Political Economy Research Group (PERG), Kingston

Description

Political Economy Research Group is a group of researchers who believe that effective demand, institutions and social conflict are of fundamental importance for the understanding of economic relationships and outcomes. Furthermore economic analysis should be embedded in a pluralist approach, allowing different schools of thought, providing a broad basis for scientific progress.

The Group takes a political economy approach to analyse the role of effective demand, finance institutions and social conflict in the economy. It starts from the premise that economic processes are embedded in social relations that can only be successfully analysed in the context of historical considerations, power relations and social norms. This requires building on insights from history, sociology and other social sciences. This approach enables a better understanding than neoclassical theory based on rational agents, optimization and self-equilibrating markets. The Group advocates a pluralist approach to economics and has notable strengths in Post-Keynesian Marxist and Institutionalist theories. Research areas include economic crisis and financial instability, financialisation, income inequality, distribution and growth, and economic development. Members have published in journals like Cambridge Journal of Economics, New Political Economy, Environment and Planning A or African Affairs.

The aim of the Group is to further research in the area of Political Economy at Kingston University by bringing together active researchers in the field. It organises the Political Economy Research Group Summer Seminars, academic workshops, round tables and provide resources for interested students such as a summer school on Political Economy and an overview of relevant academic journals, associations and newsletters in the heterodox/political economy tradition.

Research topics are:

• Foundations, traditions, and controversies in political economy
• Political economy of financialisation
• Inequality, neoliberalism and capitalism
• Political economy of development: Imperialism, extractivism and structural change

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University affiliation(s)

Kingston University
Kingston upon Thames