Calls for Contributions

CALL FOR PAPERS

The History of Economic Thought in Contemporary Curricula: Pedagogical Value and Challenges

Guest Editors:

Daniela Tavasci (Queen Mary University of London)

Angela Ambrosino (University of Turin)

Luigi Ventimiglia (Queen Mary University of London)

The Review of Political Economy invites submissions for a special issue on “The History of Economic Thought in Contemporary Curricula: Pedagogical Value and Challenges.” This issue will explore how the teaching of HET can shape and renew the discipline of economics—not through abstract advocacy, but through grounded pedagogical practice. It will focus on how economic ideas evolve, how they are taught, and how the discipline reproduces itself as a social science.

Rationale and Aims

The marginalisation of the History of Economic Thought within economics curricula has raised fundamental questions about what kind of discipline economics has become—and what kind of discipline it wants to be. The exclusion of historical, methodological, and epistemological reflection risks narrowing economics’ intellectual scope and weakening its self-critical capacities.

At the same time, there is renewed interest in using the history of economic thought as a pedagogical tool to address core economic questions—value, distribution, growth, money, crisis, development, gender, and power—by tracing their conceptual evolution across competing traditions.

This special issue seeks to move beyond general defences of HET, and instead showcase how its integration into teaching transforms the learning of economics. We invite contributions that reflect on how specific topics in economics can be taught more effectively when approached historically, and how such pedagogical strategies contribute to the reproduction and renewal of economics as a social science.

Scope and Topics

We welcome submissions that draw on concrete teaching experience, curriculum design, classroom innovations, and critical pedagogical reflection. Contributions should centre on how economic concepts, theories, or controversies are taught through their historical development and intellectual genealogy.

Topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Pedagogical strategies for teaching classical, Keynesian, Marxian, marginalist, or institutionalist traditions
• Teaching core topics (e.g. value, money, development, inequality) through their historical transformations
• HET in introductory, intermediate, or specialised economics courses
• The role of historical controversy in engaging students and supporting critical thinking
• Examples of how teaching HET exposes assumptions in contemporary models or methods
• Teaching economic thought in interdisciplinary settings or with reference to political economy
• Curriculum integration: embedding HET within micro, macro, finance, or development modules
• How teaching HET makes visible the social, political, and institutional processes through which economics reproduces itself
• Experiences of teaching HET across different institutional, national, or epistemic contexts
• HET, pedagogy, and student reception: motivations, challenges, and unexpected outcomes
• Quantitative analyses comparing educational outcomes across systems where HET is taught, including impacts on students’ academic trajectories, career paths, or critical understanding of economics

We particularly encourage practitioner-oriented papers based on actual teaching examples, rather than abstract theoretical argumentation. The goal is to build a resource that is not only critical, but useful and inspiring for those involved in economics education.

 Key Dates and Process

•  Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 October 2025
• Symposium (mixed mode – in person and online): 7 November 2025 at QMUL, London (click here)
• Full Paper Submission Deadline: 1 June 2026
• Publication Date: 2027

Selected contributors will be invited to present and discuss their work at the symposium on 7 November 2025, which will serve as a forum for exchange, feedback, and collaboration in shaping the special issue.

Submission and Contact

Papers should be submitted via the Review of Political Economy online system. Please indicate clearly that your submission is for the Special Issue on The History of Economic Thought in Contemporary Curricula: Pedagogical Value and Challenges. For enquiries, expressions of interest, or to submit abstracts, please contact Luigi Ventimiglia: l.ventimiglia@qmul.ac.uk