__________________________________________________
Conference Announcement "Markets, Governance and Human Development" Interdisciplinary Workshop Development Studies Association Robinson College, University of Cambridge Cambridge (UK) 6-7 July 2009 __________________________________________________ Jointly organised by: Development Studies Association (Environmental Resources and Sustainable Development Study Group, and Development Ethics Study Group) and Robinson College, University of Cambridge Keynote speakers: - Professor Marc Fleurbaey, CERSES, Universit Paris Descartes - Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey - Professor Alan Kirman, GREQAM, EHESS, IUF, France - Professor John O.Neill, University of Manchester Workshop aims: In the current economic crisis, an important question to revisit concerns when and to what extent markets are appropriate mechanisms to deliver goods and services to consumers, satisfy their desires and also contribute to human and economic development. For some economists, it is of no doubt that a freemarket economy has overwhelmingly positive aspects and offers a wide set of opportunities to many people. However, for the critics of the free-market economy, it is often the poorest sections of the community that suffer most. Others argue that state intervention in such situations usually means that the taxpayer as well as the more prudent average saver will have to pay for the failures of rich speculators. Have we come to the end of "liberal market economy"? Can markets 'correct' themselves? Are we expecting markets to deliver services for which they are not the most appropriate institutions? Are we witnessing a period of a particular market failure, or is it a "system failure"? Do we need 'deeper' and more active governance of international and national financial systems to prevent further events like this to happen? If so, how can we achieve this? It is clear that discussion of such questions cannot be confined to examinations within boundaries of a single discipline. A broader dialogue drawing from insights and viewpoints from different disciplines is required. Such discussion should include views on the ways markets work, the channels through which they can and do contribute to advancing human development through creation of opportunities and widening the range of functionings and capabilities. There is a need to re-examine issues related to the values and psychological mindframes underpinning markets and the power structures they produce. As Amartya Sen (2008) mentions in passing in the Martin Luther King Lecture: "There is no such thing as 'the' market solution, for the market is exactly as good as the company it keeps. It is extremely important to recognise that the market economy can yield very different results, depending on governing conditions, such as the distribution of resources and opportunities to develop skill and to secure fair bases of entry into market transactions, which in turn depend on the support of public distribution of education and health care, better functioning of trade agreements, reform of patent laws and environmental regulations, the operation of credit facilities, among many other influencing factors. All these influences are open to reform and change." Against, this background, this workshop aims to examine two sets of issues: a. Markets and Human Development: Issues under this theme include, for example: what evidence is there to suggest that markets can deliver pro-poor growth and sustainable human development; how compatible are values such as "market-rationality" and human development; are markets "only" delivering efficiency at the cost of equity; are markets the main reason for current global environmental changes; should there be institutions that temper the role of markets; are there tradeoffs between developing market and social institutions (as for example, suggested by Marglin, 2006), do markets give "by nature" more power to entrepreneurs and traders than to other market participants? b. Governance and Human Development: Issues under this theme include: how much governance do we need for human development; why are some societies better than other similar ones in developing institutions; what is the role of accountability in relation to agency and well-being freedoms - is accountability a prerequisite or an outcome of improved human development; can governance effectively counterbalance power relations that were established through the market, does governance work with the market or (does it need to work) against the market? Contact: Dr Miriam Teschl Robinson College University of Cambridge Grange Road Cambridge, CB3 9AN UK Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/academic/markets09.php __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
