[CFP] Conference 2023 – Social Capital Working Group

13^th International Conference in Political Economy,
“The Chronicles of Multiple Crises Foretold”
September 6-8, 2023 / Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain

Call for Papers – Panel organised by Social Capital Working Group

THEME: Institutions of Citizen Engagement in the Economy and Public Policies: Networking and Mobilising for Social Change

Asimina Christoforou, Panteion University, Greece.
Luca Andriani, Birkbeck, University of London, UK.

We are living in an era of global financial, health, and energy crises, complemented by the chronic impacts of environmental degradation and military conflicts, authoritarianism and oppression, inequalities and injustices. Institutions of citizen engagement in the economy and public policy can play a critical role in tackling current societal challenges, including socio-economic development, environmental sustainability, and social justice. Across the globe we witness attempts to enhance citizen involvement in shaping public policies and economies, such as institutions of participatory budgeting at the local level.

Factors such as power relations, clientelistic and paternalistic networks, discrimination, and the unequal distribution of wealth, can weaken the opportunity for citizens and civil societies to engage more actively in public decision-making at different government institutional levels. Citizen participation enables societies to collectively determine values of social and environmental protection to which markets and states become accountable. It fosters participatory and deliberative democracy, and the use of alternative methods to solve problems, beyond the standard calculative, technocratic techniques of cost-benefit analyses. Finally, it creates a participatory public space where people learn how to trust one another, to mobilise and organise collectively, and to create governance networks where all those affected by economic investments and public policies are invited to actively, openly, and equally take part in decision-making processes. In this respect, they can become sources of social transformation and social progress.

Thus, the question is: How can we strengthen the potential of democratic participation and deliberation for social and environmental protection and confront the obstacles posed to citizen participation? We invite contributions that examine these questions and suggest alternative institutions and networks where all those affected can partake in decision-making processes to collectively transform their society and their future.

We also encourage contributions that generally address the topic of social capital. We welcome works that derive from various social science disciplines and use different units of analysis (individual, regional, country or cross-country level), methodologies and techniques (theoretical, empirical, qualitative and quantitative). Participants can submit individual papers or organise sessions.

Please submit your proposal by March 15, 2023.

To submit a proposal, please use the “Submit proposal” button at https://iippe.org/, and carefully follow the instructions. You will need to select “Social Capital” from the list to submit a proposal to our sessions. As usual, submissions may be made as (a) proposals for individual papers (which IIPPE will group into panels), (b) proposals for panels, (c) proposals for streams of panels, or (d) proposals on activism. The electronic submission platform will open February 15, 2023.

For queries and suggestions, you may contact Asimina Christoforou, Coordinator of the Social Capital Working Group: a.christoforou@panteion.gr.