20 Years of Summer Conference on Economy and Society

The Summer Conference on Economy and Society marked its 20th anniversary this summer when it met from June 21 to 24 at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna. The annual conference has been a meeting place for doctoral researchers and established scholars from the fields of political economy and economic sociology since 2006. It is organized by a network of partner institutions including MPIfG, Brown University, CEU, Northwestern University, Sciences Po, and University of California, Berkeley. For early-career researchers, it is an opportunity to present their work to an international audience, encounter different academic standards and perspectives, and make important contacts with scholars from different countries. Doctoral researchers from the participating institutions took part in a doctoral workshop in which they presented their research in 15-minute talks, followed by a 10-minute response from professors and fellow doctoral researchers from all the institutions and a 30-minute discussion. The program also included two keynote speeches. Another part of the program was an excursion to Karl-Marx-Hof – one of the longest buildings in Europe and an icon of social housing in Vienna. The guided tour was led by the Verein Sammlung Rotes Wien. The conference closed with founding members Jens Beckert and Bruce Carruthers looking back on its 20-year history.