Shifting Boundaries

Economics in the Crisis and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity

XII STOREP CONFERENCE

Università di Torino, Campus Luigi Einaudi, 11-13 giugno 2015

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The 12th Annual STOREP Conference will be held at the University of Torino on June 11-13, 2015. The title of the Conference is «Shifting Boundaries: Economics in the Crisis and the Challenge of Interdisciplinarity». The topic that we intend to explore is the relationship between economics and other disciplines. Special attention will be devoted to the recent history of economic theory, while also considered will be how the current crisis has prompted new reflections on micro- and macroeconomic approaches. Since its origins, economic theory has interacted with other sciences, and often adopted their paradigms and analytical tools (suffice to consider the role played by classical mechanics and evolutionary biology). At the end of the process that led to the neoclassical school’s dominance, the so-called “economics imperialism” led to the progressive expansion of economics into domains traditionally occupied by other social disciplines (political sciences, sociology, anthropology, psychology), doing so on the basis of the presumed superiority of the methods and theories of economics. The situation today appears radically different. In recent decades, approaches originating from outside economics have contributed significantly to economic theory, inducing economics – and challenging it – to reopen discussion with the other social disciplines, and to adopt the perspectives and methods of new research fields. Game theory, behavioral economics, experimental economics, evolutionary economics, complexity economics are among the most striking examples of this evolution of economic inquiry, and they solicit scholars to deepen analysis of the new methodological and thematic horizons in economics.

Possible topics for the conference sessions include, but are not limited to:

• Historical analysis of the relationship between economics and other disciplines;
• Pluralism of methods and epistemological foundations of economics;
• Economics imperialism in historical perspective;
• (Economics) “imperialism” and “reverse imperialism”;
• Economic crisis and the crisis of economics;
• Critique of mainstream economics;
• Evolution of the mainstream, between monism and pluralism;
• Economics as a social discipline;
• The contribution of economics to the development of interdisciplinary approaches;
• The perspective of reunifying the social disciplines.

We are pleased to announce that distinguished colleagues:

• Alan Kirman (University of Aix-Marseille III, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales)
• John B. Davis (Marquette University, University of Amsterdam)
• Viktor Vanberg (Walter Eucken Institute)

will join the conference as keynote speakers.

Besides plenary sessions, some parallel sessions will focus on the main topic of the conference; proposals of papers on all fields of the history of economic thought are also welcome.

Selected papers on the main topic of the conference will be published in a special issue of History of Economic Ideas.

Organizing Commitee

• Angela Ambrosino (University of Torino)
• Mario Cedrini (University of Torino)
• Stefano Fiori (University of Torino)
• Magda Fontana (University of Torino)
• Roberto Marchionatti (University of Torino)
• Paolo Silvestri (University of Torino)