During the past decade, it has become obvious that economic interconnectedness did not bring forth frictionless international relations as many liberal theorists had predicted. To the contrary, the fact that economic integration has been profoundly uneven has enabled the weaponisation of asymmetrical economic relations for the achievement of geopolitical and/or economic goals (Whyte 2022; Farrell 2023). The weaponisation of the unique international role of the US dollar is one of the most consequential examples of this trend. For instance, in the period since 2001, US sanctions designations have expanded by an extraordinary 933%. In the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine, dollar hegemony made it possible to freeze Russia’s foreign reserves and expel the country from the SWIFT payments system and US correspondent banking. Many states, including geopolitical rivals of the US such as China, understand this reality as a direct threat to their sovereign rights and interests and have been debating possible solutions, such as the introduction of central bank digital currencies and/or the creation of alternative mechanisms of payments clearing and financial messaging (Eichengreen 2022).

The intertwining between dollar hegemony and private money creation puts additional pressures on state sovereignty, as functions with profound and direct effects on the organisation of public life, such as money creation and credit allocation, are carried out by private institutions. Lawyers and political theorists alike have produced useful elaborations on the effects of dollar hegemony and public money on monetary sovereignty (Pistor 2017; Murau & van’t Klooster 2023). What remains relatively under-explored is the conceptual and practical challenges posed by dollar hegemony to state sovereignty more broadly, beyond the  confines of monetary sovereignty. In other words, more work remains to be done on the tensions between state sovereignty, a globalised capitalist economy, and the economic unevenness that hegemonic currencies embody (Tzouvala 2024).

To this end, we seek contributions from economists, IR scholars, political theorists, historians, sociologists and lawyers to explore this important question as well as its theoretical and practical implications. We are interested, amongst other issues, in papers exploring:

* the material and ideological foundations of dollar hegemony and their effects on state sovereignty and international order;
* the distributional impacts of dollar hegemony both between states and between classes/factions of classes;
* the legal rules and infrastructures that enable and challenge dollar hegemony;
* the historical evolution of dollar hegemony;
* the interplay between dollar hegemony, private money creation and financial capitalism;
* institutional and political alternatives to dollar hegemony.
* public and private experiments with digital currencies and their consequences for state sovereignty.
* the implications of dollar hegemony and challenges to it for unilateral sanctions.
* the geopolitics of dollar hegemony;
* the mutually-sustaining relationship between US militarism and dollar hegemony.

We will explore these and other urgent question in a two-day workshop that will take place on the **5th and 6th of December 2024** at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). If interested, please send us an abstract of no more than 400 words and a short bio of no more than 50 words by the **1st of July 2024** at dollarandsovereignty@gmail.com. Limited funding may be available for speakers who do not have access to institutional funding.

Confirmed speakers include: Professor Melinda Cooper (Australian National University), Professor Mona Ali (State University of New York – New Paltz), Professor Will Bateman (Australian National University), Dr Ilias Alami (University of Cambridge), Professor Benton Heath (Temple University), Professor Shahar Hameiri (University of Queensland), Prof. David Blaazer (University of New South Wales), Professor Ryan Mitchell (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Dr Kanad Bagchi (University of Amsterdam).

Organisers: Dr Jessica Whyte (University of New South Wales), Dr Ntina Tzouvala (Australian National University). The event is co-sponsored by the ANU Capitalism Studies Network and the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship project Economic Sanctions After the Cold War (FT230100697).

DOLLAR HEGEMONY, STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER

Navigating New Horizons: International Economic Law in a Changing World

SOUTH ASIA INTERNATIONAL\
ECONOMIC LAW NETWORK

# FOURTH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE

LOCAL APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW

 

16th-18th December 2024

Colombo, Sri Lanka

 

International Economic Law (IEL) can be defined as the law governing international economic relations among States. IEL is generally understood as a branch of public international law that governs a vast array of specialised topics including trade, investment, development, finance, and taxation. However, with the advent of globalisation, international economic relations have evolved dramatically to impact all spheres of human activities. These developments have made IEL more multifaceted and complex, increasing its interactions with other domains of international law such as human rights, public health, environmental protection, and cultural concerns. Consequently, IEL’s influence and interactions with the “local”, which includes civil society, marginalised groups, and other grassroots level actors, have greatly expanded. However, despite this expansion, these new relationships are not always reflected in IEL’s formulation, practice, and dispute settlement process.

States’ institutional engagement with IEL should ideally reflect coordinated democratic voices within each State, subsequently echoed in relevant international forums. But IEL is often characterised by executive driven State actions and influential private lobbies, thereby sidelining the lived experiences of individuals and communities that comprise the “local”.

Against this backdrop, the South Asia International Economic Law Network (SAIELN)’s 4th Biennial Conference aims to provide a platform for experts, policymakers, lawyers, academics, economists, and grassroots level actors to exchange views on the multifaceted challenges and innovative legal and policy solutions to further “local” approaches to IEL.

 

SAIELN’s 4th Biennial Conference will take place on 16th - 18th December 2024 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Open University of Sri Lanka.

 

**An abstract of 500 words should be submitted no later than 30th July 2024. Authors of selected abstracts will then be required to submit a working draft of their contribution of at least 3,000 words by 1st October 2024.**



**Non-exhaustive list of themes and topics of the conference:**

* Civil society perspectives on IEL
* Local communities and IEL
* Impact of IPR on public health
* Interaction of ISDS with indigenous people
* Impact of IEL on climate justice
* Localising the International - IEL experiences
* Re-evaluating trade and investment policy for grassroots-level actors
* Democratic participation and inclusivity in IEL
* Impact of international-standard setting on local actors
* Inclusive participation of consumers in international standard-setting
* The interplay between international human rights law and IEL
* Role of trade agreements in enhancing inclusivity and sustainable development
* Leveraging IEL for benefiting local actors
* Interdisciplinary analysis of IEL

 

 

**We welcome critical and interdisciplinary perspectives, South Asian and global case studies and approaches.**

**Please make submissions and enquiries to [southasiaiel@gmail.com](http://southasiaiel@gmail.com/)****[.](http://southasiaiel@gmail.com/)**

LOCAL APPROACHES TO INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW

The Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE)’s building block on EU values in International Trade is organizing the third edition of its annual informal workshop on EU trade and investment policy, to take place on Friday, 6 December 2024. Building on earlier editions on the trade-security nexus (2022) and the unilateral turn in EU trade and investment policy (2023), we are inviting scholars to submit abstracts on issues connected to the role of ‘economic security’ in EU trade and investment policy. Participants can submit their abstracts  until Friday, 27 September 2024.

Economic security has taken centre stage in the European Commission’s trade strategy. In July 2023, the Commission adopted an [economic security strategy](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52023JC0020), and in January 2024 it launched its [economic security package ](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_24_363)in which it proposed, among other things, significant reforms to the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation. The blurring of trade and security has been visible in many corners of EU trade policy, ranging from the FDI Screening Regulation, over the Anti-Coercion Instrument to the EU’s export control rules on dual-use items and their application to EU-based research organisations. These are also intertwined with the EU’s extensive use of economic sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

## Abstracts

Economic security can be examined from various angles and through different disciplinary lenses. We invite scholars in the in the fields of law, political science, economics, international relations, history, etc. to **submit abstracts (max. 500 words) by Friday, 27 September 2024 to Thomas Verellen**: [t.e.verellen@uu.nl](mailto:t.e.verellen@uu.nl).

We particularly welcome abstracts that question the concept of economic security and the role it plays in discourses within the EU trade law/policy epistemic communities, or that engage with the repercussions of the EU’s economic security agenda on non-trade related constitutional values such as the rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy. Interrogations on the legality of EU trade instruments and their application under international (economic) law principles, or historical or comparative analyses that aim to uncover the drivers and core features of economic security narratives across time and place are also very much welcomed.

## About the workshop

We invite contributions by researchers at all career stages. To discuss and debate work in progress, the workshop will be held in a closed format. **Participants will be expected to submit a paper by Monday, 25 November 2024** (max. 10 000 words) and will receive feedback on their work from experts in the field based in Utrecht and elsewhere.

Selected participants will have the opportunity to submit their final papers for publication in a special issue of the Utrecht Law Review. We may be able to offer limited financial support for travel and lodging. Please indicate in your submission whether you would like to benefit from this.

EU Trade and Investment Law Workshop – ‘Questioning Economic Security’

P﻿lease see the attached PDF for details.

“New Tools Instead of Old Rules? The Changing Instruments of International Economic Law”

**Call For Papers\
2025 University of Delaware Weinberg Center Corporate Governance Symposium and John L. Weinberg/IRRCi Research Paper Award Competition**\
\
The John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance and the Department of Finance at the Lerner College of Business & Economics, at the University of Delaware, will host an in-person academic symposium on Friday, March 14, 2025. We welcome all submissions related to corporate governance. Up to three papers included in the symposium will be selected to each receive the 2025 John L. Weinberg/IRRCi Research Paper Award and a $10,000 prize. For past symposium programs and award winners, please visit <https://ecgi.global/series/university-delaware-ecgi-series>\
\
Both academic and practitioner submissions for the research paper competition are welcome.\
\
PAPER SUBMISSIONS: The deadline for paper submissions is November 22, 2024. There is a non-refundable submission fee of $75 per paper. Please pay the submission fee by going to ***<http://www.udel.edu/weinberg-irrci-paper>***. (If the link does not work, please copy and paste this link in your browser.) Please submit your papers to Louisa Cresson at [Weinberg-corp-gov@udel.edu](mailto:Weinberg-corp-gov@udel.edu), together with a copy of your payment receipt.\
\
JOHN L. WEINBERG/IRRCI RESEARCH PAPER $10,000 AWARD COMPETITION GUIDELINES/PROCEDURES: This research competition is the successor to the IRRCi Investor Research Paper Award, which had become a prominent award garnering significant attention amongst the investment community, academia and policymakers. The John L. Weinberg/IRRCi Research Paper Award, as its predecessor did, highlights innovative research.\
\
Papers should be submitted using the following guidelines. Failure to comply with these guidelines may disqualify papers.\
- Papers must not have been accepted for publication at the time of submission.\
- Papers should be submitted with a cover page that includes the paper title, full name and affiliation of author(s), and a 100-250-word abstract.\
- Please use the following format as the file name when you save your paper: Last name (all caps), underscore, shortened name of paper, period, pdf (e.g., DOE_Shareholder Engagement.pdf).\
\
If selected for the award or as a finalist, it is required that one of the paper’s authors be available to present the paper in-person at the Symposium on March 14, 2025.\
\
FURTHER INFORMATION: General inquiries regarding the competition or the Symposium should be directed to Louisa Cresson at [Weinberg-corp-gov@udel.edu](mailto:Weinberg-corp-gov@udel.edu)\
\
Please note that the selection of winners/finalists, if any, is at the sole discretion of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. The Weinberg Center fully anticipates awarding up to three $10,000 prizes but reserves the right to select no papers as winners in the event papers submitted do not meet the above guidelines and/or the Center does not believe any paper is worthy of the award.

2025 University of Delaware Weinberg Center Corporate Governance Symposium and John L. Weinberg/IRRCi Research Paper Award Competition

Islamic and Jewish Law in the Modern Economy\
Islamic and Jewish Legal Scholars Symposium May 5 & 6, 2025\
University of Villanova School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania

Description: The Islamic and Jewish Legal Scholars Symposium invites submission of paper abstracts for a workshop hosted at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, May 5 & 6, 2025.

The symposium will explore the integration of pre-modern religious law and norms into the modern financial economy. We anticipate that papers will explore the tools used by religious traditions to construct their own commercial law in ways that both align with and diverge from modern state law. Comparative inquiries between Islamic and Jewish law are encouraged, although comparisons to other legal traditions and/or works related to one religious legal tradition are welcome.

Papers are welcome from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to legal studies, including law, sociology, anthropology, politics, and history, from scholars based in law schools and other academic departments.

This symposium is organized by the Islamic and Jewish Legal Scholars Symposium, whose leadership includes Samy Ayoub (UT Austin), Michael Broyde (Emory University), Chaim Saiman (Villanova University), and Rabea Benhalim (University of Colorado).

Applying: Paper abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Chaim Saiman [(saiman@law.villanova.edu)](<mailto:(saiman@law.villanova.edu>) no later than Friday, January 31, 2025. Submissions are welcome from academics at all levels: tenured, pre-tenure, non-tenure track, fellows, visiting assistant professors, adjunct professors, graduate students, etc.

Funding: Meals and lodging will be provided for all attendees. Limited, additional travel funds may also be available.

Calling All Papers!

Banking and Finance

University of Georgia

Banking and Finance