CALL FOR PAPERS: "Economic thought and the making of the euro: intellectual patterns and policymaking in European integration (1950s-1990s)", EUI (DEADLINE: 15 February 2023)

Source: website Emanuel Mourlon-Druol

Source: website Emanuel Mourlon-Druol

The European integration process and its institutions have been home to several strands of economic ideas, including Keynesianism and its historical evolutions; the neo-mercantilist school; social-oriented approaches; and market-oriented and neoliberal policy options, to name but a few (Slobodian and Plehwe 2019; Stiegler 2019; Ventresca 2021; Warlouzet 2018; Young 2018). The aim of this conference is to explore the development, circulation, discussion and confrontation of economic ideas that contributed to shape the setting up of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) throughout the second half of the twentieth century.

The economic, monetary and diplomatic dimensions of EMU have been widely studied (Dyson and Maes 2016; James 2012; Mourlon-Druol 2012) and the role that business actors, private banks and trade unions played – or failed to play – in designing EMU is increasingly scrutinised (Drach 2020; Ramirez Perez 2021). By contrast, the influence of economic ideas in the making of EMU is less researched. Which were the intellectual frameworks within which support for EMU emerged,

developed or was contested? How did alternative economic schools of thought confront each other in the making of EMU? To what extent did political interests and economic ideas intertwine and finally contribute to the settlement of the EEC (European Economic Community)’s economic and monetary architecture? Within this context, this conference has two aims. The first is to retrace the influence that economic ideas and the evolutions of international economic thinking had on the making of EMU. What schools of thought, what individuals and groups of individuals tried to shape the discourse and the making of EMU? The second is to analyse whether and how the making of EMU itself elicited significant transformations within the theoretical foundations of economic schools of thought between the post-WWII period and the early 1990s.

This conference is particularly interested in discussing topics which would revolve around the following issues in the making of EMU:

-The influence (or lack of influence) of individual schools of thoughts, including,

 but of course not limited to, keynesianism, neo-mercantilism, neoliberalism(s), ordoliberalism, socially-oriented thinking (including socialist and socialdemocratic actors, communist parties/thinkers; trade unions’ representatives)

- The confrontations between and within economic schools of thoughts as far as the construction of EMU was concerned

-The theoretical reconfiguration of specific schools of thought as EMU was being discussed

-How different groups of thinkers organised themselves to develop their influence

-Individual economists, technocrats, and intellectuals and their thinking on EMU



This conference focuses on the period from the 1950s (Treaty of Rome creating the

 EEC in 1957) to the decision to create an EMU in the 1990s (Treaty of Maastricht in 1991). Contributions can focus on shorter, more specific periods, or span the entire time frame. Proposals may also deal with pre-1950s events and debates on European economic and monetary cooperation that contribute to shed light on the later period. We welcome different methodological approaches in dealing with the theme of the conference, including but not limited to biography, prosopography, text mining and network analysis. The conference finally encourages a conversation between different historiographical traditions, including the history of ideas, the history of economic thought and international economic history.

The conference will take place on 27-28 April 2023 at the European University Institute in Florence.

Eligibility and how to apply:

PhD students, early career researchers, and confirmed researchers are invited to submit proposals. Applicants should submit an abstract of no more than 500 words outlining their proposal and a short CV by 15 February to the EURECON Project’s Administrator Miriam Curci (Miriam.Curci@eui.eu) writing ‘EURECON economic thinking conference application’ as the email subject line. Selected applicants will be informed by 1 March 2023.

Should your institution be unable to cover travel expenses and accommodation, the conference organisers will do so. For further information, please contact the EURECON Project’s Administrator Miriam Curci (Miriam.Curci@eui.eui).

Scientific committee

Professor Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (University of Glasgow/European University Institute)

Dr Roberto Ventresca (European University Institute)

Organisation

The conference is funded by the ERC-funded research project EURECON: The Making of a Lopsided Union: Economic Integration in the European Economic Community, 1957-1992 (grant agreement No 716849).

Source: EUI newsletter

RECORDING: Völkerrechtsblog, "The World Bank’s Lawyers: Book Launch"

The recording of the joint ESIL IG History of International Law and ESIL IG International Organizations event has been posted on the Völkerrechtsblog website as part of a symposium dedicated to D. Van den Meerssche's newest book "The World Bank’s Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice".

Programme (16 November 2022, 18h15 CET - 20h CET)

Word of welcome from the organizers - Florenz Volkaert (Ghent University, IG HIL)

1. Book presentation by Dr. Dimitri Van den Meerssche (Queen Mary), 18h20-18h40
2. Followed by a panel discussion with..., 18h40-19h25

• Negar Mansouri (Graduate Institute, IG IO)
• Dr. Gail Lythgoe (University of Manchester, IG IO)
• Dr. Tommaso Soave (Central European University)
• Dr. Ahmed Memon (Cardiff School of Law and Politics)
• Florenz Volkaert (moderator, Ghent University, IG HIL)
• ... and a response by Dr. Van den Meerssche

       3. Questions from the audience, 19h25-19h55     

               

               Concluding remarks - Florenz Volkaert

Book abstract:

The World Bank’s Lawyers provides an original socio-legal account of the evolving institutional life of international law. Informed by oral archives, months of participant observation, interviews, legal memoranda and documents obtained through freedom-of-information requests, it tells an untold story of the World Bank’s legal department between 1983 and 2016. This is a story of people and the beliefs they have, the influence they seek and the tools they employ. It is an account of the practices they cling to and how these practices gain traction, or how they fail to do so, in an international bureaucracy. Inspired by Actor-Network Theory, relational sociologies of association and performativity theory, this ethnographic exploration multiplies the matters of concern in our study of international law(yering): the human and non-human, material and semantic, obscure and evasive actants that tie together the fragile fabric of legality. In tracing these threads, this book signals important changes in the conceptual repertoire and materiality of international legal practice, as liberal ideals were gradually displaced by managerial modes of evaluation. It reveals a world teeming with life—a space where professional postures and prototypes, aesthetic styles and technical routines are woven together in law’s shifting mode of existence. This history of international law as a contingent cultural technique enriches our understanding of the discipline’s disenchantment and the displacement of its traditional tropes by unexpected and unruly actors. It thereby inspires new ways of critical thinking about international law’s political pathways, promises and pathologies, as its language is inscribed in ever-evolving rationalities of rule.

LECTURE SERIES: Ignacio DE LA RASILLA, "China and the Turn to the National Histories of International Law", Histories of International Law: Chinese and Global Perspectives (Zoom, 16 december 2022)

The first lecture in the Histories of International Law: Chinese and Global Perspectives lecture series organised by the Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law, City University of Hong Kong, in partnership with Wudan University School of Law and Fudan University School of Law (organizing committee: Professors Ignacio de la Rasilla, Jiangyu Wang and Congyan Cai) will take place 16 December 2022.

The program can be found below. Register using this link. Contact ccc.@cityu.edu.hk for more information.

LECTURE SERIES: Histories of International Law: Chinese and Global Perspectives, Wuhan University (Zoom, December 2022 - June 2023)

We have learnt of a lecture series organised by the Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law, City University of Hong Kong, in partnership with Wudan University School of Law and Fudan University School of Law (organizing committee: Professors Ignacio de la Rasilla, Jiangyu Wang and Congyan Cai).

Two lecture series will take place simultaneously from December 2022 to June 2023:

1. Distinguished Lectures in the History of International Law
• February 2023: Prof. Martti Koskenniemi
• March 2023: Prof. David Armitage
• April 2023: Prof. Jose Maria Beneyto
• May 2023: Prof. Randall Lesaffer
2. Histories of International Law: Chinese and Global Perspectives
• 16 December 2022: China and the Turn to the National: Peripheral and Semi-Peripheral Histories of International Law
• Prof. Ignacio de la Rasilla, Wuhan University
• Discussant: Prof. Chen Li, Fudan University
• 13 January 2023: In the Garden of Gethsemene: US-Sino Relations in the History of International Law during the Republican Period
• Prof. Christopher Rossi, UiT The Arctic University of Hong Kong
• Discussant: Prof. Ryan Mitchell, Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 17 February 2023: Historicism and Chinese Translations of International Law in Late Qing China
• Prof. Qu Wensheng & Mr. Wan Li, East China University of Political Science and Law
• Discussant: Prof. Inge van Hulle, KU Leuven
• 17 March 2023: The Legacy of Concessions
• Prof. Frederic Megret, McGill University & Dr. Wanshu Cong, Hong Kong University
• Discussant: Prof. Matthias Vanhullebusch, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
• 14 April 2023: China and the 'Third World' in International Law - On Bandung and Beyond
• Assist. Prof. Maria Adele Carrai, New York University Shanghai
• Discussant: Dr John Haskell, Senior Lecturer, Manchester University
• 19 May 2023: The Opening Up and Reform Policy and China's Re-engagement with the International Legal Order
• Prof. Jacques deLisle, University of Pennsylvania
• Discussant: tbc
• 16 June 2023: Revolution and the Introduction of Marxist theory of International Law to China
• Prof. Congyan Cai, Fudan University & Dr Jie Liu, Sun Yat-Sen University
• Discussant: Prof. Björn Ahl, University of Cologne

For more information, see the program below or contact Prof. Ignacio de la Rasilla. Register on the website of the City University of Hong Kong.

BOOK LAUNCH: Dimitri VAN DEN MEERSSCHE, "The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice" (Zoom, 16 November 2022)

 

Source: OUP

In cooperation with the ESIL Interest Group on International Organizations and Völkerrechtsblog, the IG History of International Law is organizing an online book launch event for Dimitri van den Meerssche's (formerly at the Asser Institute and Edinburgh Law School, currently at Queen Mary University London) upcoming monograph on the history of lawyers at the World Bank: "The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice".

To attend, please register at the IG IO website. Please note that the event will be recorded and posted on the websites of the IG's and Völkerrechtsblog. Following the book launch, a book symposium will be published on the Völkerrechtsblog under the lead of Anna Sophia Tiedeke.

Programme (16 November 2022, 18h15 CET - 20h CET)

Word of welcome from the organizers - Florenz Volkaert (Ghent University, IG HIL)

1. Book presentation by Dr. Dimitri Van den Meerssche (Queen Mary), 18h20-18h40
2. Followed by a panel discussion with..., 18h40-19h25

• Negar Mansouri (Graduate Institute, IG IO)
• Dr. Gail Lythgoe (University of Manchester, IG IO)
• Dr. Tommaso Soave (Central European University)
• Dr. Ahmed Memon (Cardiff School of Law and Politics)
• Florenz Volkaert (moderator, Ghent University, IG HIL)
• ... and a response by Dr. Van den Meerssche

       3. Questions from the audience, 19h25-19h55     

               

               Concluding remarks - Florenz Volkaert

Book abstract:

The World Bank’s Lawyers provides an original socio-legal account of the evolving institutional life of international law. Informed by oral archives, months of participant observation, interviews, legal memoranda and documents obtained through freedom-of-information requests, it tells an untold story of the World Bank’s legal department between 1983 and 2016. This is a story of people and the beliefs they have, the influence they seek and the tools they employ. It is an account of the practices they cling to and how these practices gain traction, or how they fail to do so, in an international bureaucracy. Inspired by Actor-Network Theory, relational sociologies of association and performativity theory, this ethnographic exploration multiplies the matters of concern in our study of international law(yering): the human and non-human, material and semantic, obscure and evasive actants that tie together the fragile fabric of legality. In tracing these threads, this book signals important changes in the conceptual repertoire and materiality of international legal practice, as liberal ideals were gradually displaced by managerial modes of evaluation. It reveals a world teeming with life—a space where professional postures and prototypes, aesthetic styles and technical routines are woven together in law’s shifting mode of existence. This history of international law as a contingent cultural technique enriches our understanding of the discipline’s disenchantment and the displacement of its traditional tropes by unexpected and unruly actors. It thereby inspires new ways of critical thinking about international law’s political pathways, promises and pathologies, as its language is inscribed in ever-evolving rationalities of rule.

For more details, contact Florenz Volkaert (florenz.volkaert@ugent.be) and Negar Mansouri (negar.mansouri@graduateinstitute.ch).

REMINDER: Miroslav ŠEDIVY, "The geopolitical background of the debates on international law in the mid-19th century", Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels/MSTeams, 18 October 2022)

 

Image source: VUB CORE

The geopolitical background of the debates on international law in the mid-19th century

Introduction

In the 1840s, Europeans often expressed a deep mistrust of the international order that had been created in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. This feeling resulted from the assertive and often illegal policies of the great powers which made a considerable number of people believe that the world was dominated by the strength of material power instead of written law. With this conviction, the questions of security, justice and international law became more and more debated in Europe. Some contemporaries desired to change the post- Napoleonic order by replacing it with a new one based on the principle of nationhood ensuring greater justice and a more stable peace among free European nations. During the same decade a similar debate on the political-legal coexistence with European countries spread in the United States. The goal of the paper is to reveal this important, but in historical and legal scholarship still neglected, phenomenon that existed in the mid-19th century on both sides of the Atlantic and contributed to the globalisation of international order.

Biographical note

Miroslav Šedivý (born in 1980, Prague) is a professor in general history at the University of Pardubice in the Czech Republic. He deals with the history of Europe and the Mediterranean spanning the period from the late 18th to the early 20th century. He has already published a trilogy on the functioning of the post-Napoleonic states system in the Near East (Metternich, the Great Powers and the Eastern Question, Pilsen 2013), Central Europe (Crisis among the Great Powers: The Concert of Europe and the Eastern Question, London– New York 2017) and Italy (The Decline of the Congress System: Metternich, Italy and European Diplomacy, London–New York 2018). His most recent book is on Si vis pacem, para bellum: The Italian Response to International Insecurity 1830–1848 (Vienna 2021). At this moment he is writing The Victory of Realism: The German Quest for International Security 1839–1853 (Paderborn 2023).

Practical information

Tuesday 18 October 2022 17:00-19:00 CET 

Vrije Universiteit Brussel Room: C409 

Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus

Free entrance. Register with wouter.de.rycke @ vub. be for the Microsoft Teams link if not attending in person.

Source: VUB Core

CALL FOR RESPONDENTS: Book launch event D. VAN DEN MEERSSCHE, "The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice" (DATE: TBA mid-November, DEADLINE: 21 October 2022).

 

Source: OUP

In cooperation with the ESIL Interest Group on International Organizations, the IG History of International Law is organizing an online book launch event for Dimitri van den Meerssche's (formerly at the Asser Institute and Edinburgh Law School, currently at Queen Mary University London) upcoming monograph on the history of lawyers at the World Bank. Professor van den Meerssche will present the main points of his book, followed by 7-10 minutes of comments from two respondents. The IG History of International Law is sending out an open call for respondents. If you are interested in reviewing "The World Bank's Lawyers: The Life of International Law as Institutional Practice" and acting as a respondent in the book launch event on Zoom in mid-November (exact date TBA), send an email to florenz.volkaert@ugent.be and negar.mansouri@graduateinstitute.ch with your cv and a short motivation (max. 500 words) attached, explaining why you would like to review the book and act as a respondent, and some of the main points you would like to raise. The deadline for sending in your candidature is the 21st of October 2022.