“Adam Smith: Connections”

YSI Pre International Adam Smith Society Conference Workshop in Tokyo, 10th March 2024

This pre-conference workshop offers young and early career scholars working on Adam Smith a chance to discuss their work in detail with peers in a friendly and supportive context, and to get feedback from world-leading Smith scholars.

Introduction

The YSI History of Economic Thought working group is organizing a one-day pre-conference workshop on 10 March 2024 ahead of the International Adam Smith Society (IASS) annual conference in Tokyo, Japan (11-13 March 2024). This is an excellent opportunity for ten young scholars working on Smith to be able to discuss their work in detail with peers and senior Smith scholars.

2023 was Smith’s tercentenary, generating renewed interest in Smith’s economics and his broader thought from scholars around the world. Seeking to build on this momentum, this workshop is titled “Adam Smith: Connections”. This theme has been left deliberately open-ended to allow space for the broadest range of approaches to Smith’s work, including, but not limited to:

1. Connections between different areas of Smith’s thought
2. Connections between Smith and other thinkers
3. Connections between Smith’s work and contemporary issues

Description

Participants will be asked to pre-circulate some written material three weeks prior to the date of the workshop. This could be a full paper, if available, or shorter draft material (suggested 4000-9000 words). The workshop itself will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions. In each session, five young scholars will have the opportunity to present their work briefly and discuss it with fellow participants and our senior Smith scholars.

Lunch will be provided at the workshop, and there will also be a complimentary dinner afterwards. The workshop is a one-day event, but is intended as a complement to the main IASS conference, offering participants chances to discuss their work in greater detail than is normally possible in conference panels, and enhancing opportunities for networking with peers and senior scholars.

Participants

We will bring 10 young scholars, whose research is related to the theme of the workshop, to participate, present and discuss their work. The aim is to make this group as diverse as possible and to bring individuals from different parts of the world.

If you are interested in attending the workshop you should:
(i) be a young scholar (master and PhD students, post-docs, early career scholars);
(ii) be registered for the International Adam Smith Society Conference;
(ii) Fill this form by 1st November.

We will let applicants know the outcome by 15th November.

IMPORTANT: This is intended as a pre-conference, rather than a standalone, workshop. Participants will therefore also need to be registered for the main IASS Conference, see the Call for Papers here. We will offer stipends to cover costs for travel to and from the conference (including travel from outside Japan), and accomodation for the nights before and after the workshop, but funding limits mean that we will not be able to provide accommodation for the whole of the conference duration, or cover conference fees.