WINIR Symposium 2019: Global Capitalism and its National Varieties in an Era of Crisis

After the fall of the Soviet Bloc in 1991 a number of prominent researchers explored the diverse forms of capitalism and their evolution. Much of this literature countered both mainstream and orthodox Marxist views that capitalism would tend to gravitate towards one form, such as the Western liberal-market model. But some arguments in support of of the idea of ‘varieties of capitalism’ were strongly criticized. It was also suggested that the tendency of different capitalisms to converge had been under-estimated. Global policy reactions after the Great Financial Crash of 2008 seemed to reinforce this thesis. Some saw in the widespread imposition of so-called ‘neoliberal’ austerity policies evidence of intended and actual convergence.

But was this too an over-reaction? Do diverse forms of capitalism still persist, aided by historical path-dependence and enduring institutional complementarities? Can capitalisms escape their own cultures and histories? Although welfare statescontinue to be attacked, is there evidence that they remain better-developed in some countries? What is the latest evidence of convergence of financial systems or of corporate forms? What enduring divergencies can be found in systems of regulation? Is the extent of inequality within countries diverging or converging?

The Fourth WINIR Symposium, hosted by Institute for International Management at Loughborough University London, will explore these and other closely related questions.

The symposium will open on the afternoon of Monday 16 December 2019 and end in the afternoon of Wednesday 18 December. The symposium dinner is scheduled on the evening of Tuesday 17 December.

Keynotes lectures will be given by:

Ruth Aguilera (Northeastern University)
Kathleen Thelen (MIT)
Gregory Jackson (Free University of Berlin)
Jonas Pontusson (University of Geneva)

Unlike WINIR Conferences, WINIR Symposia are focused events. Submissions must directly address the symposium theme and must also be about institutions or institutional thought, in line with WINIR’s aims and research priorities. Contributions from any academic discipline, theoretical approach or methodology are welcome.

Submit your abstract here.

Please note the following key dates:

30 May 2019 – Abstract submission deadline
15 June 2019 – Notification of acceptance
16 June – Registration opens
31 August 2019 – Early-bird registration deadline
30 October 2019 – Registration deadline for accepted authors
1 November 2019 – Non-registered authors removed from programme
15 November 2019 – Late surcharge applies
1 December 2019 – Full paper submission deadline

All submissions to WINIR events must be explicitly about institutions or institutional thought, and are evaluated by the WINIR Scientific Quality Committee: Bas Van Bavel (Utrecht, history), Geoff Hodgson (Loughborough, economics), Uskali Mäki (Helsinki, philosophy), Katharina Pistor (Columbia, law), Sven Steinmo (EUI, Politics), Linda Weiss (Sydney, politics).

Organising subcommittee:

Olivier Butzbach (olivier.butzbach@gmail.com), Francesca Gagliardi (f.gagliardi@herts.ac.uk), David Gindis(d.gindis@herts.ac.uk), Geoff Hodgson (g.hodgson2@lboro.ac.uk), Gerhard Schnyder (g.schnyder@lboro.ac.uk) and Liudmyla Svystunova (l.svystunova@lboro.ac.uk)

enerous support for the WINIR Symposium on Global Capitalism and its National Varieties in an Era of Crisis is provided by Cambridge University Press.