD Forum is a free, two-day event that provides doctoral researchers with a unique space in which to present their research, network and collaborate.

Centred on the overlapping fields of innovation, science, and technology policy studies this event discusses research within the areas of science, politics and decision making; energy; sustainability and development; economics of innovation and industrial policy; and technology and innovation management. It also welcomes connections with all related fields including: economics, security, development, life sciences, the creative industries, and more.

This annual event is organised by current SPRU PhD students meaning that the Forum is more informal than a normal conference. The Forum is specifically designed to enable dialogue and personal feedback from peers and world-class researchers from SPRU and beyond.

This year’s event will include keynote speakers from across disciplinary boundaries, plenary and paper sessions and great opportunities for networking and collaboration, including a free evening meal.

Speakers confirmed so far include: Dr. Helene Ahlborg from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and Professor Philippe Laredo from the University of Manchester.

The SPRU PhD Forum aims to be a supportive and constructive moment in the lives of doctoral students:

If you would like to attend the conference, please register your interest here.

To apply to present your work, please also complete this form.

We welcome presentations across all disciplines for the following research areas: Science, Politics and Decision Making; Energy; Sustainability and Development; Economics of Innovation and Industrial Policy; and Technology and Innovation Management. This year’s hope is to also encourage interdisciplinary research that falls across multiple areas or sits on the boundary between one of these areas and other topics.

Applications will require a short bio and brief description of your research. Please see the registration form for more details. The deadline for abstract submissions is 5pm, 26th March 2018.

Please feel free to contact the SPRU PhD team sprudoc@gmail.com with any questions about the event, your attendance, or any other matters related to the Forum.

You can also follow us on Twitter to keep updated: @SPRU_Forum

The Hyman P. Minsky Summer Seminar (Annandale-on-Hudson, June 2108)

17–23 June, 2018 | Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, New York, US

The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College is pleased to announce the ninth Minsky Summer Seminar will be held from June 17–23, 2018. The Seminar will provide a rigorous discussion of both the theoretical and applied aspects of Minsky’s economics, with an examination of meaningful prescriptive policies relevant to the current economic and financial outlook. It will also provide an introduction to Wynne Godley’s stock-flow consistent modeling methods via hands-on workshops.

The Summer Seminar will be of particular interest to graduate students, recent graduates, and those at the beginning of their academic or professional careers. The teaching staff will include well-known economists working in the theory and policy tradition of Hyman Minsky and Wynne Godley.

Applications may be made to Kathleen Mullaly at the Levy Institute (mullaly@levy.org), and should include a letter of application and current curriculum vitae. Admission to the Summer Seminar will include provision of room and board on the Bard College Campus. The registration fee for the Seminar will be $325.

Due to limited space availability, the Seminar will be limited to 30 participants; applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting in January 2018.

The Summer Seminar program will be organized by Jan Kregel, Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, and L. Randall Wray.

Link to the summer school website can be found here.

Conference Papers, Reports, and Podcasts

IIPPE Podcasts

Find recordings of past IIPPE events including training workshops and working group events in our event archive (http://iippe.org/podcasts/). We try to record all our events and workshops to make them available as a podcast afterwards.

You can also subscribe to our podcast channel on SoundCloud or iTunes to receive notifications when new episodes are available or listen to them on this page.

Job Postings

Bucknell University, US

Title: Visiting position in International Relations for a Heterodox Economist

Bucknell University’s Department of International Relations is seeking to fill a one-year visiting position in International Political Economy/Development beginning in August 2018. Candidates are expected to have a PhD or ABD in Anthropology, Heterodox Economics, International Relations, Sociology, or other relevant interdisciplinary degree.

The successful candidate will teach six courses for the academic year. We are seeking a candidate whose teaching and research interests are broadly International Political Economy/Development. The selected candidate will be able to teach courses on globalization, and Political Economy of Global Resources. The selected candidate may also teach courses emphasizing a regional focus on Latin America.

Applications must be made online at: www.bucknell.edu/jobs. Online applications require a cover letter, CV, statements on the candidates teaching philosophy as well as his/her scholarly agenda, sample syllabi, and three letters of reference. Full consideration will be given to applications received by March 25, 2018.

Questions regarding the position should be addressed to Dr. David Mitchell (dmmitche@bucknell.edu) and Dr. Zhiqun Zhu (zhiqun.zhu@bucknell.edu). The Department of International Relations offers a multi-disciplinary major where students take courses from the International Relations faculty who have backgrounds in different disciplines, as well as courses offered in other departments.

For additional information about Bucknell University, please see www.bucknell.edu. Bucknell University, an equal opportunity employer, believes that students learn best in a diverse inclusive community and is therefore committed to academic excellence through diversity in its faculty, staff, and students. We seek candidates who are committed to Bucknell’s efforts to create a climate that fosters the growth and development of a diverse student body through innovative and inclusive pedagogy. We welcome applications from members that have been historically underrepresented in higher education.

Maastricht University, NL

Job Title: 3 PhD positions for ERC project on "State Investment Funds"

Applicants are invited for 3, 4-year PhD positions within the project "Legitimacy, Financialization, and Varieties of Capitalism: Understanding Sovereign Wealth Funds in Europe". The SWFsEUROPE project is funded by the European Research Council, and led by principal investigator (PI) Adam Dixon (a.dixon@maastrichtuniversity.nl)

Research project

The number and size of state-owned institutional investors-known conventionally as sovereign wealth funds (SWF)-has grown substantially in the last two decades. As many originate from the Global South and from illiberal political economies (e.g. China), there is an unsettled debate regarding their legitimacy and place in the global political economy. Some suggest they represent the (re)emergence of state-led capitalism subject to geopolitical motivations that threaten free markets. For others, SWFs represent a source of long-term patient capital capable of mitigating market short-termism. Either way, SWFs challenge the norm, particularly in the Global North, that financial markets are spaces of exchange for non-state actors. In three complementary and interdisciplinary work streams, the SWFsEUROPE project will explain the evolving and variegated pattern of 'sovereign fund capitalism' globally and in Europe-a major destination of SWF investment. The objective is to refine and extend our understanding of the relationship between states and global finance in the 21st century.

Candidates should clearly identify which PhD they are applying for. The application deadline is 28 March 2018.

PhD position 1: "Global Political Economy"
The PhD candidate will be involved in the first work stream of the SWFsEUROPE project. In collaboration with the PI and a postdoctoral research assistant, the PhD will contribute to a 'global ethnography' of SWFs and cognate state investment organizations. This entails conducting semi-structured interviews with key informants from SWFs (primarily in the Global South) and key individuals across the range of institutions that interact with SWFs, including the financial services industry, regulators, and other institutional investors (predominantly in the Global North). The objective is to explain how the legitimacy of SWFs as commercially oriented investors is discursively and materially developed given they are still entities of the state. The aim is to explain the complex performance in the field around SWFs that masks their inherent political nature. Social scientists with knowledge and research experience in 'global political economy' broadly defined, with a Master's degree (or currently completing one) are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to, candidates with backgrounds in political science, economic sociology, geography, international business, and development studies. Excellent communication and writing skills in English are a prerequisite. Candidates with language proficiency other than English, particularly in Mandarin, Arabic, or Russian, are especially encouraged to apply.

More information on this vacancy can be found here.

PhD position 2: "International Political Economy"
The PhD candidate will be involved in the second work stream of the SWFsEUROPE project. In collaboration with the PI, the candidate will conduct research to explain the variegated pattern of foreign SWF investment stocks and flows in Europe. Why do some European countries receive more foreign SWF investment than others? What does this reveal about national-institutional variety and the politics of foreign-state investment in Europe? The work stream entails a two-stage empirical strategy. First, the sub-project will model stocks and flows of SWF investments across Europe over time testing hypotheses concerning the importance of national institutional variables. Second, the sub-project will conduct comparative case studies of five countries (the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy) to understand whether and how advanced democracies are promoting themselves as attractive destinations for inward SWF investment. Social scientists with knowledge and research experience in 'international political economy' broadly defined, with a Master's degree (or currently completing one) are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to, candidates with backgrounds in political science, sociology, geography, and international business/economics. Excellent communication and writing skills in English are a prerequisite. Candidates must also be proficient in one or more of the following languages: German, Italian, Spanish, and French.

More information on this vacancy can be found here.

PhD position 3: "Comparative Political Economy"
The PhD candidate will be involved in the third work stream of the SWFsEUROPE project. In collaboration with the PI, the PhD candidate will conduct research that explains why some European countries have established a SWF (including other functionally equivalent state-sponsored investment vehicles) and others have not. The objective is to understand the state's changing relationship with finance and financial markets, and the legitimacy of state-sponsored investment funds in different advanced political economies over time. Following a diverse-case method this work stream will produce six case studies of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Ireland. Each case will be considered in a contemporary and recent historical frame, going back through at least the latter three decades of the twentieth century. Research will entail archival research as well as conducting semi-structured interviews with key informants. Social scientists with knowledge and research experience in 'comparative political economy' broadly defined, with a Master's degree (or currently completing one) are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to, candidates with backgrounds in political science, sociology, geography, and economic history. Excellent communication and writing skills in English are a prerequisite. Candidates must also be proficient in at least one, but preferably more, of the following languages: German, Dutch, Italian, and French.

More information on this vacancy can be found here.

Awards

2019 Veblen-Commons, Ayres and Street Awards: Call for Nominations (AFEE)

2019 Veblen-Commons Award

The Veblen-Commons Award is given annually in recognition of scholarly contributions in the field of evolutionary institutional economics. Nominations for this award will be sought from the membership of AFEE. In making their choice, the Committee may consider service to and support for the organizations that promote scholarship in evolutionary institutional economics as well as scholarly publications that contribute to evolutionary institutional analysis, teaching, and service in support of the social control of economies. Nominations should include a statement of qualifications along with any useful or relevant supporting documents such as letters of support and a vita. The Chair of the Awards Committee will submit the Committee’s recommendation to the Board of Directors of AFEE through the President and Secretary of the Association.

Nominations for the Veblen-Commons Award should be sent to the Chair of the Awards Committee by May 1, 2018.

2019 Clarence E. Ayres Award

  1. Please submit a brief description of your nomination (not to exceed 200 words).
  2. The description should address your nominee’s major qualifications. (For a description of the award, see below.)
  3. A vita of the person nominated for the Clarence E. Ayres Award.
  4. Nominations should be sent by email to the Chair of the Awards Committee, Valerie Kepner, by May 1, 2018. Valerie’s email address is valeriekepner@kings.edu.

“In consultation with The President of AFEE, the Awards Committee will recommend a promising international scholar to be named the Ayres Scholar. Candidates for this award will be asked to submit a paper proposal and an explanation of how attendance at the annual meeting would enhance her/his work in evolutionary-institutional economics. The final paper should be approximately 2850 words written and presented in English. Receipt of this award does not preclude later receipt of the Veblen-Commons Award.”

2019 James H. Street Latin American Scholar

  1. Please submit a letter of interest (not to exceed 200 words).
  2. Please submit an abstract of your proposed paper not to exceed 200 words.
  3. Please include a curriculum vita. Junior scholars are encouraged to apply.
  4. The final paper should be approximately 2850 words written and presented in English.
  5. Nominations should be sent by email to the Chair of the Awards Committee, Valerie Kepner, by May 1, 2018. Valerie’s email address is valeriekepner@kings.edu.

The Association for Evolutionary Economics invites persons residing in Latin America and working on institutional and evolutionary analyses of economic issues to apply for the 2019 James H. Street Latin American Scholarship. The James H. Street scholar will have the opportunity to present his or her work at the Association’s annual meeting in Atlanta, GA, January 4-6, 2019. The scholarship will include round trip transportation and hotel. The James H. Street scholar will also have the opportunity to have his or her work published in the Association’s journal, The Journal of Economic Issues. Specific presentation and publication guidelines will be provided to the winner of the scholarship.

To learn more about James H. Street (1915-1988) and his work please see the following papers:

For details regarding the 2018 recipient of the James H. Street Scholar can be found on the AFEE website.

Jörg-Huffschmid-Prize: Winner Announcement

The Jörg-Huffschmid-Prize 2017 was awarded to Dr. Ulaş Şener and Etienne Schneider.

According to the jury, Dr. Ulas Sener's dissertation "Die relative Autonomie der Zentralbank – Eine politökonomische Analyse der türkischen Geldpolitik nach 2001 [The relative autonomy of the Central Bank - a political-economic analysis of Turkish monetary policy after 2001]" is extremely relevant to both the academic and the political dimensions of economic debate of the role of the Central Bank. It critically examines the supposed neutrality of money for the economy as a whole. The results are not only important for the situation in Turkey, but also in general highly relevant for formulating alternative economic policies.

In the master thesis "Raus aus dem Euro – rein in die Abhängigkeit? Monetäre Dependenz und außenwirtschaftliche Restriktionen alternativer Wirtschaftspolitik unter den Bedingungen der Eurozone und des Weltmarktes [Getting out of the euro - entering dependency? Monetary Dependency and Foreign Economic Restrictions of Alternative Economic Policies under the Conditions of the Euro Area and the World Market]", Etienne Schneider examines the possibilities and limitations of a "left exit strategy" from the euro area. This makes the work extremely relevant for the leftist debate on alternative economic policy.

The dissertations can be downloaded here (in German):

Dr. Ulas Sener: Die relative Autonomie der Zentralbank – Eine politökonomische Analyse der türkischen Geldpolitik nach 2001

Etienne Schneider: Raus aus dem Euro – rein in die Abhängigkeit? Monetäre Dependenz und außenwirtschaftliche Restriktionen alternativer Wirtschaftspolitik unter den Bedingungen der Eurozone und des Weltmarktes

The prize was awarded for the forth time. Announced by the EuroMemo Group, the scientific advisory board of Attac Germany, the German Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, it is intended to promote the continuation of the work of Jörg Huffschmid, distinguished critical economist and founding father of the EuroMemo Group.

Pierangelo Garegnani Research Prize: Call for Applications

Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione “Piero Sraffa”, in accordance with the wishes of the family and with their financial support, establishes for the fifth year a Prize in memory of Pierangelo Garegnani of the amount of € 3,000 (before tax), aimed at young scholars who are engaged or plan to engage in research in economic analysis along the lines of the work of Pierangelo Garegnani.

The Prize is awarded to researchers in the field of Economics who are attending a PhD course, or have defended since 2014 their PhD thesis, in Italian or foreign Universities.

The applications must be submitted no later than May 31st, 2018, either in electronic version or in paper, to Centro Sraffa.

Please find all details on the Centro Sraffa website.

Journals

Revue de la régulation, 22: Special Issue on "Financialization and Social Class"

Benjamin Lemoine et Quentin Ravelli: Financiarisation et classes sociales : introduction au dossier (Financialization and Social Class: an Introduction to this Issue)

Fabien Foureault: Enrôler les dirigeants pour contrôler l’entreprise : le répertoire d’action des fonds d’investissement (Enrolling Managers to Control the Corporation: The Repertoire of Investment Funds)

Alejandro Marambio-Tapia: Narratives of Social Mobility in the Post-Industrial Working Class and the Use of Credit in Chilean Households

Camille Herlin-Giret: Quand les héritiers deviennent des « entrepreneurs » : les nouveaux appuis rhétoriques et pratiques de l’accumulation (When Inheritors Claim to Be Businessman: New Languages and New Practices of Accumulation)

Nadège Vezinat: Les trois âges de l’intermédiation financière de la Poste (1881-2010) : révélateurs des mutations des rapports sociaux (The Three Historical Periods of Financial Intermediation for French Post (1881-2010) or how to Understand Social Stratification’s Mutations in France)

Pablo Ignacio Chena et Alexandre Roig: L’exploitation financière des secteurs populaires argentins (Financial Exploitation in Argentinian Popular Sectors)

Anthony Amicelle et Jean Bérard: Défense des classes dominantes : la division du travail de légitimation à l’épreuve des scandales financiers internationaux (Defending Dominant Classes: The Legitimation of Power in Face of International Financial Scandals)

Accounting, Organizations and Society, 65

Muhammad Azizul Islam, Chris J. van Staden: Social movement NGOs and the comprehensiveness of conflict mineral disclosures: evidence from global companies

Margaret H. Christ, Thomas W. Vance: Cascading controls: The effects of managers’ incentives on subordinate effort to help or harm

Aaron Saiewitz, Thomas Kida: The effects of an auditor's communication mode and professional tone on client responses to audit inquiries

Andrea Seaton Kelton, Norma R. Montague: The unintended consequences of uncertainty disclosures made by auditors and managers on nonprofessional investor judgments

Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 89 (1)

Marco MARINI and Bernard THIRY: AN ENDURING PLATFORM FOR PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS RESEARCH: A CENTENNIAL PERSPECTIVE

Giacomo CORNEO: PUBLIC STOCK OWNERSHIP

Elisabetta IOSSA and Stéphane SAUSSIER: PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS IN EUROPE FOR BUILDING AND MANAGING PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURES: AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

Justina KLIMAVICIUTE and Pierre PESTIEAU: THE PUBLIC ECONOMICS OF LONG-TERM CARE. A SURVEY OF RECENT CONTRIBUTIONS

Gregory K. DOW: THE THEORY OF THE LABOR-MANAGED FIRM: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Carmen BEVIÁ and Luis C. CORCHÓN: MERITOCRACY, EFFICIENCY, INCENTIVES AND VOTING IN COOPERATIVE PRODUCTION: A SURVEY

Avner BEN-NER: REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL, NONPROFIT AND COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISE

Gani ALDASHEV and Cecilia NAVARRA: DEVELOPMENT NGOS: BASIC FACTS

Emmanuelle AURIOL and Stefanie BRILON: NONPROFITS IN THE FIELD: AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF PEER MONITORING AND SABOTAGE

Jonathan DE QUIDT and Maitreesh GHATAK: IS THE CREDIT WORTH IT? FOR-PROFIT LENDERS IN MICROFINANCE WITH RATIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL BORROWERS

Uwe JIRJAHN and Stephen C. SMITH: NONUNION EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION: THEORY AND THE GERMAN EXPERIENCE WITH MANDATED WORKS COUNCILS

Harald HINTERECKER, Michael KOPEL and Anna RESSI: CEO ACTIVISM AND SUPPLY CHAIN INTERACTIONS

Louis PUTTERMAN: DEMOCRATIC, ACCOUNTABLE STATES ARE IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT “BEHAVIORAL” HUMANS

Capitalism Nature Socialism, 29 (1)

House Organ

Terran Giacomini, Terisa Turner, Ana Isla & Leigh Brownhill: Ecofeminism Against Capitalism and for the Commons

Ecofeminist Vision, Action and Alternatives

María José Méndez: “The River Told Me”: Rethinking Intersectionality from the World of Berta Cáceres

Ana Isla: The Greening of the Americas

Khayaat Fakier & Jacklyn Cock: Eco-feminist Organizing in South Africa: Reflections on the Feminist Table

Renata Blumberg, Rosa Huitzitzilin, Claudia Urdanivia & Brian C. Lorio: Raíces Del Sur: Cultivating Ecofeminist Visions in Urban New Jersey

Angie Carter, Carrie Chennault & Ahna Kruzic: Public Action for Public Science: Re-imagining the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Terran Giacomini: The 2017 United Nations Climate Summit: Women Fighting for System Change and Building the Commons at COP23 in Bonn, Germany

Graphics

Seth Tobocman: A New America

Leigh Brownhill: From Hierarchy to Holism

Poetry

Indepedent Scholar: Laundry

Di Brandt: Zone: <le Détroit>

Billy Bragg: Saffiyah Smiles

Development Problems. Latin American Journal of Economics, 192

Alicia Girón: WTO, APEC, and NAFTA: Multilateralism and Protectionism

Raúl de Jesús Gutiérrez: The Physical Oil and Oil Futures Markets: Transmission of the Mean and Volatility

Natalia Ceppi: Argentine Energy Policy: Taking Stock of the Period 2003-2015

Mariana Conte Grand, Vanesa D´Elia: Sustainable Development and “Green” Concepts

Brianda Peraza, Blas Valenzuela: The Mexican Transnational Ethnic Economy: Los Angeles, California

Isaac Sánchez-Juárez: Public Spending, the Competitiveness Index, and Social Policy in Mexico

Eufemia Basilio: Pro-cyclical Fiscal Policy and Monetary Stability in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru

Walid Tijerina: Subnational Developmentalism for the New Century

Ecological Economics, 147

Commentary

Lin Crase, Bethany Cooper, Brian Dollery, Rui Marques: One Person's Drain Is another's Water Supply: Why Property Rights, Scope, Measurement and Hydrology Matter when it Comes to Integrated Water Resources Management

Joshua Farley, Haydn Washington: Circular Firing Squads: A Response to ‘The Neoclassical Trojan Horse of Steady-State Economics’ by Pirgmaier

Surveys

Vandana Subroy, Abbie A. Rogers, Marit E. Kragt: To Bait or Not to Bait: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Public Preferences for Native Wildlife and Conservation Management in Western Australia

Stefan Hoffmann, Ingo Balderjahn, Barbara Seegebarth, Robert Mai, Mathias Peyer: Under Which Conditions Are Consumers Ready to Boycott or Buycott? The Roles of Hedonism and Simplicity

Analysis

Surender Kumar, Shivananda Shetty: Corporate Participation in Voluntary Environmental Programs in India: Determinants and Deterrence

Fatemeh Bakhtiari, Jette Bredahl Jacobsen, Bo Jellesmark Thorsen, Thomas Hedemark Lundhede, Niels Strange, Mattias Boman: Disentangling Distance and Country Effects on the Value of Conservation across National Borders

Mairi-Jane V. Fox, Jon D. Erickson: Genuine Economic Progress in the United States: A Fifty State Study and Comparative Assessment

John K. Pattison-Williams, John W. Pomeroy, Pascal Badiou, Shane Gabor: Wetlands, Flood Control and Ecosystem Services in the Smith Creek Drainage Basin: A Case Study in Saskatchewan, Canada

Céline Bonnet, Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, Tifenn Corre: An Environmental Tax Towards More Sustainable Food: Empirical Evidence of the Consumption of Animal Products in France

Jayash Paudel: Community-Managed Forests, Household Fuelwood Use and Food Consumption

D.A. Díaz de Astarloa, W.A. Pengue: Nutrients Metabolism of Agricultural Production in Argentina: NPK Input and Output Flows from 1961 to 2015

Kate Laffan: Every breath you take, every move you make: Visits to the outdoors and physical activity help to explain the relationship between air pollution and subjective wellbeing

Steffen Lange, Peter Pütz, Thomas Kopp: Do Mature Economies Grow Exponentially?

Anna Lungarska, Raja Chakir: Climate-induced Land Use Change in France: Impacts of Agricultural Adaptation and Climate Change Mitigation

Marianne Faith G. Martinico-Perez, Heinz Schandl, Tomer Fishman, Hiroki Tanikawa: The Socio-Economic Metabolism of an Emerging Economy: Monitoring Progress of Decoupling of Economic Growth and Environmental Pressures in the Philippines

Sarah Rehkamp, Patrick Canning: Measuring Embodied Blue Water in American Diets: An EIO Supply Chain Approach

Clément Surun, Martin Drechsler: Effectiveness of Tradable Permits for the Conservation of Metacommunities With Two Competing Species

Taoyuan Wei, Qin Zhu, Solveig Glomsrød: How Will Demographic Characteristics of the Labor Force Matter for the Global Economy and Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

Adel Daoud: Unifying Studies of Scarcity, Abundance, and Sufficiency

Silvia Blasi, Massimiliano Caporin, Fulvio Fontini: A Multidimensional Analysis of the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firms' Economic Performance

Johanna Choumert Nkolo, Pascale Combes Motel, Charlain Guegang Djimeli: Income-generating Effects of Biofuel Policies: A Meta-analysis of the CGE Literature

Pieter Glasbergen: Smallholders do not Eat Certificates

Eric Sjöberg, Jing Xu: An Empirical Study of US Environmental Federalism: RCRA Enforcement From 1998 to 2011

Ivo Baur, Felix Schläpfer: Expert Estimates of the Share of Agricultural Support that Compensates European Farmers for Providing Public Goods and Services

Juan C. Surís-Regueiro, Jose L. Santiago: Assessment of Socioeconomic Impacts Through Physical Multipliers: The Case of Fishing Activity in Galicia (Spain)

Maryam Ramin, Vincent Y.S. Cheng, Dong-Kyun Kim, Felicity J. Ni, Aisha Javed, Noreen E. Kelly, Cindy Yang, Sarah Midlane-Jones, Shan Mugalingam, George B. Arhonditsis: An Integrative Methodological Framework for Setting Environmental Criteria: Evaluation of Public Preferences

Christoph Kubitza, Vijesh V. Krishna, Kira Urban, Zulkifli Alamsyah, Matin Qaim: Land Property Rights, Agricultural Intensification, and Deforestation in Indonesia

Ronaldo Seroa da Motta, Ramon Arigoni Ortiz: Costs and Perceptions Conditioning Willingness to Accept Payments for Ecosystem Services in a Brazilian Case

Cosmas Kombat Lambini, Trung Thanh Nguyen, Jens Abildtrup, Van Dien Pham, John Tenhunen, Serge Garcia: Are Ecosystem Services Complementary or Competitive? An Econometric Analysis of Cost Functions of Private Forests in Vietnam

Ivan Muñiz, Vania Sánchez: Urban Spatial Form and Structure and Greenhouse-gas Emissions From Commuting in the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico Valley

Alice Dantas Brites, Carla Morsello: Effects of Economic Dependence and Cooperative Behavior Over Participation in Monitoring the Impacts of Natural Resource Trade

N. Droste, I. Ring, R. Santos, M. Kettunen: Ecological Fiscal Transfers in Europe – Evidence-Based Design Options for a Transnational Scheme

Emmanuel Bovari, Gaël Giraud, Florent Mc Isaac: Coping With Collapse: A Stock-Flow Consistent Monetary Macrodynamics of Global Warming

Gayathri Devi Mekala, Darla Hatton MacDonald: Lost in Transactions: Analysing the Institutional Arrangements Underpinning Urban Green Infrastructure

George Philippidis, Heleen Bartelings, Edward Smeets: Sailing into Unchartered Waters: Plotting a Course for EU Bio-Based Sectors

Eunice Oppon, Adolf Acquaye, Taofeeq Ibn-Mohammed, Lenny Koh: Modelling Multi-regional Ecological Exchanges: The Case of UK and Africa

Methodological and Ideological Options

Jérôme Ballet, Lucile Marchand, Jérôme Pelenc, Robin Vos: Capabilities, Identity, Aspirations and Ecosystem Services: An Integrated Framework

Jonathan M. Rawlins, Willem J. De Lange, Gavin C.G. Fraser: An Ecosystem Service Value Chain Analysis Framework: A Conceptual Paper

Meghan O'Brien, Stefan Bringezu: European Timber Consumption: Developing a Method to Account for Timber Flows and the EU's Global Forest Footprint

Econ Journal Watch, 15 (1)

George F. DeMartino and Deirdre N. McCloskey: Professional Ethics 101: A Reply to Anne Krueger’s Review of The Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics

Phillip W. Magness: The Progressive Legacy Rolls On: A Critique of Steinbaum and Weisberger on Illiberal Reformers

Alex Young: Will the Real Specification Please Stand Up? A Comment on Andrew Bird and Stephen Karolyi

Andrew Bird and Stephen A. Karolyi: Response to Alex Young

Carlisle E. Moody and Thomas B. Marvell: The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws: A Critique of the 2014 Version of Aneja, Donohue, and Zhang

John J. Donohue: More Gun Carrying, More Violent Crime

Mykola Bunyk and Leonid Krasnozhon: Liberalism in Ukraine

Pedro Romero, Fergus Hodgson, and María Paz Gómez: Liberalism in Ecuador

Journal of Economic Issues, 52 (1)

Sue Konzelmann, Marc Fovargue-Davies & Frank Wilkinson: Britain’s Industrial Evolution: The Structuring Role of Economic Theory

Alexandre Chirat: When Galbraith Frightened Conservatives: Power in Economics, Economists’ Power, and Scientificity

Mehmet Karaçuka: Religion and Economic Development in History: Institutions and the Role of Religious Networks

Isabel Almudi & Francisco Fatas-Villafranca: Promotion and Coevolutionary Dynamics in Contemporary Capitalism

Marianne Johnson: Institutionalism and Fiscal Policy at Midcentury

Koji Noda: Institutional Economics as Theory of Policy Change: Impact of Past Policy Failures on Present Policy

Michael Lainé: The Confidence Paradox: Can Confidence Account for Business Cycles?

Clotilde Champeyrache: Destructive Entrepreneurship: The Cost of the Mafia for the Legal Economy

Annie Tubadji & Peter Nijkamp: Cultural Corridors: An Analysis of Persistence in Impacts on Local Development — A Neo-Weberian Perspective on South-East Europe

Na Kyung Kim & Jai S. Mah: The Role of Foreign Capital in the Banking Sector of Korea and Its Implications for Developing Countries

Craig Medlen: The Great Escape: The Multinational Trade Deficit in Historical Perspective

Lan Thanh Nguyen, Anh Pham Hoai Nguyen, Steven van Passel, Hossein Azadi & Philippe Lebailly: Access to Preferential Loans for Poverty Reduction and Rural Development: Evidence from Vietnam

Rethinking Marxism, 27 (4)

Editors’ Introduction

Ernesto Screpanti: Karl Marx on Wage Labor: From Natural Abstraction to Formal Subsumption

David Kristjanson-Gural: Demand, Values, and Prices in Marx: Contrasting Simultaneous and Temporal Approaches

Angela Wigger: Understanding the Competition-Crisis Nexus: Revisiting U.S. Capitalist Crises

Verónica Gago & Sandro Mezzadra: A Critique of the Extractive Operations of Capital: Toward an Expanded Concept of Extractivism

Zoe Sherman: Opening Value Theory to the Brand

Socio-Economic Review, 16 (1)

Gregory Jackson: Socio-economics in 2018: more global, more ethnographic and less comfortable, please

Michael A Witt; Luiz Ricardo Kabbach de Castro; Kenneth Amaeshi; Sami Mahroum; Dorothee Bohle: Mapping the business systems of 61 major economies: a taxonomy and implications for varieties of capitalism and business systems research

Alexander E Kentikelenis: The social aftermath of economic disaster: Karl Polanyi, countermovements in action, and the Greek crisis

Natalia Besedovsky: Financialization as calculative practice: the rise of structured finance and the cultural and calculative transformation of credit rating agencies

Jacob Apkarian: Opposition to shareholder value: bond rating agencies and conflicting logics in corporate finance

Marcus Österman: Varieties of education and inequality: how the institutions of education and political economy condition inequality

Daniele Checchi; Herman G van de Werfhorst: Policies, skills and earnings: how educational inequality affects earnings inequality

Paolo Barbieri; Giorgio Cutuli; Giampiero Passaretta: Institutions and the school-to-work transition: disentangling the role of the macro-institutional context

Lukas Graf: Combined modes of gradual change: the case of academic upgrading and declining collectivism in German skill formation

Books and Book Series

Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century: A Reader of Radical Undercurrents

Edited by John Asimakopoulos & Richard Gilman-Opalsky | 2018, Temple University Press

The problems of capitalism have been studied from Karl Marx to Thomas Piketty. The latter has recently confirmed that the system of capital is deeply bound up in ever-growing inequality without challenging the continuance of that system. Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century presents a diversity of analyses and visions opposed to the idea that capital should have yet another century to govern human and non-human resources in the interest of profit and accumulation.

The editors and contributors to this timely volume present alternatives to the whole liberal litany of administered economies, tax policy recommendations, and half-measures. They undermine and reject the logic of capital, and the foregone conclusion that the twenty-first century should be given over to capital just as the previous two centuries were.Providing a deep critique of capitalism, based on assessment from a wide range of cultural, social, political, and ecological thinking, Against Capital in the Twenty-First Century insists that transformative, revolutionary, and abolitionist responses to capital are even more necessary in the twenty-first century than they ever were.

Link to the book can be found here (get 20% discount with code "CSL18AC21").

Algorithms of Oppression – How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

By Safiya Umoja Noble | 2018, NYU Press

Run a Google search for “black girls”—what will you find? “Big Booty” and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But, if you type in “white girls,” the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and un-moderated discussions about “why black women are so sassy” or “why black women are so angry” presents a disturbing portrait of black womanhood in modern society. In Algorithms of Oppression, Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance—operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond—understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance. An original, surprising and, at times, disturbing account of bias on the internet, Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our understanding of how racism is created, maintained, and disseminated in the 21st century.

Link to the book can be found here.

Before the Market: The Political Economy of Olympianism

By Donni Wang | 2018, Common Ground Research Networks

In this debut, Wang offers an entirely new way of conceptualizing economics and social relations. Drawing from a rich historical analysis of ancient Greece, she provides an exposition of ‘Olympianism’—a stunning program of political economy and identity formation that speaks directly to the crises in the 21st century. Olympianism comprises a series of distinct economic patterns which shaped the workings of property, labor, money, and knowledge in ancient Greece, around the time of its first democracy. As a comprehensive model, the Olympian system also sustained a set of particular metaphysical, ontological, and sociological narratives which gave rise to a unique subjectivity that was central to early democratic politics. Through exploring the links among culture, identity, and economics, Before the Market presents a compelling example that highlights the benefits that radical paradigm transformation could bring to societies all around the world.

Link to the book can be found here.

Classical Economics Today

Edited by Marcella Corsi and Jan Kregel and Carlo D'Ippoliti | 2018, Anthem Press

“Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia” is a collection of essays that investigates and applies the method and principles of Classical political economy to current issues of economic theory and policy.

The contributors to the volume, like all classical economists in general, regard history as a useful tool of analysis rather than a specialist object of investigation. By denying that a single, all-encompassing mathematical model can explain everything we are interested in, Classical political economy necessarily requires a comparison and integration of several pieces of theory as the only way to discuss economics and economic policy. Economists inspired by the Classical approach believe that economic theory is historically conditioned: as social systems evolve, the appropriate theory to represent a certain phenomenon must evolve too. Therefore, plurality in methods, including the history of economic thought, must be a deliberate choice, as evidenced by the essays in “Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia.”

“Classical Economics Today” is a tribute to Alessandro Roncaglia, to his personality and his research interests. Roncaglia’s research is based on Schumpeter’s dictum that good economics must encompass history, economic theory and statistics, and therefore does not generally take the form of elegant formal models that are applicable to all and everything. In this direction, Roncaglia is inspired by the Classical economists of the past, and becomes a model for present-day Classical economists. A perceptible family air imbues the essays: all the contributors are friends of Roncaglia and see his personality and his interests as a common point of reference.

Link to the book can be found here.

Extracting Profit – Imperialism, Neoliberalism and the New Scramble for Africa

By Lee Wengraf | 2018, Haymarket Books

A piercing historical explanation of poverty and inequality in African societies today and the social impact of resource-driven growth, Extracting Profit explains why Africa, in the first decade and a half of the twenty-first century, has undergone an economic boom. Rising global prices in oil and minerals have produced a scramble for Africa’s natural resources, led by investment from U.S., European and Chinese companies, and joined by emerging economies from around the globe. African economies have reached new heights, even outpacing rates of growth seen in much of the rest of the world. Examined through the lens of case studies of the oil fields of the Niger River Delta, the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline and the East African infrastructure boom, this period of “Africa rising” did not lead to the creation of jobs, but has instead fueled the extraction of natural resources, profits accruing to global capital, and an increasingly wealthy African ruling class.

Extracting Profit argues that the roots of today’s social and economic conditions lie in the historical legacies of colonialism and the imposition of so-called “reforms” by global financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The chokehold of debt and austerity of the late twentieth century paved the way for severe assaults on African working classes through neoliberal privatization and deregulation. And while the scramble for Africa’s resources has heightened the pace of ecological devastation, examples from Somalia and the West African Ebola outbreak reveal a frightening surge of militarization on the part of China and the U.S.

Yet this “new scramble” has not gone unchallenged. With accounts of platinum workers’ struggles in South Africa, Nigerian labor organizing and pro-democracy upheavals in Uganda and Burkina Faso, Extracting Profit offers several narratives of grassroots organizing and protest, pointing to the potential for resistance to global capital and fundamental change, in Africa and beyond.

Link to the book can be found here.

Frantz Fanon: Philosopher of the Barricades

By Peter Hudis | 2018, Pluto Press

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) was a Caribbean and African psychiatrist, philosopher and revolutionary whose works, including Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth are hugely influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory, and post-Marxism. His legacy remains with us today, having inspired movements in Palestine, Sri Lanka, the US and South Africa.

This is a critical biography of his extraordinary life. Peter Hudis draws on the expanse of his life and work - from his upbringing in Martinique and early intellectual influences to his mature efforts to fuse psychoanalysis and philosophy and contributions to the anti-colonial struggle in Algeria - to counter the monolithic assumption that Fanon's contribution to modern thought is defined by the advocacy of violence.

He was a political activist who brought his interests in psychology and philosophy directly to bear on such issues as mutual recognition, democratic participation and political sovereignty. Hudis shows that, as a result, Fanon emerges as neither armchair intellectual nor intransigent militant.

Link to the book can be found here.

From Warfare to Wealth: The Military Origins of Urban Prosperity in Europe

By Mark Dincecco and Massimiliano Onorato | 2017, Cambridge University Press

The economic rise of Europe over the past millennium represents a major human breakthrough. To explain this phenomenon, this book highlights a counterintuitive yet central feature of Europe's historical landscape: warfare. Historical warfare inflicted numerous costs on rural populations. Security was a traditional function of the city. To mitigate the high costs of conflict in the countryside, rural populations migrated to urban centers. Over time, the city's historical role as a safe harbor translated into local economic development through several channels, including urban political freedoms and human capital accumulation. To make this argument, the book performs a wide-ranging analysis of a novel quantitative database that spans more than one thousand years, from the fall of the Carolingian Empire to today. The book's study of urban Europe's historical path from warfare to wealth provides a new way to think about the process of long-run economic and political development.

Link to the book can be found here.

International Trade Policy and Class Dynamics in South Africa. The Economic Partnership Agreement

By Simone Claar | 2018, Palgrave Macmillan

This book provides an innovative perspective on class dynamics in South Africa, focusing specifically on how different interests have shaped economic and trade policy. As an emerging market, South African political and economic actions are subject to the attention of international trade policy.. Claar provides an in-depth class analysis of the contradictory negotiation processes that occurred between South Africa and the European Union on Economic-Partnership Agreements (EPA), examining the divergent roles played by the political and economic elite, and the working class. The author considers their relationships with the new global trade agenda, as well as their differing standpoints on the EPA.

Link to the book can be found here.

Note: If anyone is interested in reviewing the book, please contact the publisher directly under reviews@palgrave.com.

Modern Imperialism, Monopoly Finance Capital, and Marx’s Law of Value

By Samir Amin | 2018, Monthly Review Press

Unlike such obvious forms of oppression as feudalism or slavery, capitalism has been able to survive through its genius for disguising corporate profit imperatives as opportunities for individual human equality and advancement. But it was the genius of Karl Marx, in his masterwork, Capital, to discover the converse law of surplus value: behind the illusion of the democratic, supply-and-demand marketplace, lies the workplace, where people trying to earn a living are required to work way beyond the time it takes to pay their wages. Leave it to the genius of Samir Amin to advance Marx’s theories—adding to them the work of radical economists such as Michal Kalecki, Josef Steindl, Paul Baran, and Paul Sweezy—to show how Marxian theory can be adapted to modern economic conditions.

Amin extends Marx’s analysis to describe a concept of “imperialist rent” derived from the radically unequal wages paid for the same labor done by people in both the Global North and the Global South, the rich nations and the poor ones. This is global oligopolistic capitalism, in which finance capital has come to dominate worldwide production and distribution. Amin also advances Baran and Sweezy’s notion of economic surplus to explain a globally monopolized system in which Marx’s “law of value” takes the form of a “law of globalized value,” generating a super-exploitation of workers in the Global South. Modern Imperialism, Monopoly Finance Capital, and Marx’s Law of Value offers readers, in one volume, the complete collection of Samir Amin’s work on Marxian value theory. The book includes texts from two of Amin’s recent works, Three Essays on Marx’s Value Theory and The Law of Worldwide Value, which have provoked considerable controversy and correspondence. Here, Amin answers his critics with a series of letters, clarifying and developing his ideas. This work will occupy an important place among the theoretical resources for anyone involved in the study of contemporary Marxian economic and political theory.

Link to the book can be found here.

The Global Governance of Precarity: Primitive Accumulation and the Politics of Irregular Work

By Nick Bernards | 2018, Routledge

‘Standard’ employment relationships, with permanent contracts, regular hours, and decent pay, are under assault. Precarious work and unemployment are increasingly common, and concern is also growing about the expansion of informal work and the rise of ‘modern slavery’. However, precarity and violence are in fact longstanding features of work for most of the world’s population. Lamenting the ‘loss’ of secure, stable jobs often reflects a strikingly Eurocentric and historically myopic perspective.

This book argues that standard employment relations have always co-existed with a plethora of different labour regimes. Highlighting the importance of the governance of irregular forms of labour the author draws together empirical, historical analyses of International Labour Organisation (ILO) policy towards forced labour, unemployment, and social protection for informal workers in sub-Saharan Africa. Archival research, extensive documentary research and interviews with key ILO staff are utilised to explore the critical role the organization’s activities have often played in the development of mechanisms for governing irregular labour.

Addressing the increasingly widespread and pressing practical debates about the politics of precarious labour in the world economy this book speaks to key debates in several disciplines, especially IPE, global governance, and labour studies. It will also be of interest to scholars working in development studies and critical political economy.

Link to the book can be found here.

The Political Economy of Contemporary Spain: From Miracle to Mirage

Edited by Luis Buendía, Ricardo Molero-Simarro | 2018, Routledge

The so-called ‘Spanish miracle’, beginning in the mid-1990s, eventually became a nightmare for the majority of the population, culminating in the present-day economic and political crisis. This book explores the main features of the Spanish political-economic model during both the growth and crisis periods.

Analyzing the causes and consequences of the continuing economic crisis in Spain, this book delves into five analytical axes: the evolution of the growth model; the role of Spain in the international division of labor; the financial sector and its influence on the rest of the economy; changes in the labor market; and the distributional consequences of both the expansive phase and the later crisis. Furthermore, contributors examine the formation of a triangle of actors (the government sector, building sector, and financial capital) that shaped the Spanish growth model, together with the effects of Spain’s membership in the Economic and Monetary Union. Also considering ecological problems, gender issues, and the immigration question, this book challenges the alleged recovery of living conditions during recent years, as well as the explanation of the crisis as the result of irrational behaviors or the greedy nature of certain actors.

The Political Economy of Contemporary Spain provides a coherent explanation of the Spanish economic crisis based on a pluralistic approach, while proposing several measures that could contribute to a transformation of Spain’s economic and social models.

Link to the book can be found here (get a 20% discount with code "FLR40").

The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World

By Andreas Malm | 2017, Verso Books

An attack on the idea that nature and society are impossible to distinguish from each other. In a world careening towards climate chaos, nature is dead. It can no longer be separated from society. Everything is a blur of hybrids, where humans possess no exceptional agency to set them apart from dead matter. But is it really so? In this blistering polemic and theoretical manifesto, Andreas Malm develops a counterargument: in a warming world, nature comes roaring back, and it is more important than ever to distinguish between the natural and the social. Only with a unique agency attributed to humans can resistance become conceivable.

Link to the book can be found here.

Book Reviews

The Knowledge We Have Lost in Information - The History of Information in Modern Economics

By Philip Mirowski and Edward Nik-Khah | 2017, Oxford University Press

Philip Mirowski and Edward Nik-Khah argue that the conventional wisdom suggesting "economic rationality" was the core of modern economics is incomplete. In this trenchant investigation, they demonstrate that the history of modern microeconomics is better organized as a history of the treatment of information. The book begins with a brief primer on information, and then shows how economists have responded over time to successive developments on the concept of information in the natural sciences. Mirowski and Nik-Khah detail various intellectual battles that were fought to define, analyze, and employ information in economics. As these debates developed, economists progressively moved away from pure agent conscious self-awareness as a non-negotiable desideratum of economic models toward a focus on markets and their design as information processors. This has led to a number of policies, foremost among them: auction design of resources like the electromagnetic spectrum crucial to modern communications.

Reviewed by Sebastian Berger: Download the book review here

Heterodox Graduate Programs, Scholarships and Grants

2 PhD Scholarships at Loughborough University London

2 PhD Scholarships at the Institute for International Management, Loughborough University London*

Start dates: April or July 2018*

Closing date for applications: 2 March*

Interview date: 21 March*

The Institute for International Management at Loughborough University London is offering two PhD studentships for promising students interested in a broad range of areas relating to international management. The Institute welcomes applications from high-achieving students with an MSc in any area of the social sciences and a passion for research in one or more of the topics mentioned below.

The Institute incorporates a fast-growing interdisciplinary team of academics with an interest in the areas of international business, multinational corporations, comparative management and comparative political economy of work, covering the advanced capitalist economies and emerging market economies.

The Institute is engaged in current research projects which investigate:

General information about the Institute for International Management can be found here.

EPOG - Erasmus Mundus Master's course: Call for Applications

Call for application (for the Master 2 in Paris - 1 year programme - 2018/2019)

The main objective of the EPOG Master's course is to give birth to a new generation of international experts, able to define and assess economic policies and evolve within different political, social and regional contexts. Towards this objective the EPOG Master’s Program goes beyond the reach of standard economic theory to include various heterodox approaches that may have more to say about the challenges facing national policy makers in a globalized context.

The programme relies 9 prestigious universities:

SCHOLARSHIPS

In France, the tuition costs are highly subsidised. Even if the real cost is about 30000 euros/year, the student will only have to pay the legal tuition fees (about 250 euros / year).

Unfortunately, for this new intake, due to budget restrictions, the “MIEM” scholarships programme by USPC has been suspended. However, we can also recommand students who need a scholarship to apply to any national or regional scholarships schemes, foundations… A non exhaustive list is provided by Campus France.

WHEN TO APPLY?

Deadline is April 23, 2018 at 12:00 (Paris time).

However, take care that the application process is quite long and that students needing a visa must start as early as possible their application process (and in particular, we recommand applicants to fill the concerned “Campus France” form – see below – possibly before May).

Note two recommendation letters are needed to apply and have to be provided by the deadline.

MORE INFORMATION: www.epog.eu

M.A. Program at John Jay College, City University of New York

The economics department at John Jay College (CUNY) is currently accepting applications for its Masters of Arts degree program. Incoming students will be exposed to post-keynesian, marxist, feminist, environmental and institutionalist approaches while taking classes with our distinguished faculty. The Master of Arts in Economics requires 36 credits of coursework consisting of 8 required courses and 4 elective courses.

More information can be found here.

For further information regarding the application process, access here.

PhD studentship in "Politics and International Relations" at Dublin City University

Dublin City University Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction invites applications from students for a PhD studentship in Politics and International Relations, valued at between €21,000 and €27,000 pa, for up to four years.

We welcome high quality applications from those interested in working within the following topic area: Informality, informal or shadow economies, with a specific focus on the former USSR region (Southern Caucasus or Central Asia)

The student will be working together with the research group from our recently started project SHADOW: An exploration of the nature of informal economies and shadow practices in the former USSR region

SHADOW is a research and training programme with the goal of producing strategic intelligence on the region and train a generation of specialists on informality in post-Soviet spaces. Our goals are two-fold: 1) we intend to construct an index to provide an accurate measurement of the level of shadow activities in our target countries; 2) we aim to conceptualise a taxonomy of shadow practices in the post-USSR region in a cross-country and cross-regional perspective.

Criteria

Applicants must have a Masters Degree, fluent English and excellent academic grades. International students will need to meet the university’s English language requirements.

Informal Enquiries are welcomed and can be made to:

Dr Abel Polese: abel.polese@dcu.ie

We are happy to facilitate discussion on draft research proposals and to make connections with potential supervisors.

This PhD scholarship has a value of up to €21,000 to €27,000 (full fees, plus €16,000pa (usually tax free), for up to 4 years, subject to satisfactory progress.

Closing date for receipt of applications: 22 March 2018

Applications should be made to IICRR@dcu.ie and they should include

General Information on PhD’s can be found at Dublin City University website.

Newsletters

economic sociology, 19 (2)

Link to the latest Newsletter with the topic "The Laws of Economics" can be found here.

Calls for Support

Survey of the Royal Economic Society

The Royal Economic Society is conducting a survey of its members. If you are a member you should receive, or have received, an email with a link in it. The link is personal to the member and cannot be used twice. I would encourage list-members who are also RES members to respond to the survey – it only takes a few minutes – to stress the need for greater pluralism. If you have discarded your message, containing your personal link, or do not receive one, email the RES chief executive, Leighton Chipperfield, at l.chipperfield@res.org.uk, for a new one.

BUT you do not have to be a member to take the survey (though you will be asked at some point in the survey whether you are a member). Non-members or members can simply go to the RES website and follow the link. Please do it and stress the importance of pluralism in economics!