JSPE 72nd Annual Conference 

The Japan Society of Political Economy celebrated its 60th anniversary five years ago. Over the six decades, the JSPE has endeavored to expand the scope of explorations, from the basic theory of capitalism to the analysis of contemporary capitalism. The JSPE has committed to a critical standpoint against capitalism and mainstream economics and directed its theoretical investigations toward elucidating various issues of capitalism. Nowadays, Marxian economics and the other schools in the heterodox political economy attempt to exert ever more influence in building analytical frameworks to address real-world issues of contemporary capitalism, such as the financial crisis, globalization, and the analysis of class and inequality. 

Since the end of the 20th century, the development of information technology, including the Internet, has significantly impacted society and the economy, and this trend has accelerated in recent years. Today, smartphones and other digital devices are ubiquitous, and access to the Internet has become an essential part of our lives. The vast amount of data stored in the digital space, coupled with the increasing computing power of computers, has led to the rapid development of algorithms. Sophisticated translation applications and generative AI capable of manipulating natural language to create content have emerged. As the Internet of Things (IoT) connects everything to the Internet, digitalization is progressing in all areas, including manufacturing, such as automobiles and consumer electronics; care work, such as education, medical care, nursing care and childcare; and commerce and finance, leading to changes in industrial structure and industry restructuring. 

In reality, there have been serious problems, such as the constant monitoring and management of people, the distortion of people's decisions by algorithms, and the further concentration of wealth and social fragmentation. Indeed, this trend has been the cause of much debate. Many commentators have pointed out this trend and proposed various concepts such as ‘platform capitalism,’ ‘surveillance capitalism,’ ‘techno-feudalism,’ and ‘rent capitalism’ to understand its characteristics. Although these theorists have in common that they try to understand current social trends not only as developments in information technology but also as changes in the economic system related to such developments, i.e. the increasing dominance of platformers, their assessments differ in various ways. Some argue that platform dominance is a consequence of deindustrialization or financialization over the past half-century. Others argue that capitalism has been replaced by a ‘new feudal system’ in which platformers have become lords through such changes in capitalism. The argument that ‘digital socialism’ will be realized due to the promotion of digitization by platformers has even appeared.

In Japan, the debate on this new form of capitalism, ‘platform capitalism,’ is still weak. However, there is no doubt that it has an increasingly significant social and economic impact. It would be of great significance to discuss this issue at the JSPE conference. Although those who have proposed concepts such as ‘platform capitalism’ and ‘rent capitalism’ have a certain sympathy with political economy, especially Marxian economics, most of them remain limited to ‘sociological’ analysis, and their analysis of the whole picture centring on the economic mechanism still seems to be insufficient. The overall analysis of the economic mechanism still needs to be improved. We want to use the knowledge of the JSPE to invigorate research on ‘platform capitalism’ further.

The JSPE invites proposals for its international sessions -- topics relating to the general theme for the plenary session and reflecting the tradition and analytical perspective of the JSPE, which includes:

1. Critical accounts of the current situations of “deadlocks” of capitalism:  neoliberal globalization, the global financial crisis, economic development, inequality, socialism, gender, environment, and global climate change.

2. The future of the capitalist system and alternatives to capitalism: significant conceptual challenges for critical political economy.

3. Critical analysis of current political-economic problems and policy challenges.

4. Basic theories of political economy.

*Proposals of other topics are also welcome. 

Language 

International sessions will be held in English. 

Session Format

International sessions will be held in two formats:

• International Session A: face-to-face (in-person) format only.

• International Session B: hybrid format of face-to-face (in-person) and online (Zoom meeting).

*The International Session B consists of three presenters (at least one must be a member of the JSPE).

Submission Procedures and the Deadline

Proposals should reach the JSPE International Committee at the latest by May 7, 2024, via e-mail to jspeintl(at)googlegroups.com

When submitting your proposal for the International Session A, please include:

(i) The title of the proposed paper;

(ii) Your name and academic affiliation;

(iii) Your e-mail and postal address;

(iv) An abstract (up to 500 words).

When submitting your proposal for the International Session B consisting of three presenters (at least one must be a member of the JSPE), please include:

(i) The title of the proposed session;

(ii) Your name and academic affiliation;

(iii) Your e-mail and postal address;

(iv) Name and academic affiliation of each of the three presenters;

(v) The title of the paper and an abstract (up to 500 words) of each of the three presenters;

(vi) Commentator name and academic affiliation for each of the three presenters;
* Duplicate commentators are allowed. Other presenters may duplicate commentators. 

(vii) Which presenters are members of the JSPE?

* Notification of acceptance will be sent by June 30.