Scotland, Europe and Empire in the Age of Adam Smith and Beyond

ECSSS returns to Europe for the first time in six years when it holds its 2013 conference in Paris, jointly sponsored by the International Adam Smith Society. The conference organizer is Jean-François Dunyach of the Sorbonne’s Centre Roland Mousnier.

The theme of the conference is eighteenth-century empire. What role did Scotland play in the British Empire (and other empires), from the Americas in the west to Asia in the east? How did Scots interact with Europeans at home and abroad? How was the concept of empire theorized in the emerging, largely Scottish discipline of political economy, especially in the work of Adam Smith? How was the theme of empire addressed in novels, plays, and other works of imaginary literature, as well as in travel literature, religious and philosophical works, and other genres? The conference will also include papers on the later impact of Adam Smith’s thought, especially on empire. As at all ECSSS conferences, proposals for papers and panels on other aspects of eighteenth-century Scottish culture and history will also be welcome.

The conference will kick off on Wednesday 3 July with a plenary lecture by Emma Rothschild of Harvard University, on “Overseas at Home: France and Scotland in the Eighteenth Century.” This will be followed by three days of concurrent panels, a plenary lecture by Amartya Sen of Harvard University on a topic to be announced, and a concluding plenary lecture by Michael Biziou of the University of Nice on “Kant and Smith as Critics of Hume’s Theory of Justice: Property, Poverty and Redistribution of Wealth.” There will also be a concert by the Sorbonne Scholars (Thursday); a visit to Le Musée Carnavalet—the museum of the history of Paris—followed by a buffet (Friday); and a conference dinner at Paris’s oldest restaurant, the famous Le Procope (Saturday). Thanks to generous support from the Sorbonne, all of this will be included in the comprehensive registration fee of €135 (€110 for graduate students, retirees, and guests).

Contact: Richard B. Sher ([email protected]).