International Economic History Association

The International Economic History Association (IEHA) is an association of national, regional, and international organizations dedicated to the field of economic history, broadly defined. The IEHA includes 45 member organizations in 40 countries around the world. Headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, the IEHA promotes the study of and facilitates collaboration on a variety of projects, publications, and initiatives. While the IEHA has origins in European historiographies (especially those of France and the United Kingdom), it has since expanded its scope and membership to include economies and scholars outside of traditional areas of research.

International Economic History Association
AbbreviationIEHA
Formation1960 (1960)
Legal statusActive
Location
FieldsEconomic history
President
Anne McCants (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Key people
Fernand Braudel
SubsidiariesBusiness History Conference, European Business History Association, European Historical Economics Society, International Social History Association
Websitewww.ieha-wehc.org

The IEHA is most well known for its triannual congress, the World Economic History Congress, an international and interdisciplinary event where over 1,000 economic historians convene each meeting to discuss trends in the field.[1] Attendees of the conference include economists, historians, policymakers, heads of states, government ministers, and scholars of economic history.[2][3]

History

Founding

At the height of the Cold War in 1960, the IEHA was founded to unite scholars in Western Europe, the United States, and the Soviet Union.[4][5] Among economists there were concerns of spurring and sustaining economic growth in many economic history departments in the United Kingdom and the United States. Similarly, Alexander Gerschenkron sought to build on Rostow's stages of economic growth with his research on economic backwardness.[6] At the same time, the founding of the IEHA originally stemmed from the work of Fernand Braudel and Immanuel Wallerstein on economic growth in early modern Europe.[7][8] Throughout the twentieth century, the IEHA gradually grew in size and the number of papers presented.[9]

In 1968, the member organizations of the IEHA convened for the first meeting outside of Europe. The fourth meeting met in Bloomington, Indiana, United States.[10]

By 2012, the organization expanded its global approach to the discipline by hosting its first conference outside of Europe. Around 750 attendees from 55 countries attended the World Economic History Congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa.[11][12] European scholars at the conference were more interested in the North-South divide, thus facilitating the developing of African economic history as a whole.[13] The conference was, in part, organized by the African Agenda, and boosted tourism to the local community.[14] Academics have noted that the hosting of the Congress in Stellenbosch positioned the country to become one of the leading cenrtres of economic history on the African continent.[15] The opening address, delivered by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan, recognized the economic and political potential that the conference had for the South African economy.[16]

The first Congress to convene in Asia took place in Kyoto, Japan in August 2015.[17] Presentations focused less on European economies and more on Latin American and Asian economies.[18] The meeting thus presented an important moment, not just for economic history, but also for global history.[19] The conference led to the publication of Jörg Baten's A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to the Present (2016) that, according to one reviewer "was commissioned by the International Economic History Association and the editor states that his aim is to organize a 'non-Eurocentric history' that presents 'economic history in a balanced way.'"[20]

In recent years, the organization has returned its focus to present-day questions. In 2018, President Anne McCants spoke of the importance of understanding globalization: its origins, its effects on inequality, and the importance of big data.[21] At the congress, held in Boston, Massachusetts French economist Thomas Piketty (École des hautes études en sciences sociales) and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century described the World Economic History Congress as “one of the few places in the world where economists and historians talk to each other, and we truly need this interdisciplinary approach.”[22] The IEHA produces an annual bulletin of conferences and meetings for economic historians.[23]

Leadership

Former Presidents of the IEHA include:

  • 1965–1968: Frederic Chapin Lane
  • 1968–1974: Kristof Glamann
  • 1974–1978: Peter Mathias
  • 1978–1982: Zsigmond Pál Pach
  • 1982–1986: Jean-Francois Bergier
  • 1986–1990: Herman Van der Wee
  • 1994–1998: Gabriel Tortella
  • 1998–2002: Roberto Cortés Conde
  • 2002–2006: Richard Sutch
  • 2006–2009: Riitta Hjerppe
  • 2012–2015: Grietjie Verhoef
  • 2015–2018: Tetsuji Okazaki
  • 2018–2021: Anne McCants

Former Secretary Generals of the IEHA include:

Organization

The IEHA comprises three bodies. The General Assembly includes one representative from each member organization.[24] The Executive Committee oversees the execution of decisions made by the General Assembly, and the Local Organizing Committees are responsible for running the World Economic History Congress.

Membership

The IEHA comprises 45 member organizations, including the following.

IEHA Member Organizations
Organization Location Year founded Website
Business History Conference International 1954
Cliometric Society International 1960
European Business History Association International 1993
European Historical Economics Society International 1991
International Maritime Economic History Association International 1986
International Social History Association International 2005
Asociacion Argentina de Historia Economica Americas
Associação Brasileira de Pesquisadores em História Econômica Americas
Canadian Network for Economic History/ Réseau canadien d'histoire économique Americas
Economic History Association Americas 1940
Asociación Uruguaya de Historia Económica Americas
Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand Asia Pacific
Chinese Association for Economic History Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Asia Pacific
Indian Economic and Social History Association, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi Asia Pacific 1963
Economic and Social History Association of Israel (ESHAI) Asia Pacific
Korean Economic History Society, Chung-Ang University Asia Pacific
Economic History Society of Southern Africa Africa
Austrian Economic and Social Historians Europe
Belgische Vereniging voor sociale en economische geschiedenis, University of Gent Europe
Czech Economic History Society Europe
Danish Society for Economic and Social History Europe
Finnish Economic History Association Europe
Association Française d'Histoire Économique (AFHE) Europe
Gesellschaft für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte Europe 1961
Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte e.V. Europe 1976
Greek Economic History Society Europe
Hungarian Economic History Association, Eötvös Loránd University Europe
Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Europe 1970
Società italiana degli storici dell'economia (SISE) Europe
N.W. Posthumus Instituut, Radboud Universiteit Europe 2016
Norwegian Member Organization Europe
Committee on Economic History, Polish Academy of Science Europe
Portuguese Association of Economic and Social History Europe
Commission on the History of the Economy and the History of Economic Thinking / Commission sur l'Histoire de l'Economie et l'Histoire de la Pensée Economique de l'Académie Roumaine Europe
National Committee of Historians, Russian Academy of Science Europe
Asociación Española de Historia Económica Europe 1972
Swedish Economic History Association, Göteborg University Europe
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Europe 1974
Economic and Social History Foundation of Turkey Europe
Economic History Society (UK) Europe 1926

World Economic History Congress

Every four years (and every three years since 2006), the IEHA hosts a World Economic History Congress (WEHC) on a particular topic in economic history. The meetings aim to bring together scholars who focus on to discuss present-day debates in the discipline.[25] Past meetings include:[26] The initial meetings were titled the International Conference and held in western European countries. The fifth meeting was held in Leningrad, Russia and, by the eighth meeting in Budapest, Hungary, the name was changed to the International Economic History Congress. The latter had over 850 economic historians from 88 countries participate.[27] Its goal was to promote regulate debates in the international community of scholars. In 1994, the Eleventh International Economic History Congress in Milan, Italy had over 1,100 participants from more than 50 countries.[28] The Congress has also been vital for the development of quantitative economic history, also known as cliometrics.[29]

Past WEHC Meetings
Meeting Theme Location Date Website
First International Conference of Economic History Stockholm, Sweden 1960
Second International Conference of Economic History Provence, France 1962
Third International Conference of Economic History Munich, Germany 1965
Fourth International Conference of Economic History Bloomington, Indiana, USA 1968
Fifth International Conference of Economic History Leningrad, Russia 1970
Sixth International Congress of Economic History Copenhagen, Denmark 1974
Seventh International Congress of Economic History Edinburgh, Scotland 1978
Eighth International Economic History Congress Budapest, Hungary 16–20 August 1982
Ninth International Economic History Congress Bern, Switzerland 1986
Tenth International Economic History Congress Leuven, Belgium August 1990
Eleventh International Economic History Congress Milan, Italy September 1994
Twelfth International Economic History Congress Madrid, Spain August 1998
XIII Congress of the International Economic History Association Buenos Aires, Argentina 22–26 July 2002
XIV International Economic History Congress Helsinki, Finland 21–25 August 2006
XV World Economic History Congress Utrecht, Netherlands 3–7 August 2009
XVI World Economic History Congress “The Roots of Development” Stellenbosch, South Africa 9–13 July 2012
XVII World Economic History Congress “Diversity in Development” Kyoto, Japan 3–7 August 2015
XVIII World Economic History Congress “Waves of Globalization” Boston, Massachusetts, USA 29 July – 3 August 2018
XIX World Economic History Congress "Resources" Paris, France 25–30 July 2021

See also

Further reading
  • Paul Bairoch, Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes (Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, 1995)
  • Maxine Berg, "East-West Dialogues: Economic Historians, the Cold War, and Détente." The Journal of Modern History 87, no. 1 (2015): 36–71. doi:10.1086/680261.
  • Rondo E. Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World" From Paleolithic Times to the Present (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1997)
  • Donald N. McCloskey, If You're So Smart: The Narrative of Economic Expertise (Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press, 1992)
  • S.A.J. Parsons and G. Chandler, How to Find Out About Economics: The Commonwealth and International Library: Libraries and Technical Information Division (Elsevier Science, 2014)

References
  1. Latham, A.J.H; Kawakatsu, Heita (2018). Asia and the History of the International Economy: Essays in Memory of Peter Mathias. Routledge.
  2. "XVIth World Economic History Congress, University of Stellenbosch, opening address by Pravin Gordhan Minister of Finance". South African Government.
  3. "XIV International Economic History Congress" (PDF). Government of Finland.
  4. "Home". International Economic History Association.
  5. Ammannati, Francesco (2011). Dove Va la Storia Economica? Metodi E Prospettive, Secc. XIII-XVIII. Firenze University Press. p. 153.
  6. McCloskey, Donald (1992). If You're So Smart: The Narrative of Economic Expertise. University of Chicago Press. p. 70.
  7. Outhwaite, William (2008). The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought. John Wiley & Sons.
  8. Manning, Patrick. "HISTORIANS WORLDWIDE: GLOBAL LINKS AMONG HISTORIANS, PAST AND PRESENT". American Historical Association.
  9. Bairoch, Paul (1995). Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes. University of Chicago Press.
  10. Lane, Frederic C. (2019). Fourth International Conference of Economic History, Bloomington 1968 / Quatrième Conférence Internationale d' Histoire Économique. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
  11. Fourie, Johan. "Africa wasn't always about poverty–so why do so many believe that's the case?". Retrieved Quartz. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. "The renaissance in understanding Africa's economic past". The Conversation.
  13. Frederick, Kate. "Interview: Patrick Manning". African Economic History Network.
  14. "Successful Hosting of World Economic History Congress Boosts Stellenbosch Economy". African Agenda.
  15. "Home". Laboratory for the Economics of Africa’s Past (LEAP).
  16. "XVIth World Economic History Congress, University of Stellenbosch, opening address by Pravin Gordhan Minister of Finance". South African Government.
  17. "XVIITH WORLD ECONOMIC HISTORY CONGRESS". University of Barcelona.
  18. Vodopives, Hildete. "Brazil on the World Economic History Congress (Kyoto 2015)". Brazil Global.
  19. Galvez-Behar, Gabriel. "Quelques données sur le World Economic History Congress (Kyoto, 2015)". GGB.
  20. La Croix, Sumner. "Review: A History of the Global Economy: 1500 to the Present". EH.net.
  21. "Q&A: Anne McCants (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) on "Waves of Globalization," the 2018 World Economic History Congress at MIT". MIT News.
  22. "At MIT, Thomas Piketty calls for policies and collaborations to reduce income inequality". MIT News.
  23. Parsons, S.A.J.; Chandler, G. (2014). How to Find Out About Economics: The Commonwealth and International Library: Libraries and Technical Information Division. Elsevier Science. p. 120.
  24. "Economic History Society". JSTOR.
  25. "The Place Where Economic History Is Renewed". World Economic History Congress.
  26. "EH.net Features". EH.net.
  27. "The Eighth International Economic History Congress (August 16–20 1982, Budapest)". Acta Historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 29 (2/4). 1983.
  28. Subacchi, Paola (1995). "Meta-Economic History: A Survey of the Eleventh International Economic History Congress". The Economic History Review. 48 (3): 602–611. JSTOR 2598185.
  29. Cochran, Thomas C. (1969). "Economic History, Old and New". The American Historical Review. 74 (5): 1561–1572. doi:10.2307/1841325. JSTOR 1841325.
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