12th Annual Critical Finance Studies Conference

Call for Papers: Virtual Get-Together

27th– 28th August 2020 (Afternoons)

Critical finance scholars are accustomed to questioning the dominant narratives that surround finance. Often, they challenge the belief that finance could be beneficial to society, if only it were regulated effectively – and if only everyone had sufficient financial knowledge. Shedding light on the limitations of current economic systems, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it all the more urgent to develop critical financial insights, drawing from a range of disciplines: from economics to sociology, accounting, arts and culture, philosophy, and politics, to name a few.

This year, the in-person 12th Annual Critical Finance Studies Conference, which was planned for Goldsmiths, University of London, had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead, we are organizing an online get-together for critical finance scholars, on the afternoons of 27th and 28th August. This event will include: online keynote sessions by Gargi Bhattacharyya and Annie McClanahan, online panels, and networking sessions. There will be two ways to participate: either by submitting a video or audio presentation, or by sending in a paper.

We invite papers that stage risky confrontations between finance and current issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, the breakdown of parliamentary politics, the persistence of racism and gender discrimination, the rise of populism and crises of migration. In particular, we welcome papers that do not presume an easy separation between economic, social, cultural and political realms but that instead provoke rethinking of boundaries. Papers are encouraged that approach finance through underexplored perspectives such as racial capitalism, everyday financialization, gender and finance, Islamic finance, and financialization in the global south. Topics could include but are not limited to:

  • Critical Finance in Times of COVID-19
  • Racial Capitalism and Finance
  • Gender and Financial Capitalism
  • Financialization and Climate Change
  • Finance and the Rise of Populism
  • Financialization and the Global South
  • Risk Societies and Cultures of Volatility
  • Art and Finance
  • De-financialization and Divestment strategies
  • Financialization and Subjectivity

Keynote speakers:

Gargi Bhattacharyya

Professor of Sociology, Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, University of East London

Annie McClanahan

Associate Professor of English, University of California, Irvine

To present a conference paper:

  • Submit an abstract (no more than 250 words) to cfp@criticalfinancestudies.org by 15 June, 2020. The submission should indicate if you wish to take part in a session with online audio/video paper or in a networking session where written papers will be discussed.
  • Applicants will be notified if their paper has been accepted by 22 June 2020.
  • Accepted papers will send the conference organizers a link to their online video/audio paper (for example: a Youtube, Soundcloud or Vimeo link; presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes) or send their written paper by no later than 7 August.
  • The video/audio links will be grouped into virtual panels and the papers discussed in networking sessions. Participants will be able to listen/watch/read the papers 2 weeks prior to the conference.

We look forward to your proposals, and hope to see you online in August!

Ariane Agunsoye and Emily Rosamond, Goldsmiths, University of London

This event has been generously supported by the Political Economy Research Centre, Goldsmiths, and the Digital Worldmaking Research Stream, Goldsmiths.