In a global context of rising geopolitical tensions and authoritarian rule, this conference will examine from a historical perspective how political pressures have shaped, constrained or transformed the production and dissemination of economic knowledge. The history of economics offers a variety of cases where economists have had to operate under various forms of constraint — explicit censorship, academic ostracism, self-censorship, and all manner of strong institutional pressures — whether coming from authoritarian regimes (fascism, communism, military dictatorships), politically polarized societies or highly restrictive institutional contexts.

 

This conference aims to explore the complex relationship between political power and the production and dissemination of economic knowledge, and in particular how political constraints have shaped economic thought in modern and contemporary history. Since at least the mercantilist era, economists have been confronted with binding political contexts that have limited their individual and intellectual freedom, molded their work and their role in society. How have economists responded to these various political constraints? To what extent have these constraints influenced and facilitated the development of certain economic theories and tools or, on the contrary, prevented their emergence? What social or institutional strategies did economists use to circumvent these constraints, to resist or sometimes to adapt to the political demands of their time? Ultimately, this theme also wants to highlight the ways in which economic ideas circulate in constrained contexts — especially through intellectual exile or clandestine dissemination — and to question the role of academic institutions as spaces of resistance or conformism in the face of political pressures.

 

We encourage submissions that explore in all its variety and from a historical perspective the political limits to modern and contemporary economics. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: