Newsletter 2 - March 2026

Dear EAEPE members,

Welcome to the second issue of the EAEPE Newsletter.

The purpose of the Newsletter is to strengthen communication within the Association community, between those involved in the Governance of the EAEPE (Council members, Committee members, Research Area Coordinators) and EAEPE members, as well as among the members themselves. The newsletter aims to provide information on the various activities and events organised and sponsored by the EAEPE, as well as on EAEPE publications, particularly those published in the Review of Evolutionary Political Economy. It also aims to serve as a platform for interested members to share topics and activities they consider to be of common interest.

In this issue, we present information about the Annual 2026 Conference, which will take place from 9 to 11 September in Lausanne, Switzerland. The central theme is ‘Global Transformations of Labour’, and we are looking forward to discuss how new forms of automation, communication technologies, and geopolitical dynamics are reshaping the political economy of work. The Conference will host various Special Sessions but we are especially curious about the two EAEPE funded sessions close to the main theme on ‘Gender, Labour, and Technological Changes’ and ‘Transformations in Agricultural Labor’ and want to thank the organisers for their efforts. The Conference will also feature two remarkable keynotes on the political economy of labour. Sara Lafuente, from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), will speak on the topic of ‘Workers’ participation and democracy at work’. And Vili Lehdonvirta, from Aalto University, will discuss ‘Digital platforms, data infrastructures, AI and workers’.

Another great EAEPE event will take place on the 11th of June in Herford, Germany. The Research Area [X] ‘Knowledge, Networks and Regions’ is holding the workshop “From Creative Destruction to Successful Transformation”. Many thanks to Mohammed Kudic, Lukasz Wisniewski, Andreas Pyka, and Ben Vermeulen.

We are also glad to announce the new Secretariat and Council for the next two years on these pages. Many thanks to all members who have participated in the elections. You can find more details about the council on the website.

After these announcements, the newsletter includes a number of interviews with people from around the Association. We had a conversation with Aimilia Protogerou and Esin Yoruk who are editing a Collection in the Review of Evolutionary Political Economy on the topic of Driving Socio-Economic Change through AI and Digitalization: Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Risks.

We are finally happy to share the interviews we made with the Winnners of the 2025 EAEPE Prizes. Fausto Gernone, Bakou Mertens, Paschalis A. Arvanitidis & George Papagiannitsis, and Phillip Anthony O’Hara all took the time to speak with us about their work, their pespectives, and their relationship with our Association.