CALL FOR PAPERS: 22nd Annual STOREP Conference, "Economies and Territories: A History of Economics Perspective" (Università degli Studi del Molise, 12-14 June 2025, DEADLINE: 17 March 2025)

Source: STOREP

Description:

ECONOMIES AND TERRITORIES: FROM THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE

22nd Annual STOREP Conference, June 12-14, 2025

Università degli Studi del Molise
Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, via Duca degli Abruzzi 67, 86039 Termoli (CB)

Background and rationale

Recent events, from the 2020 pandemic crisis to growing geopolitical instability, accompanied by trade tensions across countries, are prompting a re-evaluation of the spatial and regional dimensions of economic activities. Phenomena such as reshoring, nearshoring, friends-shoring, and the re-discovery of national borders are contemporary examples of Adam Smith’s invisible hand, which ‘encouraged’ merchants to keep their capital at home for greater security, thereby advancing, according to Smith’s metaphor, both their own interests and the public good.

Conflicts, political tensions, and climate change challenges are reshaping the global economy with relevant implications for regional economies, which have been increasingly interconnected through trade, investment, and financial flows. The search for lesser dependence on foreign markets in terms of supply chains and market outlets, particularly with reference to strategic sources such as energy, is today at the center of policymakers’ concerns.

The implications of economies’ interdependence have been widely investigated in the history of economic thought. In the 17th century, the mercantilists focused on the relationships between colonies and the mother country to ensure the power of the latter, while Smith (1776) and David Ricardo (1817) emphasized the advantages for all countries of free trade through international specialization. By contrast, Karl Marx (1848) interpreted the cosmopolitan character of the capitalistic system in terms of the bourgeoisie’s exploitation of the world market with the destruction of national industries by new industries that no longer work up indigenous raw materials.

As well as a territory shapes its economy, the opposite is also true, as in the case of megacities and the increasing urban population and agglomeration economies, as highlighted in Alfred Marshall’s theory (developed in the late 19th century) of industrial districts. Spatial dimensions and economic geography theories focusing on economic clustering and concentration in specific regions have been recently rediscovered by Paul Krugman’s (1991) core-periphery model. The new economic geography he inaugurated has its precursors in Walter Christaller’s central-place theory (1933), Walter Isard’s regional science and industrial location theory (1956), as well as J. Vernon Henderson’s (1956) urban system theory.

The development of industrial centers with respect to rural areas also involved migration phenomena, all of which are related phenomena testifying to the multidimensional connections of territories and economies. New economic geography encompasses the shift in economic and political power and the redistribution of resources and opportunities across regions. Such transformations drive the movement of people from one place to another with a significant impact on the spatial economy in terms of population distribution, and particularly the de-population of some areas, as well as the dynamics of economic development and social and cultural changes. Refugee migration, labor migration, rural-to-urban migration, climate migration, and digital nomadism are among the phenomena that characterize our complex times. The growing disparities across regions are another related topic. Territorial and regional inequalities and the North and South divide are not new. Despite economic policy efforts, from post-World War II planning to recent cohesion policies, significant disparities remain, for example, within Italy and across the European Union countries, also exacerbated by recent geopolitical tensions, thereby raising questions about the economic policy effectiveness.

The 2007 Treaty of Lisbon assigned the European Union the mission of promoting territorial, economic, and social cohesion. Since then, investments in infrastructure, incentives for business development, and initiatives to improve education and training have been implemented. An effort re-affirmed by the European Union post-pandemic funds. The European Union’s Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund have been instrumental in financing projects that enhance connectivity, innovation, and economic diversification. The European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility provides a further significant opportunity to address regional disparities, with Italy, as one of the largest beneficiaries.

Addressing sustainable economic development within this context also requires a focus on environmental and digital transitions alongside efforts to reduce regional inequalities for cohesive growth across Europe.

Territorial dimensions of economic activity and the disparities in economic development across different regions offer numerous insights into addressing economic development problems, regional inequalities, population and migration dynamics, and policies from the history of economics perspective and from an interdisciplinary approach. The core-periphery model, in particular, can be fruitfully applied not only to explain economic development but also to explore boundaries between economics and other social sciences and today’s organization of economics into a mainstream (core) and heterodox (periphery) structure.

Submissions

The 22nd STOREP Annual Conference aims to foster a debate on all the issues related to “Economies and Territories from the History of Economics Perspective”, and welcomes sessions and research papers, framed in a historical or theoretical perspective. The Conference also aims to bring together scholars and leading experts from various fields within the social sciences domain – such as economics and history of economic thought, economic history, sociology, law, demography, and geography – and from diverse regions, with particular encouragement for scholars from the Global South.

Possible focuses of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Theories and models of regional economics, spatial economics, and economic geography analyzed from the history of economics perspective.
• The use of territories and spatial dimensions as a metaphor for economic internal organization and its evolution.
• Historical development of agglomeration economies and their impact on economic theories.
• The impact of regional economics on policy-making and regional planning over time.
• Institutional and policy perspectives: the role of institutions in regional economic development; the impact of regional economic policies on economic growth and spatial inequalities.
• Interdisciplinary studies: demography, migration, geography, sociology, political science contributions on spatial and regional economics.

Paper proposals are welcome in all fields adopting historical and/or theoretical approaches from multiple perspectives (Marxian, Post Keynesian, Neo-Ricardian, Neo Schumpeterian, Institutional, Austrian economics, Stock-flow consistent and agent-based modeling, input-output analysis). Empirical approaches (both quantitative and qualitative) are considered, provided that they are appropriately framed in a historical or theoretical perspective.

Special sessions

We are pleased to announce that
Alessandra Mezzadri (SOAS University of London) is the keynote speaker of the Annual STOREP Conference.

[info on the Keynote lecture here]

Roberto Marchionatti (Università di Torino) will give the ninth “Raffaelli Lecture” (“The Long 20th Century of Economics. A Critical Narrative of a Social Science that Would Be Queen”).

[info on the Raffaelli Lecture here]

STOREP invites proposals for special sessions organized in collaboration with other scientific associations, NGOs, and policy-making institutions. As in the past, the 22nd STOREP Conference will jointly organize initiatives and special sessions with the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the “Young Scholars Initiative”, and with students and researchers of the international network Rethinking Economics.

Proposals, registration, and special issues

Abstract and session proposals must be uploaded on the submission website of the conference – i.e. via the web-based platform “Conference maker”. To submit, please create an account by providing basic contact information and selecting a user ID and password. If you have previously registered for a conference through Conference Maker, you can login with your existing user ID and password. Detailed instructions can be found here. Submitters must add any co-authors after the proposal is submitted, by clicking on “Add/modify authors”.Abstract proposals (including keywords, JEL codes, and affiliation) must not exceed 400 words

Session proposals should include the abstract of all three/four scheduled papers

Registration: All participants are required to become STOREP members or renew their membership. Detailed instructions can be found here.

The Review of Political Economy (ROPE) will consider selected papers presented at the STOREP Conference for publication. Participants are required to submit their papers to ROPE within six months after the Conference. Manuscripts submitted through this procedure will undergo the standard peer review process. STOREP is also pleased to announce that several academic journals have expressed interest in publishing Conference papers.

Important dates

March 17, 2025: Deadline for abstracts and sessions submission
April 14, 2025: Notification of abstract and session acceptance or rejection
May 5, 2025: Deadline for early registration

May 20, 2025: Deadline for submitting full papers and for becoming Members
June 11, 2025: YSI pre-conference
June 12-14, 2025: 21st STOREP Annual Conference

Important dates for young scholars: Scholarships and Awards (details below)
March 20, 2025: Deadline for submission of Curriculum Vitae and an extended abstract
April 2, 2025: Deadline for submitting the final papers for Scholarships
May 10, 2025: Results of the evaluation process
December 31, 2025: Deadline for submitting articles for Young STOREP Awards

Registration fees

STOREP Members
(early registration) by May 12: 160€
(late registration) after May 12: 230€

Others
(early registration) by May 12: 220€ (annual membership included)
(late registration) after May 12: 300€ (annual membership included)

Young scholars (non-tenured, under 40)
STOREP members: 100€
others: 130€ (annual membership included)



Young Scholars Awards

(1) STOREP provides two Awards of 1000€ each (so as to make it possible to reward both history-of-economic-thought articles and more policy-oriented papers) for the best articles presented at the Annual Conference by young scholars under 40 years of age. Applications, including CV and the final version of the papers, must be sent to segretario@storep.org by December 31, 2025. Only papers co-authored by a maximum of two researchers, both meeting the eligibility criteria for ‘Young’ scholars, are eligible for the Award. Previous award winners from any of the three preceding rounds are not eligible to apply. Papers must not have been previously published or under review in a scholarly journal at the time of the conference.

(2) Scholarships for young scholars (under 40 years of age, non-tenured). In order to be eligible, the applicant is required to send to segretario@storep.org a Curriculum Vitae and an extended abstract (2,000 words ca.) on any topic relevant to the history of political economy, by March 20, 2025. The final version of the papers must be uploaded by April 2, 2025. Applicants will be notified of the evaluation process no later than May 10, 2025. Winners will be awarded free STOREP Conference registration, including the association’s annual membership fee and, if possible, a lump-sum contribution towards travel and accommodation expenses.

More info with the Italian Society for the History of Political Economy.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Society for Legal and Institutional History of Flanders, Picardy and Wallonia, "Extraterritoriality and the Law / L'Extraterritorialité et le droit" (Tilburg University, 30-31 May 2025, DEADLINE: 20 April 2025)

Description:

The Society for Legal and Institutional History of Flanders, Picardy and Wallonia holds its annual "International days" 2022 on 30 and 31 May 2025 in Tilburg (in The Netherlands)

The theme of the conference is: « l’Extraterritorialite et le Droit » (“Extraterritoriality and Law”)

The law as it stands, both public and private, has strong ties to a territory. For example, territory is fundamental in the constitutional order of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In private law, this attachment to land is equally present. Conflicts in property law are judged by the lex situs. The constitutio Antoniniana (D.1.5.17) did the same for Roman citizenship. National law, comparative law and legal history are based and strongly focused on that national, territorial order, as well in Picardy, Wallonia, in Flanders, as anywhere.

Territorial validity contrasts sharply with the (also normative) dynamics of persons and their transactions across borders, and it contrasts sharply with an ideal of universal law. This congress focuses on all forms of extraterritoriality of law, and its possible explanations. It provides an opportunity to address topics such as the genesis and legitimacy of universally applicable law (natural law, ius commune, human rights), genesis and legitimacy of territorially applicable law (local or national norms, customary law), the adoption or non-adoption of concepts, norms, systems or arguments from elsewhere, in occasional or institutionalized collaborations. Colonial relations are also of great importance in the latter context and deserve attention.

This general theme does not exclude papers about other subjects regarding legal history or institutional history.

Presentations can be held in French, English or Dutch. Speakers have to send a summary to the organization (preferably in French and/or English).

Proposals can be sent before 20 April 2025 to J.M. MILO and E.G.D. van Dongen, j.m.milo@uu.nl; E.G.D.vanDongen@uu.nl

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Société d'histoire du droit et des institutions

des pays flamands, picards et wallons

(fondée à Lille en 1929)

Journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions

Tilbourg (Pays-Bas), 30 et 31 mai 2025

Les journées internationales d'histoire du droit et des institutions 2025 auront lieu à Tilbourg (Tilburg), 30 et 31 mai 2025 et seront consacrées au thème de L’extraterritorialite et le Droit.

Le droit applicable, qu'il soit public ou privé, est fortement lié à un territoire. Par exemple, le territoire est fondamental dans l'ordre constitutionnel de la France, de la Belgique et des Pays-Bas. En droit civil, Ce rattachement au territoire est tout aussi manifeste. Les conflits en matière de droit des biens sont jugés selon la lex situs. La constitutio Antoniniana (D.1.5.17) a fait de même pour la citoyenneté romaine. Le droit national, le droit comparé et l'histoire du droit sont basés et fortement axés sur cet ordre géographique national, que ce soit en Picardie, en Wallonie, en Flandre, ou ailleurs.

Cette territorialité du droit contraste fortement avec la `dynamique normative’ des personnes et de leurs transactions transfrontalières, ainsi qu'avec l'idéal d'un droit universel. Ce congrès se concentre sur toutes les formes d'extraterritorialité du droit, et sur les motifs de cette extraterritorialité. Il permet d'aborder des sujets tels que la genèse et la légitimation du droit universellement applicable (droit naturel, ius commune, droits de l'homme), la genèse et la légitimation du droit territorialement applicable (normes locales ou nationales, droit coutumier) et l'adoption ou la non-adoption de concepts, de normes, de systèmes ou d'arguments venus d'ailleurs, dans le cadre de collaborations occasionnelles ou institutionnalisées. Dans ce dernier contexte, les relations coloniales revêtent également une grande importance et méritent l'attention.

Ce thème général n’exclut pas, par ailleurs, la possibilité de communiquer sur d’autres sujets d’histoire du droit, de la justice et des institutions.

Les interventions peuvent être faites en français, en anglais ou en néerlandais. Les orateurs sont priés d’envoyer un résumé à l’avance aux organisateurs (de préférence en français).

Les personnes désireuses de communiquer sont priées de faire parvenir leur proposition de communication avant le 20 avril 2025 à J.M. MILO et E.G.D. von Dongen par courriel: j.m.milo@uu.nl; E.G.D.vanDongen@uu.nl

Source: VUB Core

CALL FOR PAPERS: XXIXth Annual Forum for Young Legal Historians, "Compromis à la belge - The Role of Compromise in Legal History" (Ghent University, 17-20 September 2025, DEADLINE: 18 April 2025)

XXIXth Annual Forum for Young Legal Historians, "Compromis à la belge - The Role of Compromise in Legal History" 

Belgians often refer to the bric-a-brac solutions that the country’s lawmakers come up with as ‘compromis à la belge’ – Belgian compromises. They are never pretty, often incomprehensible, but somehow work. It is only fitting therefore that the next Annual Forum of the Association of Young Legal Historians, taking place in Ghent, Belgium, should seek to explore the role of compromise in legal history. We want to invite young researchers to come together and reflect on the complex interactions between legal institutions, societal norms, and power dynamics that either foster or reject compromise in legal decision-making. Compromise is broadly defined as any agreement where parties relinquish part of their demands. Participants are encouraged to examine its applications across different contexts, from individual disputes to institutional negotiations, and from idealized notions to ad hoc resolutions. The conference will also consider frameworks that facilitate compromise, as well as decision-making processes that explicitly reject it. Panel discussions will be structured around thematic rather than geographical or historical divisions. Possible topics include:

 • Ethical dimensions of compromise in law, including its impact on marginalized groups, human rights, and governance. 

• The role of stakeholders in legal decision-making, such as social partners and interest groups.

 • When and how compromise enhances or undermines legal legitimacy.

 • Institutions that mediate compromise, such as arbitrators, mediators, and justices of the peace. Legal history is inherently interdisciplinary, intersecting with both law and history. 

The increasing diversity of the field, incorporating extra-European legal traditions alongside traditional Roman and Ancien Régime studies, necessitates new ways of fostering dialogue. By selecting a theme that allows in-depth case studies without cultural bias, the conference seeks to contribute to the emerging field of global legal history. Rather than organizing panels based on geographic or historical categories, the conference will emphasize thematic connections to stimulate discussion across subfields that seldom engage with one another. This approach is designed to generate fresh insights and new research directions in legal history. 

We invite scholars to contribute to this exploration of compromise in legal history, bridging disciplinary gaps and fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas. 

Practical information 

If you would like to present a paper during the conference, please send an application including an abstract of not more than 250 words and your CV to aylhforum2025@gmail.com before 18 April 2025. 

Acceptance letters will be sent out by the end of May. It is also possible to apply for a full panel. In that  case, your proposal should also include, in addition to individual paper proposals, an abstract introducing the theme of the panel. Presentations have to be in English and should not exceed 15 minutes each. Since one of the primary goals of the conference is to allow young researchers to get to know each other personally, we only accept presentations in person. The conference fee will be € 180 and does not include accommodation. Further information about the upcoming forum can be found at the website of the conference. Information about the Association of Young Legal Historians and the past Annual Forums is available at the AYLH-website. Participants who are interested will also be invited to send in an article after the conference that will be published in a volume of conference proceedings, which will include the individual articles and concluding remarks in which we will highlight commonalities of content and challenges faced.  We look forward to receiving your abstracts and we will uncompromisingly endeavor to provide a conference that is both academically and socially fulfilling.  

The organizing committee,  

Amber Gardeyn Pieterjan Schepens Jasper Van de Woestijne 

Consult the call here or via the Association's website.

CALL FOR PAPERS: "Cooperation or Domination: International Organisations as Imperial Designs" (The Center for Global Public Law at Koç University, 4 July 2025, DEADLINE: 23 March 2025)

Source: Koç University

Cooperation or Domination: International Organisations as Imperial Designs

The Center for Global Public Law (CGPL) at Koç University is pleased to announce a Workshop to be held in Istanbul on 4 July 2025. The workshop will focus on the intersection between international organisations and imperialism, capitalism and race exploring whether and how these institutions have served as instruments of domination under the guise of cooperation. Each paper will be assigned a discussant who will provide detailed feedback, fostering an in-depth discussion and critique of the presented work. Discussants include Catherine Brölmann (University of Amsterdam), Jean d’Aspremont (Sciences Po, University of Manchester), Lys Kulamadayil (Geneva Graduate Institute), and Fuad Zarbiyev (Geneva Graduate Institute). Scholars at all stages of their careers, including PhD students, junior and senior academics, are invited to submit abstracts.

Workshop Theme

International law has long functioned as a hegemonic tool, enabling actors to impose their political, legal, and cultural values on others through legal vocabulary. It that respect, it is well-document that European imperialism is intrinsic to the formation of international law which proclaims to be universal. This legacy persists beyond the era of formal colonisation, as international organisations have increasingly become key instruments in shaping the global order where imperialist practices have not ended with decolonisation. These organisations, often presented as platforms for dialogue, negotiation, and cooperation, have played a pivotal role in transforming member and non-member states by imposing values and principles that reflect the interests of dominant powers. International organisations have simultaneously perpetuated some imperialist geographies and configurations of the world order. They have played a key role in entrenching global inequalities by promoting specific economic policies that disproportionately harm the Global South. Further, the voting rights, representation, decision-making are only some of the practices that sustain racial inequalities. This workshop aims to critically examine the ways in which international organisations perpetuate hierarchies, racial inequalities, and forms of imperialism and capitalism, to carve their own zone of control and domination. At the same time, it will question whether international organisations can be a site of resistance to such imperial practices.

Recent political shifts redefine the role of international organisations in the international legal order. Events such as the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe, NATO’s expansion with Finland and Sweden, Brexit, and the rise of organisations like BRICS exemplify this reconfiguration. These developments invite renewed scrutiny of how international organisations mediate power dynamics in a multipolar world. In this evolving landscape, questions of imperialism, capitalism and race are no longer confined to the legacies of European colonial powers. The influence of China, India, and Russia challenges the traditional dominance of the Global North and calls for a critical reassessment of how international organisations shape the global order.

We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The relationship of international organisations with imperialism, capitalism and race in post-colonial contexts
• Universalism versus particularism: the imposition of values through international organisations
• Theoretical approaches to understanding international organisations as instruments of hegemony and capitalism
• Historical approaches to understanding international organisations and their relationship with imperialism, capitalism and race
• Regional international organisations and their transformative influence on member states
• The role of European international organisations in continuing European imperialism
• Imperial ambitions of non-European organisations and their implications
• The creation of inequalities and hierarchies through membership and decision-making in international organisations
• Techniques and tools used by international organisations to enforce transformations on states
• The lack of transparency, unequal voting rights, and issues of democratic legitimacy in the functioning of international organisations as mechanisms that consolidate the dominance of powerful states
• Regional human rights courts and their role in promoting specific interpretations of human rights
• The variety and plurality of imperialist projects at work in the framework of international organisations
• The potential of universal and regional international organisations as sites of resistance towards other forms of imperialism
• The convergence of international organisations’ imperialist practices with other forms of imperialism

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to kuremer@ku.edu.tr by 23 March. Please include your affiliation in the abstract, indicate whether you require funding, and provide a 200-word bio.

Workshop Format

The Workshop will adopt a roundtable format to foster in-depth discussions. Each presentation will be followed by comments from discussants and an open discussion. Participants are expected to read the papers before the Workshop and actively engage in the discussions. Selected papers may be published in a special issue.

Timeline

Deadline for abstract submissions: 23 March

Notification of acceptance: 6 April

Submission of 3.000-word draft papers: 20 June

Funding

Limited funding is available to cover travel and accommodation costs, with priority given to junior scholars and those without institutional financial support.

Organiser

Işıl Aral

Assistant Professor of International Law, Koç University

Director, Center for Global Public Law

This Workshop is funded by the Koç University Seed Research Fund and the Science Academy’s Young Scientist Awards Program.

For inquiries, please contact us at kuremer@ku.edu.tr.

Source: European Society of International Law monthly newsletter - Koç University

CALL FOR PAPERS: Annual Conference African Law Association, "Beyond Development: Mapping Legal Entanglements between Africa and Europe" (University of Vienna, 4-5 December 2025, DEADLINE: 28 February 2025)

 

 

 

African Law Association 

Association du Droit Africain 

Gesellschaft für afrikanisches Recht 

Call for Papers 

“Beyond Development: Mapping Legal Entanglements between Africa and Europe” 

4 – 5 December 2025 
Juridicum, Faculty of Law, University of Vienna 

 
The Department of Legal and Constitutional History and the African Law Association jointly invite scholars to participate in the interdisciplinary conference on the topic “Beyond Development: Mapping Legal Entanglements between Africa and Europe”, which will take place from 4 to 5 December 2025 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna, Austria. 

The event will also be the 49th Annual Conference of the African Law Association. 

Outline of the Conference 

The Portuguese colonies in Africa gained their independence 50 years ago. Although colonialism in Africa was by no means over in 1975, this date is regarded in global history as an important turning point for the political and legal independence of the African continent. The conference aims to mark this anniversary by reflecting on the past and considering the future from a legal perspective. 

We invite contributions, firstly, about the relationships between the newly independent states and the former colonial empires at the intergovernmental (international law), diplomatic and economic levels, as well as in international organizations. The conference aims to provide a forum for discussing postcolonial criticism directed at outdated romanticization of development, on the one hand, and simplistic narratives of progress on the other. Which conclusions and assessments can be reached when using law as a criterion for analysis? 

Secondly, the conference focuses on legal developments since independence and is interested in both grand narratives and micro-studies. The focus is on the topics of constitutional law and reform, regional inner-African legal integration, the regulation of the environment and the economy, human rights, and developments in private law in African countries, also in relation to non-state law. 

Thirdly, we explicitly invite conceptual work; conventional descriptions and categories in these areas should be subjected to critical re-reading. The focus here is on interdependencies between Europe and Africa. This also includes the question of the extent to which legal developments on the African continent have triggered reforms in former colonial empires. We are particularly interested in the migration of ideas and people, the African diaspora in the former empires, and non-state networks as actors in the past and present of law. 

Panels 

When submitting your contribution, please indicate one or more of the following panels to which your topic should be assigned: 

Panel 1: Legal entanglements between Africa and Europe 

Panel 2: Postcolonial legal systems and non-state law 

Panel 3: Regional integration, international organizations and international law 

Panel 4: Constitution-making and constitutional reform 

Panel 5: Environmental and economic regulation, human rights 

Submission 

Please submit your abstract in PDF format to lawinafrica.rechtsgeschichte@univie.ac.at and include the following: 

 - Title of the submitted paper 

 - Panel to which the paper should be assigned 

- Abstract of 250–500 words  

- Name(s) of the author(s) 

- Affiliation(s) of the author(s) 

Please note: The language for submitted contributions and of the conference is English. Manuscripts should be original contributions, and by submitting a paper, you accept that the organizers expect you to contribute a corresponding article to the conference proceedings! 

The organizers will apply for funding to help cover travel and accommodation costs, especially for researchers from the Global South. However, we will only be able to confirm the extent of cost coverage at a later stage, so participants should be prepared in principle to cover their own costs. 

Timeline 

Abstract submission deadline 28 February 2025 

Notification sent to participants 17 March 2025