Conference Chair, İpek İlkkaracan (Istanbul Technical University), with IAFFE’s Conference Program Committee, crafted a rich and varied Conference.  You may read the Call for Papers below.

Technological advances such as artificial intelligence, 3-D printers and digitalization bring the utopian visions of an egalitarian abundance economy akin to Trekonomics ever closer. Yet the current political landscape characterized by authoritarian populism, political and social polarization, evokes dystopian Handmaid’s Tale economy. The potential for improved wellbeing-for-all offered by technological breakthroughs is hindered by the persisting neoliberal economic paradigm and receding political spaces. There is widespread acknowledgement of the ecological crisis, the cost of living and economic crisis, vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, a crisis of politics and democracy, a crisis of care, the migration crisis and armed conflicts, all of which intertwine through their different dimensions. But the gap between diagnosis of problems and implementation of effective policies remains persistent, as politics fails to provide solutions. Instead, it is increasingly characterized by governance failures at multiple levels. An alarming factor is the strong backlash against the progress achieved by feminist, LGBTQ+ and human rights movements, culminating in a regime of gender apartheid in some places. Many, in particular the younger generations, feel alienated from political spaces, struggling to identify with any political party or movement, facilitating emergence of political homelessness.

Against this backdrop, the 2024 Conference theme aspires to provoke critical reflection on feminist economics responses to the present and imaginations of the future. We invite debates on the following questions: What are the contributions of feminist economics to interpreting the current global landscape of multiple intertwined crises and rapid technological change? Where do women stand in their heterogeneous identities, as subjects and agents in the crisis of democracy, polarization and rising authoritarianism? What are the forward-looking strategies, concrete solutions and models that emerge from feminist economics towards reaping the benefits of technological change for all towards an egalitarian, sustainable and resilient economic order? To what extent does feminist economics carry the potential to provide an ideological home to women, younger generations and others who wish to see progressive policies?