The National Economic Society (NEA), American Association of Hispanic Economists (ASHE) and The Griot Institute for Africana Studies at Bucknell University announce and invite paper submissions for a summer conference entitled Freedom and Justice: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be held August 1- 2, 2014 at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa.

"Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted. Freedom and justice must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races, and the struggle must be continuous, for freedom is never a final act, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political, and religious relationships." --
A. Philip Randolph

The conference seeks to call attention to the words of A. Philip Randolph, labor activist and civil rights leader as we mark the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Randolph and other activists linked racial justice with economic justice for all. The conference will provide a forum for discussion of ongoing racial-ethnic economic disparities and policy recommendations designed to counter them.

Papers/Panels of Special Interest Include:

Black and Latino/a Labor Activism
The Changing American Workforce:
African American and Latino/a Labor
Economic Justice and Race-Ethnicity
Black/Latino Incarceration and Jobs
Employment and Earnings Disparities
Poverty and Race-Ethnicity
Immigration and Jobs
Community Development
Housing, Wealth, and Segregation
Education: Access, Earnings, Policies
Health Disparities

We invite scholars to explore these and other questions at our interdisciplinary summer conference. All presentations will be considered for inclusion in a conference book publication.

Our keynote speaker will be James Stewart, Professor Emeritus of Labor and Employment Relations, African and African American Studies, and Management and Organization at Penn State University. His Ph.D. is in Economics (University of Notre Dame - 1976). Former administrative positions include Vice Provost for Educational Equity and Director of the Black Studies Program. Dr. Stewart’s research interests include Diversity Management, Globalization, and Africana Studies. His ten books include Black Families: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, The Housing Status of Black Americans, W.E.B. Du Bois on Race and Culture: Philosophy, Politics and Poetics, African-Americans and Post-Industrial Labor Markets, Managing Diversity in the Military, Flight in Search of Vision, and African Americans in U.S. Labor Markets. He has published over sixty articles in Economics and Black Studies professional journals and is a former editor of The Review of Black Political Economy, past-President of the National Economic Association, past-President of the National Council for Black Studies, and Past President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
Abstracts of approximately 200 words should be sent as Word attachments to griot@bucknell.edu. Only e-mail submissions will be considered. Conference presentations must be no longer than 15 minutes. The abstract submission deadline is April 15, 2014. Abstracts must include presenter’s name, title, affiliation, physical mailing address, e-mail address, phone number(s), and any audio/visual requests. We invite submissions for individual papers as well as for panels. Proposed panels should include discussants. Presenters will be notified of status by May 1st. All presenters and attendees must register for the conference in order to attend.

The Conference registration fee is $150.00 and will include breakfast and lunch for both conference days. A Gala dinner will be a separate ticketed item. The conference registration and hotel information will be on-line and available once submissions have been accepted.

Bucknell University is located in the charming town of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, known for its Victorian architecture and tree-lined and lamp post lit streets. The town is within a 3-hour drive from metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. The closest airports are Williamsport, Pa; State College, Pa; and Harrisburg, Pa.