“Caught between the digital revolution and a crisis of democracy”: IAFFE Conference, Roma, 3-5 July 2024) 

CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION AND A CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY
Feminist Economics Responses and Imaginations for the Future

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR IAFFE 2024

Submission Deadline: November 22, 2023 (no extensions will be given)

Conference Schedule:
July 3 – Pre-Conference & Mentoring Workshop
July 3 – Opening plenary, local plenary, opening reception
July 4 – Conference parallel sessions, poster exhibition, Conference dinner
July 5 – Conference parallel sessions, poster exhibition, IAFFE Membership Meeting, Closing plenary

Travel Grants – IAFFE is committed to seeking travel funds to support our members who want to participate in the IAFFE Annual Conference and Pre-Conference & Mentoring Workshop but are unable due to a lack of funds. If you would like to apply for a travel grant, please consult the information on how to apply, which will shortly be available on the Conference webpage. Although IAFFE does not always have enough funding to support everyone who needs it, we expect to be able to support a number of conference participants. We prioritize applicants from the Global South, young scholars, and Global North scholars with limited institutional support.

Submitted Papers/Organized Sessions/Panels/Roundtables
Most sessions will be in-person only; some will be remote-only or hybrid accessible.
Some sessions will have interpretation from English into and from Italian and/or Spanish (other languages to be confirmed).
All presenters/panelists must register for the Conference, whether participating in-person or remotely.
When submitting your paper, poster, organized session, roundtable/panel, you will need to indicate:
if your presenters will be in Rome or if they will participate remotely.
if you require interpretation and if so what language(s)
We welcome organized session submissions with only 3 presenters/papers. It will give the Paper Selection Committee the opportunity to add a fourth paper or presenter to your session from the paper-only submissions, particularly by young scholars.
If submitting an organized session or a panel/roundtable, please consider including a presenter/participant who is a young scholar.

Poster Sessions
Poster exhibits will be accessible during Conference hours on July 4 and 5.
A Poster Session chaired by the Conference Chair, İpek İllkaracan, is scheduled for 4 July.
Poster presenters must be available at the Poster Session in-person to introduce their poster and answer questions about it.
All posters must adhere to template/guidelines set by IAFFE. Guidelines will be available on the submissions webpage.
Accepted posters will be printed by IAFFE in Rome and posted at the conference venue.
Deadline for submitting the final poster in required format to IAFFE: June 14, 2024.

Interpretation/Translation
From English into Italian and Spanish; from Italian and Spanish into English (other languages to be confirmed).
Italian and Spanish translations of the Call for Papers will be available on the Conference webpage.

CALL FOR PAPERS
32nd IAFFE Annual Conference | July 3-5, 2024
Sapienza University | Rome, Italy

An in-person conference, with selected remote and hybrid access

CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION AND A CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY
Feminist Economics Responses and Imaginations for the Future

Technological advances such as artificial intelligence, 3-D printers and digitalization bring the utopian visions of an egalitarian abundance economy akin to Trekonomics ever closer. Yet the current political landscape characterized by authoritarian populism, political and social polarization, evokes a dystopian Handmaid’s Tale economy. The potential for improved wellbeing-for-all offered by technological breakthroughs is hindered by the persisting neoliberal economic paradigm and receding political spaces. There is widespread acknowledgement of the ecological crisis, the cost of living and economic crisis, vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, a crisis of politics and democracy, a crisis of care, the migration crisis and armed conflicts, all of which intertwine through their different dimensions. But the gap between diagnosis of problems and implementation of effective policies remains persistent, as politics fails to provide solutions. Instead, it is increasingly characterized by governance failures at multiple levels. An alarming factor is the strong backlash against the progress achieved by feminist, LGBTQ+ and human rights movements, culminating in a regime of gender apartheid in some places. Many, in particular the younger generations, feel alienated from political spaces, struggling to identify with any political party or movement, facilitating emergence of political homelessness.

Against this backdrop, the 2024 Conference theme aspires to provoke critical reflection on feminist economics responses to the present and imaginations of the future. We invite debates on the following questions: What are the contributions of feminist economics to interpreting the current global landscape of multiple intertwined crises and rapid technological change? Where do women stand in their heterogeneous identities, as subjects and agents in the crisis of democracy, polarization and rising authoritarianism? What are the forward-looking strategies, concrete solutions and models that emerge from feminist economics towards reaping the benefits of technological change for all towards an egalitarian, sustainable and resilient economic order? To what extent does feminist economics carry the potential to provide an ideological home to women, younger generations and others who wish to see progressive policies?

This Conference will provide a forum for scholarship and inquiry that recognizes the interdisciplinary nature and methodological pluralism of our field, and that addresses the question of how progressive economists can affect policy in today’s increasingly polarized political landscape. We accept paper, poster, session and panel proposals which engage in feminist economics inquiry of a broad range of issues at the theoretical, empirical, policy and action levels.

SUBMISSIONS: The submission portal will open 20 October 2023. Abstracts (400 words max.) must be submitted online. Submissions can be made for individual papers, posters, organised sessions of papers, or panels/roundtables. Submissions can be made in English, Italian or Spanish. We expect to have simultaneous interpretation provided for conference plenaries and selected sessions.

Participants are limited to one paper presentation and one roundtable/panel appearance. Additional co-authored papers are allowed only if they are presented by the co-author. These limitations allow participation by a maximum number of participants.

For further information, please contact conference@iaffe.org.