A 70th Anniversary workshop at the Global Development Institute (The University of Manchester) engaging with the relevance of Arthur Lewis’ (1954) work today.

December 5-6, 2024, Manchester, UK.

With support from The University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute Journal of Development Studies Conference Fund and European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) Politics and Political Economy Research Group.

2024 marks the 70th anniversary of Sir Arthur Lewis’ ground-breaking (1954) paper “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour,” published in The Manchester School. The University of Manchester’s Global Development Institute (GDI) will hold a workshop, in partnership with the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the Development Studies Association (DSA), over December 5-6, 2024, to explore the contemporary relevance of the ‘Lewisian’ research programme.

Lewis, a Nobel laureate in Economics, was affiliated with The University of Manchester during the time of writing his famous paper. In an era of new structural transformation problems related to climate change, premature deindustrialisation, generalised stagnation in the Global South, and renewed interest in industrial policy in the Global North, this workshop looks to re-examine the continued salience of Lewis’ dual-economy framework and experience in post-colonial economic policymaking. We invite researchers and actors working in a wide range of fora and traditions to submit applications to participate in the workshop. Submissions on the following topics are particularly welcome:

• The contemporary relevance of Lewis’ dual-sector model and Lewis’ other academic contributions
• The contemporary importance of industrial development as traditionally understood for development strategy. Research presented could include case studies, cross-country comparisons, (multi-sector) models of growth and distribution, econometric studies (all methodologies welcome)
• Other topics engaging with:
• A renewed academic and policy interest in industrial policy
• ‘Green’ structural change
• Challenges to conceptualising and implementing policies that promote social, political and economic emancipation in the Global South
• Subordinate integration into the global political economy
• The changing conditions for development policy over the preceding 70 years

We invite researchers and actors working in a wide range of fora and traditions to submit applications to participate in the workshop. We see renewed need for methodological pluralism in the study of industrial policy and structural transformation and invite scholars working in a wide array of traditions to participate in our workshop. We wish to bring scholars studying industrial policy and broader challenges of post-colonial development in conversation with one another from a broad range of methodologies, disciplines and theoretical perspectives.

Submissions on related topics in development economics, development studies, and the political economy of development are generally welcome. It is not necessary to engage directly with Lewis’ framework to submit an abstract to the conference. We encourage applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in academia. We also encourage submissions from scholars based in the Global South. We have some funds available for travel and accommodation.

Submissions require an abstract of up to 500 words. Please send your abstracts to lewis.workshop.2024@gmail.com by September 15, 2024. For further questions, please contact: adam.aboobaker@manchester.ac.uk or pritish.behuria@manchester.ac.uk.

Note:  This article gives the views of the author/academic featured and does not represent the views of the Global Development Institute as a whole.

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