Apologies for any cross-posting
We invite you to the seventh "New Directions in Value/Price Theory"
mini-conference, organized by the International Working Group on Value Theory
(IWGVT), to be held as part of the Eastern Economic Association (EEA)
conference. Papers relating to the IWGVT's areas of interest are welcome and
proposals for complete panels will be considered.
The full call, and instructions for submission, are on our website at
www.greenwich.ac.uk/~fa03/iwgvt.
We can be contacted at
Value.Theory@greenwich.ac.uk
for information or informal discussion.
Abstracts of individual papers or proposals for complete sessions are welcome
from May 1st onwards. Proposals for complete sessions should be made by August
1st 1999.
The deadline for papers and accompanying material is November 1, 1999. Papers
must be complete when submitted but may consists of drafts or work in
progress. Although this may seem stringent, our experience in 1999 was that it
greatly facilitated dialogue by making the papers available to participants in
advance of the conference, and also provided an opportunity for discussants to
prepare considered responses. Authors are welcome to submit papers in their
mother tongue. Completed papers need not be long papers, and, again, we
strongly encourage papers which revisit contributions made at past
mini-conferences, other conferences, or previously published work.
The IWGVT actively pursues collaboration and engagement with other currents of
economic thought, and welcomes proposals for joint sessions at the upcoming
EEA.
What is the IWGVT?
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The IWGVT aims to promote pluralistic debate on concepts of value, seeking
particularly-but not exclusively-to deepen the discussion of value concepts
appropriate to dynamic analysis, and to end the unacceptable exclusion of the
value theory of Karl Marx from existing debates.
The principal justification which economics offers for excluding its foremost
critic is the proposition that, whatever the merits of his contribution on
individual issues, his concept of value is invalid because it leads to
internal inconsistencies. A growing body of independent research shows that
this argument is no longer sustainable. We conclude that the discussion on
value should re-open without the presupposition of any established standard,
tradition or source of authority regarding either value or Marx.
The IWGVT defends no particular theory of value beyond arguing that the
concept itself is indispensable. It does believe it is possible to assess the
merits of contesting theories in debate. It seeks to create an atmosphere for
this debate-which does not at present exist-such that all value theories, and
all readings of value theorists, may discuss on an equal footing, referring in
their support neither to the evidence of authority nor the conviction of
doctrine but to reasoned and logical discussion based on textual evidence for
readings and factual evidence for theories.
Six successive mini-conferences have provided a widespread, gratifying and
international response to our initial appeal. The number of panels and
panelists has grown steadily, as has participation from those outside the
United States.
The IWGVT is beginning to be recognized as a forum for all those interested in
the discussion of value, irrespective of theoretical orientation.