Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE)
Call for Papers
Annual Meeting, AFEE at ASSA; San Antonio TX, USA
January 5-7, 2024
ICAPE, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio TX, USA
January 4, 2024
Institutions and Economics for a Just World
Building on last year’s conference theme, World at a Crossroads, this year we are focusing on how institutional economists can contribute to the goal of creating a Just World. What does a just world look like? What kind of economics do we need to create such a world? What institutions do we need to create such a world? How are principles of inclusivity, equity and sustainability to be addressed? Institutional economists are uniquely positioned to provide a vision of a just world and paths to achieving that vision.
This connects with what Gary Dymski wrote last year in his call for papers: “By revitalizing approaches historically advanced by institutionalist scholars, and making contact with new issues and approaches, we can hope to discover workable paths to a sustainable future.” It also connects with Mary Wrenn’s 2023 Presidential address “Overcoming Optimism (Moving towards hope)” where she writes in her conclusion: “We (Original Institutionalists my addition) reject a future written by markets and instead write a counter-narrative grounded in the power of communal bonds and the hope of human flourishing. The construction of this counter-narrative is continual and it is one to which we can all contribute. And therein lies the hope. Optimism is not necessary.” The mission of feminist economics also connects with this, as Myra Strober writes: “By challenging economics to take seriously a concern with well-being and encouraging the discipline to rethink its emphasis on efficiency, scarcity, selfishness and competition, economics may be thought of as a humane discipline, interested in such matters as quality of life, cooperation and equity. Economics might move ……. to a science that seriously investigates strategies for improving well-being.” (Strober 1994: 147).
Given the location of the conference in San Antonio, Texas we have an opportunity to connect with local policy makers and activists and would welcome papers dealing with issues such as: women’s reproductive health, women and LGBTQIA+ rights, health and well-being of transgender youth, immigration, and undocumented workers and their families. This may be especially well suited to a round table discussion with policy makers and activists participating.
The internationalization of AFEE and the JEI also afford us the opportunity to showcase the work of scholars from the Global South as we think about the future and the connection between local and global issues and the need for ideas from economists all over the world. We welcome papers dealing with topics such as: globalization, international law, climate change, and social policy.
Our conference theme is purposefully broad. That said, several overarching criteria will guide the selection process:
Creativity as it relates to the conference theme and interdisciplinarity!
Paper proposals by early-career scholars and by women and members of racial/ethnic minorities as well as scholars from the Global South are especially welcome
Panels of up to 5 papers related to the program theme will be lovingly received; panels consisting solely of white men will be unenthusiastically received
If panels include less than 5 papers we reserve the right to add papers to those panels in order to maximize participation in the conference and for the same reason we do not include discussants on AFEE panels. Note: If you think it is important to include a discussant or discussants on your proposed panel please provide a justification which we can then consider and weigh against the goal of maximizing the number of presenters on our panels.
Here is a list of topics, linked to the conference theme, to stimulate ideas. This is not meant to be prescriptive or exhaustive, it is simply to provide some sense of the breadth of what is possible related to this year’s theme and the emphasis on policy.
Health, reproductive rights, social reproduction, care work
Sustainability, climate crises and inequalities, climate finance
Labor rights, unions, bargaining conflicts, corporate power, informality
Provisioning, well-being measures, theories and policies
Macroeconomic theory and policy, banking and finance, monetary and fiscal policy, inflation
Justice, ethics, democracy, public participation
Structural inequalities; income and wealth, gender, race/ethnicity, citizenship
Overall: Every effort will be made to assure program participation for all who seek it. Using our available sessions to reach this goal may require adjusting session assignments. Deadlines, membership criteria, and submission procedures appear on the following page.
AFEE at ICAPE:
Papers and panels that cannot be included on the AFEE at ASSA program will automatically be considered for the ICAPE (International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics) conference that immediately precedes the ASSA conference on January 4, 2024 from 8 AM to 6 PM at St Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX.
Papers presented at the AFEE-sponsored ICAPE sessions will be eligible for publication in the June issue of the JEI. AFEE sponsored sessions must be approved by the Committee on Regional and International Conferences (CRIC).
Submission Requirements and Procedures:
Deadline: The submission deadline is May 10, 2023, and no late proposals will be considered. Acceptance or rejection notices will be issued by early June.
Membership requirement:
At least one of the authors of any paper must be an AFEE member. You can check and renew your membership by logging into your account at https://www.afee.net or join AFEE at https://afee.net/?page=membership; or contact Eric Hake (AFEE Secretary-Treasurer, erhake@catawba.edu) or Teresa Rowell (AFEE Coordinator, coordinator@afee.net). Conference registration and hotel information can be found at https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/.
Submissions:
Please submit your individual paper proposals through: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/5936/submitter
If you are organizing a panel, please ensure that each individual paper proposal is submitted and that the author notes in the submission form the title of the panel and the panel organizer’s name (there is a space in the form for this).
June JEI: Papers presented at the AFEE meeting in San Antonio are eligible for consideration for publication in the June issue of the JEI. To be considered for publication:
Text of your paper cannot exceed 3,000 words
No more than four pages (total) of double-spaced endnotes, references, tables, and figures.
Deadline for submission: December 15, 2023
Papers should be sent as an email attachment to William Waller, Editor of the JEI: waller@hws.edu
Alexandra Bernasek
Professor
Colorado State University
Questions or concerns? Email me: alexandra.bernasek@colostate.edu