Heterodox Economics: Perspectives on Poverty
City University London
Workshop
16 November 2012, City University London, UK
 
According to data from EU-SILC the average at-risk-of-poverty rate in the European Union amounted to 16.4% in 2010. The significance of the phenomenon of poverty in industrialised countries stands in marked contrast to the volume of economic research done in this area. The existence of poverty in the midst of the abundance of modern capitalist economies is an uncomfortable and seemingly under-researched fact. Much effort is made in other disciplines, trying to understand the poor or the lives of the poor, yet analyses of the economic causes of poverty remain rather sketchy and scattered. The workshop aims at fostering discussion in the field through bringing together different heterodox economic perspectives on poverty. The focus will be laid on the following three questions:
-        What can heterodox economic approaches contribute to the explanation of poverty?
-        What has already been done to this aim?
-        What can heterodox economists learn from poverty research in other disciplines?
In addition to these more research-oriented questions, another important issue to discuss will be the practical consequences of heterodox approaches: 
-        What (social) policy conclusions can be drawn from heterodox economic explanations of poverty?
-        Do existing economic and social policies in the EU address the right problem fields in order to sustainably reduce poverty?
We invite contributions covering any of the above or related questions. Abstracts should be submitted to Barbara Schaller ([log in to unmask]) by July 31, 2012.