250 Years of the Wealth of Nations: New Perspectives on Adam Smith’s Political Economy

250 Years of the Wealth of Nations:

New Perspectives on Adam Smith’s Political Economy

YSI Pre International Adam Smith Society Conference Workshop in Glasgow, June 2026

Pre-conference workshop, 16 June 2026

Glasgow, UK

This pre-conference workshop offers young and early career scholars working on Adam Smith a chance to discuss their work in detail with peers in a friendly and supportive context, and to get feedback from world-leading Smith scholars.

Introduction

The YSI History of Economic Thought working group is organizing a one-day pre-conference workshop on 16 June 2026 ahead of the International Adam Smith Society (IASS) annual conference in Glasgow, UK (17-20 June 2026).  This is an excellent opportunity for up to six young scholars working on Smith to be able to discuss their work in detail with peers and senior scholars.

2026 marks the 250^th anniversary of Adam Smith’s magnum opus, the Wealth of Nations. Seeking to build on the momentum of Smith’s 2023 tercentenary, this major anniversary invites scholars to revisit his groundbreaking work of political economy.  A special issue of the Adam Smith Review and of the Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics will mark this anniversary and scholars presenting at this workshop and the subsequent conference will be invited to submit their papers for publication. The workshop’s title “New Perspectives on Adam Smith’s Political Economy”, deliberately leaves space for a broad range of approaches to re-interpreting Smith’s great work, including, but not limited to:

• The historical significance and legacy of Smith’s political economy
• Situating Smith’s major treatise in the political and intellectual context of its time
• Explorations of Smith’s ideas on poverty, inequality, empire, colonialism, slavery, corporate power and the environment
• Re-interpreting Smith’s political economy in the context of his wider philosophy

Description

Participants will be asked to pre-circulate some written material two weeks prior to the date of the workshop.  This could be a full paper, if available, or shorter draft material (suggested 4000-9000 words).  The workshop itself will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions.  In each session, the participants will have the opportunity to present their work briefly and discuss it with peers and our senior Smith scholars. Catering will be provided.

The workshop is a one-day event, but is intended as a complement to the main IASS conference, offering participants chances to discuss their work in greater detail than is normally possible in conference panels, and enhancing opportunities for networking with peers and senior scholars.

Participants

IMPORTANT:  This is intended as a pre-conference, rather than a standalone, workshop.  Participants will therefore also need to be registered for the main IASS conference.  We are aiming to cover travel costs (up to US$ 200), and accommodation for two nights (the one before and the other after the workshop), but funding limits mean that we will not be able to provide accommodation for the whole of the conference duration, or cover conference fees.  Participants are therefore advised to seek alternative sources of funding for these costs, where possible.

We will bring up to 6 young scholars, whose research is related to the theme of the workshop, to participate, present and discuss their work.  The aim is to make this group as diverse as possible and to bring individuals from different parts of the world.

If you are interested in attending the workshop you should:
(i) be a young scholar (masters, PhD, post-doc);
(ii) click the “Apply now” button and fill out the form, including a title and abstract (up to 250 words) for the paper you wish to present by 8th February 2026.

We will let applicants know the outcome by 20^th February 2026.