المنتدى

CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION AND A CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY

Feminist Economics Responses and Imaginations for the Future

July 3-5, 2024 Sapienza University | Rome, Italy

An in-person conference, with selected remote and hybrid access

Deadline for submissions: November 22, 2023

Technological advances such as artificial intelligence, 3-D printers and digitalization bring the utopian visions of an egalitarian abundance economy akin to Trekonomics ever closer. Yet the current political landscape characterized by authoritarian populism, political and social polarization, evokes a dystopian Handmaid’s Tale economy. The potential for improved wellbeing-for-all offered by technological breakthroughs is hindered by the persisting neoliberal economic paradigm and receding political spaces. There is widespread acknowledgement of the ecological crisis, the cost of living and economic crisis, vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, a crisis of politics and democracy, a crisis of care, the migration crisis and armed conflicts, all of which intertwine through their different dimensions. But the gap between diagnosis of problems and implementation of effective policies remains persistent, as politics fails to provide solutions. Instead, it is increasingly characterized by governance failures at multiple levels. An alarming factor is the strong backlash against the progress achieved by feminist, LGBTQ+ and human rights movements, culminating in a regime of gender apartheid in some places. Many, in particular the younger generations, feel alienated from political spaces, struggling to identify with any political party or movement, facilitating emergence of political homelessness.

Against this backdrop, the 2024 Conference theme aspires to provoke critical reflection on feminist economics responses to the present and imaginations of the future. We invite debates on the following questions: What are the contributions of feminist economics to interpreting the current global landscape of multiple intertwined crises and rapid technological change? Where do women stand in their heterogeneous identities, as subjects and agents in the crisis of democracy, polarization and rising authoritarianism? What are the forward-looking strategies, concrete solutions and models that emerge from feminist economics towards reaping the benefits of technological change for all towards an egalitarian, sustainable and resilient economic order? To what extent does feminist economics carry the potential to provide an ideological home to women, younger generations and others who wish to see progressive policies?

This Conference will provide a forum for scholarship and inquiry that recognizes the interdisciplinary nature and methodological pluralism of our field, and that addresses the question of how progressive economists can affect policy in today’s increasingly polarized political landscape. We accept paper, poster, session and panel proposals which engage in feminist economics inquiry of a broad range of issues at the theoretical, empirical, policy and action levels.

This year the program committee has decided to highlight research on and from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Papers and panels on the following topics in the region are encouraged:

• Feminist economics and the economic situation of women in various countries in the MENA region
• The relationship between democratization, gender and economic policy in the MENA region
• Fiscal policy from a gender perspective, with a focus on the role of militarization, armed conflict and military spending
• Technological change, education and women's employment in the MENA region

SUBMISSIONS:  Abstracts (400 words max.) must be submitted online. Submissions can be made for individual papers, posters, organised sessions of papers, or panels/roundtables. Submissions can be made in English, Italian or Spanish. We expect to have simultaneous interpretation provided for conference plenaries and selected sessions.

Participants are limited to one paper presentation and one roundtable/panel appearance. Additional co-authored papers are allowed only if they are presented by the co-author. These limitations allow participation by a maximum number of participants.

You can make your submissions here: https://premc.org/iaffe2024/submission/

For more information: https://www.iaffe.org/rome-2024