Porto Rescheduled for 2023, Welcome to EBHS 2021 Virtual Conference

Posted on: January 6th, 2021 by EBHS
46th EBHS Conference

Dear colleagues, participants and the EBHS community,

As you know, we originally had planned to hold the 46th EBHS Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal in May 2021. However, after heavily weighing all the continued uncertainties regarding the pandemic, (i.e., the timing of vaccination roll-outs around the world, new strands of the coronavirus, etc.), the EBHS board recently has decided to convert the 2021 annual conference into a virtual conference and reschedule Porto to be our venue for 2023.

Our 2021 Virtual Conference will be held from May 18 to May 21. The conference will offer keynotes for each of the conference days. To avoid Zoom fatigue, the schedule for concurrent sessions will be lighter than usual and the event will be spread over four days. Proposals already submitted for both the cancelled Atlanta 2020 and the moved Porto 2021 will be automatically considered. If you have not already submitted a proposal, you can submit an individual paper proposal or a panel for the virtual conference both online (ebhsoc.org) and by email (conference@ebhsoc.org). The EBHS will soon provide further information about the new conference format and the official CfP.

The organizing committee is sympathetic to the problems that our change of plans may cause. Yet, the safety and welfare of all our attendees and the broader community is, and always will be, paramount in our decision-making. We are confident that Porto will be a great place to come in 2023, but the timing was just not right for this year.

The organizing committee for the 2021 Virtual Conference is committed to organizing a welcoming, productive and stimulating event, marked by the collegiality, fruitful exchange of ideas, and innovative thinking that has been a hallmark of EBHS conferences in the past.

All the best and a Happy New Year!

Rodrigo Dominguez

EBHS President-elect

EBHS Statement on Anti-Racism and Diversity

Posted on: August 5th, 2020 by Olli Turunen 1 Comment

The Trustees of the Economic and Business History Society recognize that black lives matter and affirm our commitment to mutual respect and social justice for all.

The worldwide protests sparked by the senseless killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by members of the Minneapolis police department have made this a historic moment and a time for reflection. As historians, we are well aware that equality has been the exception rather than the rule in modern societies. For most of American history, African Americans were treated as if their lives mattered little. Despite legal and political progress, the legacies of slavery, segregation, discrimination, and institutionalized racism remain powerful, in the United States and elsewhere.

Beyond condemning these killings and advocating for reform, what can we do to help eliminate systemic racism and promote equality of opportunity? Although we have much to offer as historians, we also have much to learn. This is an opportunity for us to broaden our teaching and research horizons.

As an organization, we recognize that our own track record in terms of racial diversity leaves much to be desired. We pride ourselves on our inclusion of different fields and methods, our geographic and political diversity, and our collegiality, but we still have much to do to diversify our organization. Our journal and our annual conference have always welcomed submissions of papers on racial inequality, but we can do more to actively solicit such papers going forward.

Real action requires work, resources, and willpower. The EBHS commits itself to realizing the ideals of equality and justice for all. We are in the process of developing an actionable plan for how our organization’s membership, programming, and publications can be as inclusive and diverse as the world we study. We welcome input from the general public. We commit to announcing the actions we plan to implement by August 15, 2020.

You can approach us on social media or email comments and suggestions to diversity@ebhsoc.org.

Call for Papers: 46th Annual Conference of the Economic and Business History Society, Porto, Portugal, May 19th-22nd, 2021

Posted on: May 18th, 2020 by Olli Turunen
EBHS Porto 2021 (photo by Rodrigo Dominguez)

The 46th Economic and Business History Society (EBHS) Annual Conference will be held in Porto, Portugal, at the Sheraton Porto Hotel & Spa. We invite contributions which embrace the range and temporal scope of economic and business history and its connections to other modes of historical investigation. Individual proposals for presentations on any aspect of economic, business, or financial history are welcome, as are proposals for whole panels. We also encourage submissions from graduate students and non-academic affiliates.

Porto is a city full of history and culture, great gastronomy, and its eponymous connection to port wine and the Douro Valley. Echoes of the city’s past can be seen in the Porto Cathedral and the 14th century Fernandine Medieval Wall. Porto is also home to two-time Champions League winners FC Porto, the Serralves Museum of Modern Art and House and the Lello Bookshop.

Our opening keynote will be made by Professor Pablo Martín-Aceña of the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, and our Friday night banquet keynote will be provided by Professor Jaime Reis, of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon in Portugal.

The Conference will be headquartered at the Sheraton Porto Hotel & Spa, located in central Porto and easily accessible via car or the Metro do Porto. The nearest airport to Porto is Francisco Sá Carneiro International Airport, offering connections across Europe, and along with Humberto Delgado International Airport in Lisbon providing a range of flights to North America.

Proposals should include an abstract of no more than 500 words and contact details. The deadline for submission of proposals is January 17th, 2021. The Program Chair will send a notification of acceptance of abstracts by February 14th, 2021. Online registration will be available soon after at www.ebhsoc.org. Proposals may be submitted through the EBHS website or by email to the Program Chair and/or the President.

All papers and panels accepted for the cancelled 2020 EBHS Annual Conference in Atlanta are automatically accepted for this conference, and the Program Chair will contact individual presenters about arrangements or updates to their papers soon.

If you have further questions about the meeting or organization please contact Program Chair Chris Corker (chris.corker@york.ac.uk) or EBHS 2021 President Rodrigo Dominguez (rcdominguez80@gmail.com).

Conference Website

Submit a Paper or Panel