PSA Edinburgh Conference 2020 – British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group Panels

SPERI Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Dr Scott Lavery has organised a large series of panels for the forthcoming Political Studies Association (PSA) Conference in Edinburgh, which takes place on 6^th – 8^th April 2020. 

The panels are hosted by the British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group, of which Scott is Deputy Convenor. The panels bring together over 40 scholars working within the field of political economy from across the UK and further afield. 

The panels are organised around themes closely related to SPERI’s ‘Capitalism, Democracy and the State’ research stream, which Scott leads with Colin Hay. Panels will focus on a variety of themes, including The Future of British Capitalism, European Growth Models, Industrial Strategy, the Climate Crisis, Corporate Power and the future of Globalisation. 

The full conference schedule will shortly be available here. 

The panels are organised with the support of Inga Rademacher (KCL), Liam Stanley (SPERI), Sean McDaniel (MMU) and Jeremy Green (Cambridge).

Commenting on the panels, Scott said: 

‘This is to my knowledge the largest ever political economy stream to be held at the PSA’s annual conference. It is wonderful to see so many scholars, from established Professors to bright early career researchers, converge on Edinburgh to debate the developmental trajectories of British, European and Global Capitalism. We very much look forward to a productive few days in the Scottish capital’. 

If you would like to become a member of the British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group, you can sign-up here.  

A full list of the eight British and Comparative Political Economy panels at the Edinburgh PSA 2020 is below.

The Future of British Capitalism 1 

Dr Johnna Montgomerie (KCL) 

Dr Liam Stanley (Sheffield)

Dr James Silverwood (Coventry) 

Mr Dillon Wamsley (York, Canada)

The Future of British Capitalism 2

Dr David Yarrow (Edinburgh)

Ms. Valentina Ausserladscheider and Dr James Wood (Cambridge) 

Prof Jamie Morgan (Leeds Beckett)

Dr Nick O’Donovan (MMU)

Mr Ed Pemberton (Sheffield) 

European Growth Models Panel 1

Prof Engelbert Stockhammer (KCL)

Prof Ben Clift & Dr Sean McDaniel (Warwick and MMU) 

Dr Inga Rademacher (KCL)

Dr Neil Dooley (Sussex)

Dr Owen Parker (Sheffield)

European Growth Models 2

Prof Jonathan Perraton (Sheffield)  

Prof Magnus Ryner (KCL)

Dr Murieann O’Dwyer (Warwick) 

Dr Victoria Stadheim (Winchester) 

Dr Alen Toplisek (KCL)  

Industrial Strategy in a Post-Crash World

Dr Elizabeth Thurbon (Sydney) 

Dr Scott Lavery (Sheffield) 

Mr Henrique Lopes-Valenca (Sheffield) 

Dr Nicole Lindstrom (York) 

Roundtable: Is Globalisation Over? 

Dr Jeremy Green (Cambridge) 

Dr Elizabeth Thurbon (Sydney) 

Dr Johnna Montgomerie (KCL) 

Prof Ben Clift (Warwick) 

Dr Scott Lavery (Sheffield)

Mapping Finance in an era of Climate Crisis 

Dr Sarah Lenz (Hamburg)

Dr Sandy Hager (City) and Joseph Baines (KCL)

Dr Yannis Dafermos (SOAS)

Mr Nils Anderson (Alcazar Energy)

Corporations in Contemporary National and Global Politics 

Dr Alvise Favotto (Glasgow)

Dr Kelly Kolman (Glasgow) and Dr Fraser McMillan (Glasgow)

Prof Patrick Bernhagen (Stuttgart), Dr David Marshall (Reading), Ms Erica Russell (Surrey)

Karen Wright (Glasgow) 

Call for Papers: British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group, 70th Political Studies Association Annual International Conference, Edinburgh, 6th-8th April 2020

The BCPE Specialist Group is pleased to announce three Call for Papers for the forthcoming PSA Conference in Edinburgh 2020. The panels are on the following themes:

• The Future of British Capitalism   

• The Political Economy of Growth Models in Europe in the post-2008 crisis environment

• Industrial strategy in a post-crash world

Further information about each of the panels can be found below, along with submission guidelines.

1. The future of British capitalism: continuity or transformation?

British capitalism continues to be weighed down by deep structural weaknesses. Since 2008, productivity has flat-lined, real wages have collapsed, regional inequality has intensified and austerity has impacted heavily upon the public sector and welfare, disproportionately impacting women and ethnic minorities. Political volatility, social instability and protracted economic uncertainty has been the result of this ‘lost decade’. At the same time, new political currents have emerged which could potentially reconfigure British capitalism. The Labour Party’s economic programme, the prospect of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, the re-emergence of ‘industrial strategy’, enduring constitutional questions in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and growing demands to reduce carbon emissions and to address entrenched patterns of racial and gendered inequality all have the potential to re-shape the British economy. This panel looks beyond the ‘post-crash’ decade and asks, ‘are we likely to witness the continuation or the transformation of British capitalism over the next decade?’ What can political economy tell us about the present predicament faced by British capitalism? What strategies might bring about change, what barriers might these strategies encounter, and how might they be overcome?The panel invites submissions from scholars working within the fields of British politics, International Political Economy, comparative political economy, economic sociology, history, geography and further afield.

Panel organisers: Dr Scott Lavery and Dr Liam Stanley, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI), University of Sheffield

2. The Political Economy of Growth Models in Europe in the post-2008 crisis environment

Europe’s models of growth are in crisis. The economic and financial crisis from 2008 on was seen by many, scholars and policy-makers alike, to undermine the foundations of the extant dominant neo-liberal growth model in Europe and the US. As a result of austerity measures and the European Union’s (EU) push for structural reform, Europe’s economies have undergone adjustment and reorganisation. However, somewhat ironically we have more often than not seen the entrenchment of many features of the failed pre-crisis regimes.The British model of capitalism, for instance, has long been seen to be in a phase of historic decline, with growth propped up by a reliance on financial capitalism that perpetuates economic and geographical inequalities. The economic crisis has changed little in this regard. On the other hand, despite the Eurozone crisis highlighting the serious problems associated with the composition of the Eurozone economic architecture, recent research suggests that European integration is serving to promote particular ‘export-led’ growth models a la Germany, whilst punishing demand-led growth paths (Johnston and Regan 2018). This panel welcomes proposals that interrogate the Political Economy of contemporary European growth models. We welcome country specific case studies or papers that are comparative in nature. We particularly welcome contributions that focus on the following issues from a Political Economy perspective: domestic models of growth; domestic and non-domestic impediments to growth/models of capitalism; the impact of European integration (and Brexit) on growth models-sectoral imbalances; the ‘productivity puzzle’.

Panel organisers: Dr Sean McDaniel (MMU), Professor Ben Clift (Warwick) Deadline for abstracts: Friday 13th October 2019

3. Industrial strategy in a post-crash world

Industrial strategy has re-emerged as a policy agenda with the UK, the EU and within emerging economies. However, much of the scholarly and public discussion assumes a methodologically nationalist perspective, focussing on which domestic conditions and policies might allow states to re-shape their industrial structure and wider economies. The problem is that industrial development has historically been shaped by a variety of ‘global’ factors. The East Asian developmental states, for example, benefited from the context of the Cold War and their protection under the US security umbrella. German industrial development in the post-war era was heavily dependent on Marshall Aid and wider US leadership. At the same time, export-oriented states had to find ways to stabilise their exchange rates against the background of increasingly mobile global financial capital. The monetary and fiscal policy measures for stabilisation have been key for economic development. Today, industrial strategy has re-emerged at a time when global capitalism has undergone some deep reconfigurations. A ‘post-crash world’ is coming into view, exemplified by the continued rise of China, intensifying ‘trade wars’, sustained ‘loose’ monetary policy pursued by leading central banks, the rise of automation, spiralling inequality, intensified inter-state competition and wider challenges to the liberal order. What do these shifts in global capitalism mean for industrial policy at the national level? Are we seeing new ‘space’ opening-up for industrial development or does the global environment threaten to constrain state capacity further? What scope is there for global institutions to coordinate productive investment?

Panel organisers: Dr Inga Rademacher (King’s College London) and Dr Scott Lavery (SPERI, University of Sheffield)

Submission guidelines

Please select which panel you would like to submit to. Send your submission to the following contacts for each panel:

1. The Future of British Capitalism – email scott.lavery@sheffield.ac.uk by 17th October 2019.

2. The Political Economy of Growth Models in Europe in the post-2008 crisis environment – email S.McDaniel@mmu.ac.uk by 13th October 2019

3. Industrial strategy in a post-crash world – email inga.rademacher@kcl.ac.uk by 17th October 2019

All paper proposals should include name, affiliation and email of the presenter(s) and an abstract of maximum 300 words. Abstracts should include:

• Paper title

• Key research question

• Outline of argument

• Five ‘key words’

Members as well as non-members of the specialist group are encouraged to apply. Applications from graduate students and early-career academics are welcome. We particularly encourage submissions from under-represented groups in the discipline, such as women, people of colour and other groups. If you have any questions at all, please contact Scott Lavery on the above address. We look forward to welcoming you to Edinburgh, ‘The Athens of the North!’

‘Economic policy-making institutions at the state/market frontier’, University of Warwick, 18-19 March 2019

Crises disrupt economic orders, but also the behaviour and orientation of the state as elites seeks to resolve crisis dynamics. An apparent revival of industrial policy, across many countries, is an obvious example, but we have witnessed myriad new forms of statecraft since the financial crisis. Ten years on, it is becoming possible to assess the durability of these shifts, and what they tell us about the relationship between state and market, and public and private, in post-crisis capitalism. This workshop will advance this intellectual agenda, focusing specifically the notion of ‘state capture’, and considering how state forms and the ‘machinery of government’ at various scales are enmeshed with economic and distributional orders. Who are the winners and losers from post-crisis state transformation? What does it tell us about neoliberalism? Has the transformative process differed across varieties of capitalism or countries at different stages of capitalist development?
The event is the annual workshop of the Political Studies Association British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group. It is supported by the British Academy, Future Economies at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. Convened by Craig Berry and Matthew Watson.

The workshop takes place on 18^th and 19^th March at the University of Warwick. Papers that will be presented across the two days include:

• Phil Cerny (Rutgers/Manchester). Finance at the Crossroads
• Florence Dafe and Zoe Phillips Williams (both LSE). Banking on Courts: The Global Financial Crisis and the Rise of Third-Party Funding
• Thomas Da Costa Vieira and Emma Foster (both Birmingham). Ordoliberalism, the Big Society and the Depoliticisation of Co-operatives
• Anjar Reurink (Max Planck Centre, Cologne). The Making of the Netherlands as an Offshore Financial Center: The Great Fragmentation of the Firm and the Rise of an Industrial Policy for the Intra-group Economy
• Caroline Kuzemko (Warwick). Re-Scaling IPE: Local Government, Sustainable Energy & Change (provisional title)
• Andy Pike (Newcastle) and John Tomaney (UCL). Towards urban and regional statecraft
• Craig Berry (Manchester Met). Capitalist Transformation and Institutional Change at the State-Market Frontier: The Contrasting Complementarities of Pensions Provision and Industrial Policy in Britain and Beyond
• Sean McDaniel and Ben Clift (both Warwick). Capitalist Convergence? European Integration, Disintegration and the Post-Crash Restructuring of French and European Capitalisms in the Face of Brexit
• Inga Rademacher (KCL). Financing Exports. The German Fiscal Crisis and the Turn to Finance in the German Export-led Growth Model
• Jack Copley (Warwick). Explaining the Big Bang: Monetarism, Financial Liberalisation, and State-Market Governance During Crisis
• James Wood and Matthew Sparkes (both Cambridge). The Economic Ideas of Financialisation in Britain
• James Chamberlain (University of Sheffield). Development Policy after Neoliberalism? The Contradictions of Developmental and Postneoliberal Models of Capitalist Development

 

Workshop: ‘Economic policy-making institutions at the state/market frontier’, University of Warwick, 18-19 March 2019

A workshop supported by the British Academy, Future Economies at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick and the Political Studies Association British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group.

Convened by Craig Berry and Matthew Watson with Kate Alexander Shaw, Tom Barker, Sean McDaniel and Patrick Kaczmarczyk.

University of Warwick, 18-19 March 2019

‘Taking Inequality Seriously: Economy and Society in the Age of Inequalities’, Early Career Researcher Workshop, PSA British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group, University of Sheffield, SPERI, November 8th, 2018

Rising inequalities have been a common source of economic, social and political
discord in both advanced and developing countries. Such tension has manifested
itself in turbulent politics, the emergence of new forms of social grievances, stagnant growth rates, low economic satisfaction and social intolerance. While political discourses and social movements have rightly prioritised the need to address inequalities within and across societies, much of the policy practices have failed to remedy such tensions, which, in fact, seem to be escalating.

The causes and consequences of distinct inequalities, such as income, wealth, social, racial, educational, gender, health, inter-generational, geographic etc., have been studied within their respective sub-disciplines. However, recent developments show that the impact of inequality cross-cuts singular issues under study. Therefore, the workshop seeks to bring together contributions from the broader study of political economy focusing on the causes, consequences, and concepts of different types of inequalities.

We invite submissions from early career researchers from a diverse range of empirical and theoretical backgrounds, as well as geographical areas of study, that focus on inequalities. Contributions are welcome from across the social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary approaches, that are related to the political economy of the following themes:

• Comparative political economy of inequalities
• Varieties and trajectories of inequality
• Interactions between different inequalities
• New forms of discontent and inequality
• Inequality and economic growth
• Subjective perceptions of inequality
• Methodological approaches in the study of inequalities

Please note that there is no registration fee and there are some reimbursements for travel expenses available. Please submit an abstract of 250 words to Elif Naz Kayran (elif.kayran@graduateinstitute.ch) by October 8th 2018. Abstracts will be reviewed on a continual basis; therefore, early submissions are strongly encouraged.

Meeting the Social and Political Challenges of Slow Economic Growth, PSA British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group Workshop, King’s College London, Strand Campus, Virginia Woolf Building, Room 6.06 May 30th 2018

09:30 – 10:00 Registration and Refreshments

10:00 – 10:15 Welcome and PSA BCPE Specialist Group Business

10:15 – 12:00 Panel 1: The Financialised Growth Model
Chair: Jeremy Green, University of Cambridge

Demand Regimes, Financialisation and Varieties of Capitalism
Engelbert Stockhammer, Kingston University

Debt Dependence and the Financialisation of Everyday Life
Johnna Montgomerie, Goldsmiths, University of London

The Political Consequences of Financialisation
Stefano Pagliari, City, University of London

Financialisation and the British Neoliberal Policy Paradigm
James Wood, King’s College London

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch (Provided)

13:00 – 14:45 Panel 2: The Political Problems of Slow Economic Growth
Chair: Isabelle Hertner, King’s College London

The Political Economy of Populist Rule in Post-Crisis Europe: Hungary and Poland
Alen Toplišek, SOAS, University of London

Economic Nationalism in Times of European (Dis)Integration: Political Discourse
in Austria and the UK
Valentina Ausserladscheider, University of Cambridge

Everyday Understandings of ‘the economy’ in Post-Referendum Britain
Anna Killick, University of Southampton

“There’s No Money”: The Labour Party and The Failure of Social Democracy in an
Era of Slow Economic Growth
Sean McDaniel, University of Warwick

14:45 – 15:00 Refreshment Break

15:00 – 16:45 Panel 3: Navigating Changes in Industrial Policies and Capital Markets
Chair: Scott Lavery, University of Sheffield

Patient Capital and Private Equity Governance
Robyn Klingler-Vidra, King’s College London

The Polarising Effects of Financial Globalisation: The Uncertain Winners and
Losers of the Failure of Risk Management
Bartholomew Paudyn, London School of Economics

Meeting Slow Growth and High Sovereign Debt with Economic Adjustment
Dennis Zagermann, University of Bremen

From Receding to Reseeding: UK Industrial Strategy, Governance Strategies and
Post-Crisis Ideological Survival
Craig Berry, Manchester Metropolitan University

16:45 – 17:00 Refreshment Break

17:00 – 18:30 Roundtable: Meeting the Challenges of Slow Economic Growth
Chair: Craig Berry, Manchester Metropolitan University

Jeremy Green, University of Cambridge

Sara Mahmoud, New Economics Foundation

Aeron Davis, Goldsmiths, University of London

Matthew Donoghue, University of Oxford

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General Information

Full Address:
King’s College London,
Virginia Woolf Building,
22 Kingsway,
London WC2B 6LE

Nearest Underground Stations:
Holborn (Central & Piccadilly Lines)
Temple (District & Circle Lines)

On the Day:
Please sign-in with the security reception desk on the ground floor who will give you access to the 6th floor where the workshop will take place.
If you have any questions throughout the day, please contact James Wood at  james.d.wood@kcl.ac.uk.

CALL FOR PAPERS: “Meeting the Social and Political Challenges of Slow Economic Growth”; PSA British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group Workshop, King’s College London, May 30th 2018

 

 

Although there has been a recent upswing in global economic growth, the recovery of advanced economies from the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis is not yet complete. Whilst some advanced economies have demonstrated a strong economic performance, growth has been weak in others, and inflation has remained largely below target. International financial organisations have highlighted how the economic outlook remains mixed for advanced economies; however, the combination of interest rates near the zero-lower bound and competition between states to attract capital investment has rendered traditional monetary and fiscal policy responses to encourage economic growth largely ineffectual. Additionally, although the post-crisis economic governance has focused on restoring economic growth and financial stability, it has caused resources and attention to be diverted from other important social, political and environmental factors, which have had significant consequences for the wider political economy within and between nations. These issues highlight the importance of examining how advanced economies can boost potential output whilst ensuring its benefits are broadly shared in order to counter social and political challenges that have arisen and may develop further in the future.

 

The broadly conceived field of Political Economy offers a productive means to develop insights to the multiple causes and consequences of these areas of convergence and divergence in economic growth. Therefore, this workshop invites papers examining these issues in national, international, comparative, or historical contexts, and welcomes analyses from a variety of different theoretical and methodological perspectives. Across multiple sessions, this workshop will encourage a pluralistic examination into the how advanced capitalisms can meet the economic, social and political challenges of slow growth.

 

Themes:

• Convergence and divergence of economic growth models
• Social and political counter movements
• Environmental sustainability and growth
• Institutional change and financial governance
• New patterns of inequality
• Areas of divergence within and between national capitalisms

 

Please submit paper abstracts of approximately 250 words to James Wood (james.d.wood@kcl.ac.uk) by February 28^th 2018.

Photos from ‘Politics in Uncertain Times: What Will The World Look Like In 2050 – And How Do You Know?’

On Wednesday 13th September the PSA British and Comparative Political Economy Group held its official launch event, inviting the public to participate in answering the question ‘What Will the World Look Like in 2050?’ The Event was held in the Webb Library, Jesus College, University of Cambridge.

Below you can find a selection of photos from the event.

Inaugural Annual Workshop (and General Meeting): A New Era in Capitalism?

Activity: Annual Workshop and General Meeting (for group members and invited guests only)

Where: Bawden Room, West Court, Jesus College, University of Cambridge

When: Wednesday 13th September,  11:00-17:00 (AGM: 17:00-17:30)

Workshop rationale:

Politics in Uncertain Times: What Will the World Look Like in 2050 – And How Do You Know?

A British and Comparative Political Economy Specialist Group Public Event

Webb Library, Jesus College, University of Cambridge

Wednesday 13th September 2017

18:00-20:00

Eventbrite Page

Have recent events in the United Kingdom and United States left you wondering what the global political and economic order will look like in the future? Do you have ideas about how the combination of economic crisis, environmental catastrophe and shifting power within the global economy will shape the world around us for generations to come? Did you predict the outcome of the recent general election correctly when so many commentators were wrong? If so, this is the event for you!