Theme: Understanding Economic Development through a Smithian lens: On the occasion of Adam Smith’s 300th birth centenary

Since the turn of the century, the world economy has been marred by a series of economic and political crises and catastrophes, arising from seismic shifts in geo-political, demographic, and climate change related developments. Neoclassical theory and policy have increasingly struggled to predict or tackle the emerging developmental challenges in both advanced and developing economies. The fundamental tenets of neoclassical economics – marginalism, methodological individualism, scarcity, and allocative efficiency – are often insufficient in visualizing the interconnected nature of global production and distribution. In contrast, insights from the Classical Political Economists provide an alternative and holistic lens to understand the contemporary organization of the world economy and its impact on economic development in emerging and developing countries. Adam Smith’s contributions to economic theory have been heavily misinterpreted by the neoclassical economists in defense of free market capitalism, individual rationality, and austerity of the state. A careful reading of Smith can shed ample light on the contemporary workings of the capitalist economy, particularly in terms of the theory of value and distribution, long-run patterns of economic growth and development, limits to economic growth and capital accumulation, economic systems like state capitalism, and unequal exchange in international markets.

In this conference, we will engage with Smith’s contribution to economic theory and with works that analyze various economic questions on the political economy of development and the current phase of global capitalism, relying on the holistic framework offered in the works of Smith.

Through this conference, we will attempt to go beyond the mainstream neoclassical outlook on Smith’s framework, and view Smithian theory as an alternative framework for understanding contemporary economic processes and economic development.

For details, please visit: https://www.flame.edu.in/research/conferences/call-for-papers-international-conference-on-the-political-economy-of-development.