Dear colleagues,
The next Business History Conference will have "Knowledge" as its main
theme. I am planning to organize a panel on the role of international
economic advisors to less developed countries after World War II as
central actors in the transmission, creation, and transformation of
institutional knowledge across countries. International economic advisors
are particularly interesting figures in international economic relations,
since they are essential intermediaries between different public economic
entities, such as countries, central banks, and multilateral institutions.
After World War II, foreign economic advisors helped less developed
countries establish (and sometimes run) new monetary institutions like
central banks, prepare and implement long-term development plans,
establish regional or sectoral development agencies and authorities, and
coordinate efforts to develop international trade and bring local
economies into the new international economic order. During the Cold War,
the United States were by far the largest and most active provider of
international economic advice. The Soviet Union also played a role,
although more limited in scope and area of influence.
Advisors had each a different story: they came from different
institutions - including the US State Department, the Federal Reserve, and
the World Bank - and brought with them a wealth of personal and
institutional knowledge. They had to mediate between their initial - and
official - terms of reference, and the specific needs of and pressures by
the hosting countries. This was a learning process that shaped the
advisors' own body of knowledge, brought feedback to the original
institution, and influenced the subsequent career paths of the advisors.
From a more theoretical perspective, the advisors' knowledge and its
evolution was a fundamental constituent in the shaping of the new field of
development economics, specifically as regards the role of central banks
and public economic institutions in fostering the economic development of
a country.
In sum, economic advisors were both intermediaries and creators of
knowledge. They found themselves at the crossroads between local countries
or entities and the international settings; economic theory and
policymaking. Through their stories, each of them idiosyncratic and
unique, we can get an excellent overview of transnational flows of
people, ideas, cultures, political and economic relations, and how they
connect with each other; this, in turn, offers a fresh perspective on how
the postwar international economic landscape took shape.
I invite all the interested scholars to send me a proposal for a paper or
an expression of interest by September 15, 2010. Final submission of the
panel proposal is due by October 1, 2010. While all paper proposals will
be taken into due consideration, a particular focus on the period 1940s-
1960s will be preferred, as well as work based on archival material that
can broaden our knowledge of advisory activities in the postwar years and
link them to the history of politics, ideas, ideologies, and economic
history of those times. To discuss possible topics or send a paper
proposal, please write to Michele Alacevich at [log in to unmask]
The 2011 Business History Conference will be held in St. Louis, MO on
31 March-2 April 2011.
For the 2011 BHC annual meeting, see
http://www.thebhc.org/annmeet/call2011.html
Michele Alacevich
Center for European Studies
Harvard University
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