The Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE), organized by the World Bank’s Development Economics (DEC) Vice Presidency, is one of the world’s best-known series of conferences for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge on development. The conference aims to promote the exchange of cutting-edge knowledge among researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners.
The next conference will take place on June 22, 2020 at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The theme of the conference will be “Global Unrest”.
Social unrest across regions is intensifying, from East Asia to Latin America, even as much of this unrest stems from frustrations experienced more locally — within regions and specific country contexts. The forms, sources and intensity of this unrest vary considerably: in some places it is long-simmering concerns over rising economic inequality and opportunity, in others it is more recent populist mobilization around the basis on which particular social identities (e.g., immigrants) confer political rights, while in still others it is the performance and legitimacy of government itself. Perhaps paradoxically, this domestic discontent is occurring at a time when most national and global development indicators continue to show steady (if uneven) improvement.
The ABCDE Organizing Committee is issuing a call for innovative papers that examine the drivers of this global dissatisfaction, its similarities and differences with previous episodes of widespread civic unrest, whether and how such discontent can be addressed, and whether there may be common threads connecting these developments. Of interest are papers which explore these issues with respect one or more of the following sub-themes:
- Rising Inequality
- Rising Aspirations
- Unmet Expectations
- Resistance to Authoritarianism
- The Role of Social Media
- The Use and Abuse of Evidence
Papers that do not fit into these sub-themes, but are related to the main conference theme, are also welcome. The selected papers will be presented in the main sessions of the conference.
Those interested should submit a complete paper (proposals will not be accepted) by Monday, March 16, 2020, 11:59 pm EST through the ABCDE website.
The Organizing Committee will evaluate all papers in terms of originality, analytical rigor, and policy relevance. Authors of accepted proposals will be informed by email by Monday, April 6, 2020. A final draft paper will be required by Monday, May 25, 2020.
For external authors of selected papers, travel and accommodation expenses for the conference will be covered. Additional information on the overall conference program will be posted on the ABCDE website in the coming days. The ABCDE secretariat can be contacted via email at .