About the Conference
At CATS’ upcoming conference, Rethinking the Tax Paradigm, we explore the intersection of fiscal and monetary paradigms and concrete reforms. From welfare capitalism and import substitution to today’s emphasis on finance, savings, and cheap labor, history has brought global economies into an order that seeks to maintain stable pricing in value chains by suppressing inflation and real wages. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of some economies, such as the BRICS countries, is perceived as a challenge to capital-exporting nations. The result is intensified exploitation of domestic populations to sustain competitiveness and profit margins. Contradictions are growing and discontent is on the rise.
Throughout the conference, we ask how fiscal law and broader policies can address this situation. Can, for instance, modern monetary theory provide an alternative to its austere predecessors, and what conditions would be required for such a shift? What forms of adaptation or “delinking” from international economic paradigms are already underway – and which are possible? Can market economies achieve material equality and maintain it over time, or are elements of a planned economy necessary? Rethinking the Tax Paradigm turns conventional wisdom on its head to approach a future that has yet to be considered.
Sessions and Workshops
Prevailing monetary and fiscal paradigms
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How are production and resource distribution organized today, and what underlying relationships and assumptions shape this order?
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What implications does this have for the development of real wages, profit margins, and social institutions – both in different countries and globally?
Possible monetary and fiscal paradigms
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Which new or ongoing alternative approaches to monetary and fiscal policy are already underway globally, if any, and which could offer more equitable and sustainable social organization, both within countries and worldwide?
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Is it possible to formulate from the lessons of history and current affairs an integrated paradigm from a substantial equality standpoint, and what lessons can be drawn from the rise and fall of past paradigms?
Critical tax law in practice
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How can tax law serve as a tool for redistribution and social change at the nexus between academic knowledge production and concrete policymaking?
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What practical reform proposals and social changes are needed to drive real adaptation
Call for Abstracts
The conference welcomes submissions for abstracts in any of the sessions mentioned above.
Abstracts no longer than 300 words should be submitted via the registration form together with the applicant’s short bio note and affiliation no later than the 1st of May 2025. Selected participants will be notified in the beginning of June.
Deadline for registration to the conference is the 15th of May.
Conference fee and travel reimbursements
There is no conference fee.
Unfortunately, we’re not able to cover the travel costs of this year’s participants other than selected speakers.
This year’s conference will be in hybrid format. We believe in the power of meeting physically. But not all who wish to join the conference are able to attend physically. Therefore, it will be possible to attend digitally as well as physically via zoom.
About the CATS network
The CATS network started in 2024 with its inaugural conference Taxation Without Borders (16-18th of October 2024). The network was started by the tax law scholars Hedvig Lärka, Alice Grudd and Patrik Emblad. Its purpose is to provide a forum for interdisciplinary, international and critical research on taxation and political economy.
If you want to receive information about upcoming conferences, events and information about the CATS network, please sign up on https://lnkd.in/dHVH4wf8
Participation and Registration
The CATS Network aims to foster a collaborative environment for innovative thinking, interdisciplinary research and problem-solving. The conference is open to scholars from different research fields, practitioners, policymakers, and the general public interested in the evolving landscape of taxation and societal impact.
For registration and abstract submission details, please visit the CATS Network website or contact the organizing committee at patrik.emblad@law.gu.se
Please observe that the number of participants is limited.
Support and Funding
This conference is made possible with the support of the Foundation for Economic Research in West Sweden. Thanks to its support we’re able to establish the CATS Network as a pioneering force in tax law research and social critique.
Join us in August 2025 at the University of Gothenburg for an engaging and transformative exploration of taxation's role in contemporary and future societal challenges.
Hedvig Lärka, Alice Grudd and Patrik Emblad
