==================== HES POSTING =================== EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS (ECHE 98) University of Antwerp (UFSIA), Belgium 23-25 April 1998 CALL FOR PAPERS EXCHANGE AT THE BOUNDARIES: Crossing borders in the history of economics Throughout the history of economics, its boundaries have shown themselves to be multiple, unstable, and permeable. Thus, innovation and practice in economics have been shaped by images, concepts, and methods adopted from other fields of inquiry. Recent work has begun to emphasize the importance of the natural sciences, and the list can be extended to embrace mathematics, psychology, engineering, and other sciences. By the same token, images and concepts from economics have helped configure thinking and practice in a plethora of `non-economic' fields. A case in point is the theory of natural selection, where Darwin read Malthus, but other areas also spring to mind, such as history, sociology, philosophy of science, linguistics, literary criticism, and law. In many cases fruitful exchanges have been made, resulting in the development of new subdisciplines in economics (e.g. `law and economics') or in joint efforts to create entirely new disciplines (e.g. game theory). Yet the relationships have not always been friendly; more than once economists have been accused of `imperialism', of attempts to invade the territory of neighbouring social sciences. In addition, there have been complaints that economists in general are not well aware of what is going on in other disciplines, whereas economists sometimes accuse non-economists of a lack of economic knowledge, tendencies reinforced by an ever-increasing specialization. The links between economics and other areas of inquiry have been drawn by real people, thinking and acting in particular historical contexts. For this conference, we invite papers which will shed historical light on the to-ing and fro-ing at the boundaries between economics and other disciplines. Preference will be given to original accounts, based on detailed archival or other research, aimed at yielding rich, sophisticated, understandings. To participate, please submit a proposal, containing roughly 1000 words and indicating clearly: (1) the original contribution of the paper; (2) in what sense the paper contributes to the theme of the conference. The deadline for the submission of paper proposals is August 15, 1997. Notice of acceptance/rejection will be sent on September 15, 1997. Completed papers will be due on February 15, 1998. The organizing committee consists of: Jose Luis Cardoso (Technical University, Lisbon) Guido Erreygers (Ufsia, University of Antwerp) Philippe Fontaine (Universite des Antilles, Guadeloupe) Albert Jolink (Erasmus University, Rotterdam) Robert Leonard (University of Quebec, Montreal) Michalis Psalidopoulos (Panteion University, Athens). All proposals and requests for information should be sent to the following address: Guido Erreygers SESO-UFSIA, Universiteit Antwerpen Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerpen 1 Belgium Tel. +32-3-220 40 52 Fax +32-3-220 40 26 e-mail: [log in to unmask] ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]