15th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy
The 15th WAPE Forum will be held on 18-19 December 2021, at Shanghai International Studies University, China. International participants will attend online due to COVID epidemic. This forum will be co-organized by World Association for Political Economy, Greek Association of Political Economy, and Shanghai International Studies University.
The broad theme of the conference focuses on the controversy between the two main alternative traditions in economic analysis, Political Economy and Economics. Economics (with their myopic understanding of the economy as simply market relations, neglect of social and political factors and class struggle and their almost overt support for capital against labour) has been historically proved incapable of grasping how economies work and forecast and confront competently economic crises. On the other hand, Political Economy (offering a social understanding of the economy, focusing on the sphere of production, linking economic analysis to social and political factors and to class struggle) has been more successful in comprehending the actual workings of the economy and in analyzing economic crises. However, despite their long-standing failures, Economics continue to dominate academia and policy-making centers, especially in the West. Even after the last global economic crisis and its blatant failure to foresee and to resolve it, its dominance remains unwavered as it is supported by strong vested class interests. Nevertheless, there is growing unrest within both the academia and the society with this failed dominance. Political Economy is the main approach towards which all those dissatisfied with Economics turn.
This conference aims to juxtapose Political Economy and Economics and contrast their positions on the various fields and areas of economic analysis. Within its broad theme, WAPE 2021 invites all contributions that enrich the perspective of Political Economy and expand the ground for further discussion.
Please check enclosed invitation for details on the topics. Both individual papers and complete panels on the main theme and proposed topics are welcome. Papers on any topic related to political economy are also welcome. There is also the option to apply to attend the forum without a paper.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: The official language of the Forum is Chinese and English with simultaneous translation of English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, and Japanese for plenary meetings and simultaneous translation of English for parallel sessions.
HOW TO APPLY
Send a paper abstract (500 words) and your full curriculum vitae in English to both wapemember@vip.163.com by 25 November 2021. Acceptance letters and instructions for registration will be sent out by 30 November 2021. Full papers must be submitted by 10 December 2021.
Details on how to join the Webinar will be sent soon once we receive your reply.
Marxists from all over the world are welcome to join WAPE and attend WAPE forums. WAPE aims to encourage cooperation among Marxists and to enlarge and strengthen the influence of Marxism in the world.
Jin Zhang
Assistant to Allen Ding
Secretary General of WAPE
The WAPE Secretariat
November 2021
