Economic Geographies in Turbulent Times: Mapping a Changing World
The world is undergoing profound and interconnected transformations. Geopolitical instability, ecological crises, technological change, shifting patterns of production and trade, intensifying inequalities, and the reconfiguration of state power are reshaping the ways economies operate, societies organise, and territories evolve. These transformations are neither uniform nor experienced equally. They emerge through uneven geographies of power, capital, labour, resources, and knowledge, generating new vulnerabilities while opening up possibilities for alternative futures. Understanding these dynamics requires critical attention to the spatial relations, institutional arrangements, and social processes through which contemporary economic life is produced and contested.
Against this backdrop, the 8th Global Conference on Economic Geography (GCEG 2028) will bring together scholars, researchers, and other interested participants from across the world in Rome, Italy, under the theme Economic Geographies in Turbulent Times: Mapping a Changing World. Hosted by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and Sapienza University of Rome, the conference will provide an international forum for examining how economic geography can advance our understanding of a world marked by uncertainty, interdependence, and uneven transformation.
From 4-8 June 2028, Rome will become a meeting point for this global conversation: a space to question established understandings, exchange perspectives across borders, and explore how economic geographies can help us interpret and potentially reshape a changing world.
The involvement of CRiTICAL Lab members in the conference’s organisation is part of a broader effort to strengthen international scholarly exchange and advance critical, geographically grounded approaches to understanding a world in transformation.
