CfP - Workshop "Capitalism in historical perspective" (Madrid, Casa de Velazquez, deadline: 21st February)

29 May - 2 June

Casa de Velazquez, Madrid

Deadline to apply: 21st Feb 2023

Presentation
This workshop “History and Social Sciences: debates in Economic History” aims at debating and deepening some of the main approaches in economic history. Addressed mainly to Ph.D. students and young researchers, is interdisciplinary in nature, reflecting the profound renewal in the field and in the relationship between history and social sciences: it encourages a collective scientific and methodological discussion on how History and Social Sciences relate to each other, and on research practices in different geographical contexts. 

Content
In its fourth edition, the school will focus on the theme “Capitalism in historical perspective. Approaches and debates”. the history of capitalism has received new attention from historiography. The framework drawn up by the great classics, from Marx and Schumpeter to Polanyi, Braudel, and North was enriched by new debates around the origin, nature, and historicity of capitalism. If these aspects are in part an extension of previous classical debates, new approaches often go beyond the perimeter traced by these authors, while integrating some of their angles of study. For example, a closer look at the different temporalities and historical determinants at the origins of modern capitalism has provided new keys to reading the classical conceptualizations of the emergence of new institutions. A similar claim can be made about the impact of studies on energy transitions or the role of natural resources. One of the effects of the debates on the Great Divergence is to show that the emergence of capitalism can no longer be considered from a perspective that conceives non-European or colonial spaces as mere dependent peripheries. Some studies devoted to Latin America, Africa, and Asia have analyzed imperial spaces and the legacy of the colonial past in the setting up of capitalist economies by renewing conceptualizations on asymmetries and the notion of centre and periphery. The recent debate on slavery and the plantation economy as engines of American capitalism proposes a “new history of capitalism” in a different historiographical configuration, which enlightens also new connections between the issues of race and gender. Finally, other historiographical contexts have renewed the aspects most frequently associated with the evolution of capitalism up to the present day, in particular inequality, finance, firms’ organization, and globalization. The evolution of stock exchanges and capital markets, firm governance and forms of property, as well as industrial practices, have been analyzed from a variety of approaches, changing our understanding of the interdependence among these sectors and their interconnections with political systems.

The workshop is organized through 8 modules, reflecting different historiographical approaches. Each module is followed by Ph.D. sessions, where the selected candidates will present and discuss their current research. A closing conference will address current debates related to the workshop topic.

Speakers
• Facundo Alvaredo
École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Paris School of Economics
• Mathieu Arnoux
Université de Paris Cité - UMR 8236 LIED
• Miguel Artola
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
• Regina Grafe
European University Institute
• Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur
École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Paris School of Economics
• Manuela Martini
Université Lumière Lyon 2 - Institut universitaire de France
• Antonio Tena
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
• Juan Flores Zendejas
Bairoch Institute, Geneva

Conditions to apply
The participation fee: 60€ per student.
The organization will provide the accommodation (shared double bedroom) for 6 nights (from 28 May to 3 June) for the applicants who request it and do not reside in Madrid, as well as breakfasts and lunches (5 days). Transportation costs and evening meals will be in charge of the participants. It is required to be able to understand either Spanish or French in order to participate actively in the modules and sessions held in French or Spanish.

Applicant profile
This call for applicants is aimed chiefly at Ph.D. students and young researchers in Economic History and Social History. However, we also encourage applications from students of other specialized areas (History, Anthropology, or Sociology). The workshop is also addressed to Master students whose research project is well advanced.

Selection criteria
The 18 participants will be selected on the basis of their profiles. Priority will be given to the applicants whose research studies fall within the main topics of the workshop. In order to apply, please send a CV and a cover letter explaining the motivations to attend the workshop and a short synopsis of the research they would present at the workshop (max. 600 words).

Application online by 21 February 2023 (17h, Madrid time): https://www.casadevelazquez.org/en/research/formulaires/epoques-moderne-et-contemporaine/history-and-social-sciences-2023/. The applicants will receive communication of the results on March 3rd. The selected candidates will receive a certificate of attendance.

Links to the CfP in French and Spanish:
FR: https://www.casadevelazquez.org/fr/la-casa/calendrier-des-activites/recherche-scientifique/news/les-debats-de-lhistoire-economique/
SP: https://www.casadevelazquez.org/es/la-casa/calendario-de-actividades/investigacion-cientifica/novedad/los-debates-de-la-historia-economica/