Systemic Inequalities: Emerging from Micro to Macro and back

Structural inequalities shape economic, social, and environmental outcomes at multiple levels, from the micro-dynamics of households and firms to macroeconomic patterns of wealth distribution, growth, and sustainability. This workshop invites scholars from diverse theoretical traditions and empirical approaches to explore how inequalities emerge, persist, and interact across scales—moving from micro to macro and back again.

We welcome contributions from heterodox perspectives, including but not limited to complexity economics, political economy, institutional economics, feminist and postcolonial approaches, ecological economics, and critical development studies. Topics may range from climate justice and financial instability to labor market segmentation, rural poverty, and technological change.

The workshop will feature discussions led by mentors with expertise in complexity economics and structural inequalities, including applications to climate change and rural poverty. Participants will have the opportunity to present ideas, receive feedback, and engage in collaborative dialogue.

We encourage applications from researchers at all career stages and across disciplines. If your work examines inequality in any form—whether through theoretical, empirical, or methodological lenses—this workshop provides a space to connect, reflect, and advance your research within the broader heterodox community.

Please apply via the “Click here to submit your paper” and enter your details as requested. In order to submit to the YSI sessions, please include “YSI 1” before your institutional affiliation in box 3. For “stream” please choose “general” so the conference organisers know that you are applying to the YSI session on structural inequalities.

If you qualify and already submitted a proposal related to this theme, you’ll be considered.