[RG24-5] Bridging Theory and Practice in Educational Development

This research group aims to reimagine the field of International Educational Development by bridging theory and practice. It intends to do two main activities: 1) facilitating a series of dialogue between next generation scholars and practitioners in this field to better understand each other; and 2) proposing new image of the field through collaborative explorations of the past and current experiences. The research team has already launched an informal study group last year, where we learned that scholars (or theories) and practitioners (or their practices) have somehow “passed” each other without really engaging in dialogue. For example, scholars tended to perceive JICA as a monolithic actor rather than paying attention to individual feelings and struggles inside the organization, whereas practitioners tended not to utilize researchers’ perspectives and critiques fully in their daily business. The proposed research group, therefore, tries to have continuous dialogue between scholars (or theories) and practitioners (or their practices) so that we could deepen our understanding about how and why there has been such a distance between them as well as whether we ought to bridge the gap or not, what it means, and how. Unpacking these questions in collaboration with the two parties may help reimagine the field of International Educational Development.




Invitation to the National Conference on Pandemic-Driven Crisis at GITAM (Deemed to be) University, Hyderabad (INDIA), 24-25 November [for Members and Generals]

Department of Economics, GITAM School of Humanities and Social Sciences (GSHS), in collaboration with Council for Social Development (CSD) Hyderabad, India, is organizing a National Conference at GITAM (Deemed to be University) Hyderabad campus on 24-25 November. The conference theme is, “Multi-Pronged Responses and Resilience to the Pandemic-Driven Crisis: From Socio-Economic Spheres in the Indian Context”.

The conference will be conducted in HYBRID mode. We would like to invite all the researchers working on the Indian economy, including PhD students to the upcoming conference.

Please check the following conference webpage for more details. The Zoom link of the conference will be shared with the participants later on.

Please note that the abstract submission due date is November 7, 2022. However, we are open to extend it by one more week to November 14, 2022, for ONLINE participants.


Contact

Dr Mandar V. Kulkarni
Organizing Secretary
Department of Economics,
GITAM School of Humanities and Social Sciences,
GITAM Deemed to be University, Hyderabad Campus

  • [at]
  • mandar11 [at]

(replace [at] with @)




Call for papers: 1st International Workshop on the Chinese Development Model (July 7-8, Barcelona, Spain) [for Members and Generals]

The Chinese Development and Modernization Experience:
Defying mainstream economic theories to achieve unprecedented progress.

  • Date: July 7-8, 2022
  • Venue: IQS School of Management, Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain

The purpose of this workshop is to assemble academic contributions addressing current opportunities and challenges to China’s National Economic and Social Development and Long-Term Objectives. It also aims to explore how ongoing and upcoming reforms will affect its future prosperity and global relations. The Conference will include distinguished keynote speakers, roundtable forums, and parallel sessions.

Keynote Speakers

  • Barbara Fraumeni (Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China)
  • Jack Hou (California State University, Long Beach, USA)
  • Tony Fang (Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada)

The organizing committee welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions.
Papers can address the following issues about Chinese modernization:
– Going Beyond Mainstream Economic Theories
– Human Capital Accumulation and Labor Markets
– The Middle-Income Trap, Demographic Dividends, and Aging Society
– Human Development and Capabilities
– Structural Change and Dual Circulation
– Migration and human mobility

Important Dates

  • Abstract submission deadline: May 15th, 2022
  • Acceptance decision: May 31st, 2022
  • Registration deadline: June 30th, 2022
  • Full paper submission deadline: June 30th, 2022

We invite the submission of an abstract in English (500-800 words) from experienced and early-career researchers, including PhD students, to be sent to the E-mail address below.

  • [at] (replace [at] with @)

There will be a conference registration fee of 100 euros (50 euros for students). Accommodation and travel arrangements will be left to participants.

A Best Paper Award of 1000 € will be granted to the best early-career paper (authors under 36).

Scientific Committee:

  • Octasiano Valerio Mendoza, Universitat Ramon Llull
  • Flavio Comim, Universitat Ramon Llull
  • Mihály Tamás Borsi, Universitat Ramon Llull
  • Xiaobing Wang, Peking University
  • Simiao Chen, Universität Heidelberg
  • Martina Bofulin, Slovenian Migration Institute



[RG22-3] Social and Solidarity Economy

Just as Goal 10 of the SDGs is “eradication of inequality”, “widening inequality” has become a major issue in the international community in the 21st century, and one of the causes is “expansion of globalization by capitalist economy” or “expansion of globalization by capitalism”.

We think about the view that there is a “prevalence of market capitalism” is deep-rooted. If the cause of “increasing inequality” lies in the “capitalist economy,” then “correcting” or “substituting” the current state of capitalism as a measure to reduce disparities will be ascended. There have been various efforts since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Practices such as Robert Owen’s “Utopian Socialism” and Marx Engels’ “Communism” are part of this.

Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, attempts to counter market capitalism have continued, being called the “solidarity economy” or the “social economy”. And since the beginning of the 2010s, the United Nations has continued to focus on those activities.

The Institute for Social Development has called for a network of “social and solidarity economies” centered on UN agencies, and it is drawing attention again. In this study group, we will learn various examples of solidarity economy and social economy that are being tackled in the world, give a bird’s-eye view of the practices and theories of these efforts.

Those approach have not always been compared across the board, and poverty in developing countries. We would like to consider whether we can find new possibilities for reduction and reduction of disparities, including in developed countries.

For this reason, this study group focuses on activities to listen to the stories of various researchers and practitioners at the first step and try to study more deeply.




[RG19-1] Migration and Development

The research group aims to analyze the impacts of migration on the economic and human development in their home countries and destinations. Migration, both within and beyond national borders, is a broad concept that encompasses refugees or internally displaced persons of conflicts and natural disasters as well as those who move to seek opportunities of employment, education, or marriage at their own will.

The impacts of migration have been discussed mostly in terms of economic development, particularly its contribution to poverty alleviation through the migrants’ foreign remittance to their home countries. However, the on-going discussion is not sufficient to analyze both the negative and the positive aspects of the migration.

Its negative impacts may include the so-called brain drain, the excessive dependency of households and national economies on the foreign remittance, the disintegration of families, and the underdevelopment of local industries in their home countries. In the present era of global migration, it is no longer realistic or feasible to “develop a community to prevent its members from migration.”

This research group instead starts with accepting migration as an inevitable reality and attempts to seek the potential of migration that contribute to the development of people and societies both in their home countries and destinations.