On 3 April, SPERI’s British Political Economy Research Network hosted leading scholars from across the UK to discuss the British Political Economy tradition, a longstanding scholarly approach to studying British capitalism. It marked an opportunity to recognise the valuable contributions of this field of enquiry but also to evaluate what it can and cannot offer to help make sense of Britain in the global political economy today. The event brought together senior scholars who have offered leading contributions to the study of the British political economy as well as early career researchers working in this field. Above all, the event marked an opportunity to celebrate the vital contributions of SPERI’s own Andrew Gamble, a central figure in the field, who offered his reflections on the politics of decline in Britain past and present.
The first session of the day explored the main contributions of the British Political Economy Tradition, and how - if at all - we are able to define that tradition. Speakers were Andrew Gamble, Colin Hay and Ben Clift, chaired by Dillon Wamsley.
The second session was chaired by Ben Clift and entitled 'British Political Economy Today: Beyond the new Labour Government', with contributions from Kate Alexander Shaw, Patrick Diamond and Nick O'Donovan.
The participant then broke for lunch on a sunny Sheffield afternoon, and reconvening for the final panel entitled 'British Capitalism and Crises in the Global Political Economy', chaired by Remi Edwards. Speakers were Scott Lavery, Maha Rafi Atal, Jacquie Best and Adrienne Roberts.
Andrew Gamble then gave a keynote lecture to round off the workshop, asking 'Is Britain in Decline (Again)?'. Andrew built upon his life's work in understanding British capitalism, offering reflections for its future in the rapidly changing global economy.
It was a wonderful end to the day, giving all participants an opportunity to thank Andrew for his contributions to the field as he reaches retirement. Other attendees included Matthew Watson, Peter Burnham, Michael Jacobs, Andrew Hindmoor, Sean McDaniels, Josh White, Nina Lotze, Adam Lloyd and Chris Saltmarsh. SPERI is hugely grateful to Andrew and all others who attended and engaged in the rich discussion, and in particular to Dillon Wamsley who organised the workshop.