Track 7d. Rethinking the Fundamentals of Economic Systems

Track Chairs:

Shobhana Madhavan. Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, London, UK.

Sweta Byahut: School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, Auburn University, Alabama, USA.

Contacts: madhavs@wmin.ac.uk; sweta.byahut@auburn.edu

Goals and objectives of the track

There has been a succession of epochs in economic systems, from the evolution of humans into hunter gatherers, to the beginnings of agricultural cultivation, through to feudalism, and eventually capitalism and socialism, stimulated by the industrial revolution. Societies have from time to time faced challenges to the sustainability of their economic systems, such as the collapse of ancient empires, the ravages of disease (for instance the Black Death in Europe, or European diseases in the Americas), the appropriation of land previously used for hunting and gathering or peasant cultivation. A key challenge now is to confront the legacy of industrialisation, and the evolution of financial institutions even as their scope extends further.

A further transition is now under way, a radical economic transformation of unprecedented rapidity. Its manifestations include technological change, globalisation and urbanisation, financial structures amid changing patterns of resource demand, usage, pricing, and substitution. It can be said that this amounts to a second industrial revolution, with consequences that are benign and malign, anticipated and unforeseen, global and localised. Unlike in previous transitions, there is an awareness that sustainability is a key concern, whether as a constraint or as an objective in its own right.

There are far-reaching implications for economic activity and the institutional structures that underpin it, raising questions as to the relevance and adaptability of existing ideologies, economic systems and institutions, and the global financial architecture. In particular there may a need to rethink concepts such as externalities, property rights, and equity and re-think the nexus between economic and financial institutions.

This track is apposite in the context of the conference focus on Rethinking Sustainability Models, and Practices: New and Old World Concepts. Examples of areas in which papers would be welcome include:

• Economic methodologies and sustainable development;
• Economic institutions and sustainable development;
• Globalisation and emerging markets – the new global economic order
• Equity: within generations and inter-generational;
• Implications of technological change information technology, bio technology;
• Role of financial institutions in helping to achieve economic efficiency and sustainability;
• Pressures on environmental resources – conflict over resources;
• The role of information technology in sustainable production of goods and services;
• Sustainable development and consumer choice;
• Implications of climate change for economic systems;
• Economic policies for transition;
• Economic policies for long-run sustainability.

You may submit your abstract by visiting the Ex Ordo abstract submission system (you will be required to setup an account first): http://isdrs2016.exordo.com/