The Hellenic Scientific Society for International and European Political Economy (EDEPO) seeks to fill a gap in the systematic study of International and European Political Economy in Greece. While there have been significant individual academic contributions to this broader scholarly field, there has been no prior effort to coordinate the country's academic community engaged in this research. In this context, EDEPO’s founders and members aim to establish a hub for the exchange of scientific perspectives and the promotion of research and educational collaborations in International and European Political Economy.
The need for such an initiative is greater today than ever, as we live in a world characterised by profound and multifaceted crises. From the global financial crisis and the euro crisis that followed, to the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine which triggered energy shocks and inflationary pressures, to the ever-evolving climate crisis and the heightened geopolitical tensions among the world's great powers, recent years have been marked by increasing political and economic instability, prompting discussions about a potential paradigm shift in global history.
At the same time, a series of contemporary challenges in the global economy- including the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its transformative effect on global production, rising levels of public and private debt, the financialization of the economy, the evolving economic and social role of the state, declining international trade flows, and the growing influence of emerging regional actors such as BRICKS- raise questions about the focus and direction of economic policy and regulation at national, regional, and international levels.
In this evolving and unstable political and economic environment, the epistemological approach of International Political Economy is attracting growing interest among scholars both internationally and in Greece. This growing interest in not incidental, as International Political Economy provides the necessary analytical tools to examine the complex interactions among diverse actors in key areas of study such as globalization, international trade, international monetary and financial relations, regionalization processes, international economic development and production, as well as economic and political inequalities.
EDEPO is primarily intended for researchers who examine the international and European economy through a political and institutional perspective applying scientific analysis. This broad perspective encompasses various academic approaches, including International Relations, European Studies, Regional Studies and Comparative Politics, while also maintaining a direct connection to economic sciences. However, rather than focusing on classical economic analysis, EDEPO seeks to highlight and explore the political and institutional factors that shape contemporary international and European economic relations. More broadly it seeks to integrate into its activities academic contributions that analyze the complex interactions between politics and economics at a supranational level.
Based on the above, EDEPO seeks to bring together researchers working on these and related topics, primarily in Greece but also internationally. The expectation is that the exchange fostered through EDEPO’s initiatives- among individual researchers, university laboratories and research centers- will strengthen research and educational collaborations, ultimately enhancing the quality of research produced and promoting the dissemination of findings. EDEPO’s pursuit of partnerships extends beyond Greece, aiming to strengthen the international engagement of the Greek academic community by fostering collaborations and initiatives with universities and scholars abroad.
Ultimately, our goal is to form a permanent channel of communication and cooperation that ensures the steady and sustainable development of a dynamic scientific community in our fields of interest.
