Democracies and open societies have recently suffered a number of setbacks. As the adverse impacts of financial crises, inequalities in wealth and income, globalized trade and capital mobility have become more pronounced the world is increasingly threatened by authoritarian populism. In this context of turmoil, many of the accepted doctrines and policies that had previously been taken for granted have been challenged, and concerns have been raised regarding the possible futures of economically and politically "open societies".
These and related issues will be addressed during the Fourth Conference of the World Interdisciplinary Network for Institutional Research (WINIR), which is organized in close collaboration with Utrecht University's "Institutions for Open Societies" research programme. The conferencewill take place in Utrecht from September 14 to 17, 2017. Keynotes lectures, representing three academic discriplines, will be given by: Johanna Mair (Hertie School of Governance, management), James Robinson (University of Chicago, politics), Juliet Schor (Boston College, sociology). For the call for papers and more details on the conference, click here.