Coordinated by John Paul Belk (PhD candidate in Politics at Goldsmith’s, University of London) and Dr. Mayra Vélez Serrano (Department of Political Science, UPR-RP), in collaboration with Dr. Marcelo Luzzi (Department of History, UPR-RP), a conference entitled “Economía Política Crítica de PR: Pasado, presente y futuro” [Critical Political Economy of Puerto Rico: Past, Present, and Future] will be held at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras on April 27, 2023. The conference activities will be streamed online for those who cannot attend in person. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2023. [We will add a link to this post as soon as it is available.]

Description: “Economía Política Crítica de PR: Pasado Presente y Futuro”

Puerto Rico is living through multiple crises. For the most part, these crises are the product of the crossroads between its economic model, the style of government, political priorities, class composition, lack of planning in the public sphere, the organizational form of production and exchange of goods and services, and other related factors. Added to these factors is the long history of abuses: colonial, racial, gender, and other modes of power relations. Although these are not new on the island, recently, these elements have merged to produce a complicated framework for Puerto Ricans. In the midst of past development models that have left much to be desired, the installation of the Board of Fiscal Control and its austerity measures, the continuation of political parties’ traditional modes, the expansion of different forms of neoliberalism in the economy, global pandemic, growing inequalities, economic recessions, mass migrations, and many other situations, it behooves us to organize a critical political economy that provides the tools to conceptualize, explain, and critique the multiple crises that we face.

Therefore, this conference convenes presenters who focus on exploring new perspectives on the past, present, and future of the political economy of Puerto Rico to address the existing complicated relations. With this conference we seek to highlight the dynamics of capital, class, colonialism, development, gender, race, poverty, and society, and to drive the conversation forward about Puerto Rico in a multidisciplinary way.

We invite original presentations on all relevant subjects to the discussion. Panels will include 15-minute presentations followed by a designated time for questions. You must coordinate with the organizer of the event in advance if you require more time. We invite academics, professors, researchers, activists, and professionals in other related areas. In particular, we encourage participation by young professionals and students at the graduate level who are at the beginning of their careers. We also accept group presentations and/or panels, although these must be coordinated in advance. If so, please indicate your intention. In addition, we accept remote presentations via Zoom. To submit, please send a short abstract (no more than one page) with your name and affiliation.

All submissions should be mailed to jbelk001@gold.ac.uk with the subject “Solicitud
Conferencia EPC-PR” [Submission EPC-PR Conference]

[Unrelated photo above by Ivette Romero. “Boquerón Bay at Sunset.”]