UE Forum 46

65
Social sciences on
freedom
On 21–23 September 2017, the XI National Scientific
Conference “The achievements of modern economic
thought – freedom from the point of view of social
sciences” was held in Ustroń. It was organized by the
School of Economic Thought of the Department of
Economics, UE Katowice.
The conference focused on the broad
concept of freedom. The major topical
themes explored in the talks included:
freedom from the point of view of
social sciences,
freedom as an economic, legal, philosophical,
sociological and political
category,
interpretations of freedom in various
schools of economic thought,
the significance of freedom for the
economic process,
freedom and the state.
The conference consisted of five plenary
sessions, in which 18 papers on the theoretical
and practical aspects of freedom
were delivered. The participants looked at
freedom, as one of the issues addressed
by social sciences, from various angles.
Thus, the conference covered a variety of
topics: the place of freedom in the history
of economic thought (the neoclassical,
Keynesian, ordoliberal, and Austrian
schools), the evolution of the term
itself, and the significance of freedom in
the contemporary digital network reality.
The speakers emphasized the critical
importance of economic freedom for
a well-functioning economy, and pointed
out the necessity of establishing limits to
state interventionism. As freedom plays
a vital role in the socio-economic life, the
talks sparked off lively debates, and the
discussions on the issues examined in the
papers continued in an informal setting,
outside the conference room.
The conference gathered dozens of participants
from Polish higher education
institutions (John Paul II Catholic University
of Lublin, Czestochowa University of
Technology, Opole University of Technology,
Cracow University of Economics,
Poznań University of Economics and
Business, University of Gdansk, University
of Lodz, Nicolaus Copernicus University
in Toruń, Wrocław University of Environmental
and Life Sciences, University
of Wrocław). The reviewed conference
papers will be published by the Publishing
House of the University of Economics
in Katowice.
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Od lewej / From left: prof. J. Godłów-Legiędź, prof. B. Danowska-Prokop, prof. U. Zagóra-Jonszta, prof. I. Ostoj, fot./photo M. Rolski