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Economy and Society Summer School

Blackwater Castle, Co. Cork, Ireland. 9-13th of May 2016

4 Places Remaining! – Please contact   info.easss@gmail.com  as soon as possible to apply.

11/05/2015. FREE TO USE IMAGE. President Michael D. Higgins opens the Economy & Society Summer school in Blackwater Castle Co. Cork. Pictured with President Michael D. Higgins is the WIT President Willie Donnelly and students with the lecturers. Picture: Patrick Browne President Michael D. Higgins opens the Economy & Society Summer school Monday, 11 May 2015: Over 30 PhD business and humanities scholars from around the world gathered in Blackwater Castle in Cork today where the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins delivered an address to open officially the 2015 Economy and Society Summer school organised by Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) in conjuntion with University College Cork (UCC). Throughout the week long summer school, the Irish and International scholars from economics, sociology and beyond will explore contemporary issues and ethical values that are necessary to create a flourishing economy and just society. At the opening, Prof Willie Donnelly, President of WIT said that “Education is a liberating force in society. It’s important that we learn the lessons of the tiger economy years. As the economy recovers we need to focus on balancing the social, economic and cultural evolution of society. Broadening investment in education from Science Technology Engineering Maths (STEM) to incorporate Humanities and Business is crucial to creating that balance. European Framework programme H2020 places humanities and social science at the heart of European Innovation. “Two of the largest schools in WIT are Humanities and Business. The institute has a strong PhD education programme in these disciplines and it’s very encouraging to see the Institute taking the lead and to see such quality researchers from across Ireland, the US, Canada, Europe and the middle east travelling to Ireland to be part of it.” The summer school, which is organised by the Centre for the Study of the Moral Foundations of Economy and Society run jointly by WIT and UCC, w

President Michael D. Higgins opening the 2015 Summer School with staff and students.

Conceiving the economy as separate from society is problematic; theoretically, politically and morally. An economy is not simply an assemblage of law-like forces of production, consumption and market valuation which provides society with a material foundation. Rather, the ‘economy’ is a set of human institutions which are created socially, transformed through history and open to revision. Furthermore, far from being ethically-neutral laws of nature, economic processes have profoundly moral consequences for our society; for instance, in the growth of alienation, environmental degradation, inequality, hyper-individuation and the loss of meaning, hope and political alternatives.

Recent decades have seen the predominance of neo-liberal economics, which insists that human nature is fundamentally self-interested, and therefore the only institution which can fairly decide the value of anything is the market. Indeed, states have increasingly been caught up in this logic, deregulating existing markets, opening up new areas to the market principle, and turning the welfare state into an adjunct to the labour market.

The diffusion of these theories, from the academy to policy makers, politicians, journalists, teachers and the polity at large, is problematic: Firstly, this is only one perspective within economics, often backed with invocations of mathematical certainty, yet making vast assumptions about human nature. Secondly, there then appears to be no alternative, with the state as the mere hand-maiden of the productive market, and society as palliating the suffering of those left behind. Thirdly, ethical questions become relegated to private morality, as all public questions must be concerned strictly with utility, efficiency and cost effectiveness. Finally, activities which are the very fabric of society, caring for children or the elderly, community engagement and volunteering, contributing to public debates and criticism, creativity in arts, music or literature are subjected to the market evaluation of the ‘bottom-line’; nothing has intrinsic value.

This Economy & Society summer school has been developed under the auspices of the President of Ireland’s Ethics Initiative, an attempt to address recent and on-going crises, to understand and criticise the thinking which put these processes in train. Furthermore, we have the ambition to re-imagine alternatives to the present, where ethics would temper economic processes, and moral foundations to society are acknowledged.

Therefore, this summer school addresses the multiple and complex intersections of economy and society. Moving beyond the dichotomy of ‘economics versus social science’, this forum explores a multitude of alternative paradigms, methods and concepts, drawing from anthropology, cultural studies, governmentality, history, critical management studies, marketing and organisation studies. It is tailor-made for doctoral students, whether in exploratory stages or interpreting data. Drawing together two dozen academic staff from Ireland and internationally, the summer school is a convivial, supportive and inspiring forum.

Apply now to: info.easss[@]gmail.com

Organised by the UCC/WIT:( http://moraleconomy.eu/ )

Centre for the Study of the Moral Foundations of Economy & Society:

School Directors: Tom Boland & Ray Griffin.

ethics