EXTENDED DEADLINE

Special Issue: “COVID and Capitalism” (downloadable pdf)

Special Issue Collective: Sara Cantillon*, Elif Karaçimen*, Lawrence King, David Kotz, Jeff Powell, Juan Santarcángelo*, Nuno Teles [*RRPE Editorial Board Member]

EXTENDED DEADLINE for submissions: 31 August 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only shown inherent flaws in the capitalist system but also deepened them. It has had major political-economic effects around the world. Millions of people have lost their jobs, the number of people living in extreme poverty has grown substantially, and the already heavy burden of unpaid work borne by women has increased. At the same time, the wealth of the ten richest billionaires doubled since the start of the pandemic.

We are looking for articles that provide radical political economic analysis of the pandemic. The following is a list of possible subjects for the special issue, although any submission that is related to the topic is welcomed:

1. The COVID-19 pandemic and its high costs are not simply an act of nature. How has neoliberal capitalism promoted the emergence of pandemics and made society less able to respond effectively to pandemics?
2. The pandemic has highlighted the severe underproduction of public goods and services in the Global North and South. How has it demonstrated the importance of public policy as evident in different policy responses and recovery patterns (e.g., across Latin America, East Asia, and Africa)?
3. How has the pandemic produced macroeconomic dynamics different from the usual under capitalism, including an unusual business cycle and a burst of inflation in the Global North (especially the United States) whose causes appear to be different from prior inflationary episodes since the late 1940s?
4. What has the pandemic shown regarding the realities, potential, and limitations of monetary policy?
5. What are the dynamics behind the changing income inequality and employment during the pandemic? For instance, how come the pandemic appears to have increased wealth inequality while simultaneously leading to rising real wages for some groups of low-wage workers in the Global North (especially in the United States)?
6. What are the differential impacts of the pandemic across social classes, demographic groups, countries, and regions, and how has it contributed to the global imbalances between the Global North and South?
7. Foreign debt had reached alarming levels in the Global South even before the pandemic. How has the slowdown of the capital flows to these countries affected the subordinate financial position of the Global South?
8. How has the intensification of care work during the pandemic affected the social reproduction of the capitalist system and gender inequality?

If you intend to submit a paper, or have questions, please contact Elif Karaçimen as soon as possible elifkaracimen@gmail.com

All submissions undergo RRPE’s regular peer review procedures and must not be under review with any other publication. Submissions must conform to the Instructions to Contributors listed on the RRPE website, or available from the Managing Editor, editor.rrpe@urpe.org.