Fourth Doctoral Conference of the IMPRS-SPCE

The MPIfG recently hosted the “Fourth Doctoral Conference on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy,” welcoming over 30 doctoral researchers from nine countries to Cologne on March 19 and 20 this year. The event was organized by members of the International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy (IMPRS-SPCE), the MPIfG’s joint graduate school with the University of Cologne and the University of Duisburg-Essen. A major feature of the conference was its firm focus on early-career researchers: With the exception of the opening address by MPIfG managing director Jens Beckert, the entire event was in the hands of the doctoral researchers. Over the two days of the conference, the attendees had ample opportunity to discuss with their peers work ranging from environmental and climate policy to reproductive technology and climate litigation, to the political economy of production and infrastructure, green finance, and the wealth of social elites. The program also included a “Navigating Academia” session where attendees were invited to consider in small groups the challenges of working in academia in times of authoritarianism and social polarization. This, as Jens Beckert had stressed in his opening speech, was what the conference set out to do: create space for new academic networks and collaboration.