Curious about the World Economic History Congress: Three quick questions

By anna [dot] lothman [at] ehl [dot] lu [dot] se (Anna Löthman) - published 11 July 2025

The World Economic History Congress (WEHC) is an international and interdisciplinary event, taking place every third year, and this year, it’s being held in Lund. With the congress fast approaching, we naturally wanted to learn more — and who better to ask than Professor Mats Olsson serving as host on behalf of the Department of Economic History.

What makes the World Economic History Congress unique compared to other academic conferences?

“Well, the WEHC is organized every third year and is by far the most important periodic event for scholars in the discipline. It brings together scholars from all around the globe with a multitude of research interests and methodological approaches, not only economic history, but also e.g. economics, business, political science, history and demography. It is a great honour and recognition, not only to EKH Lund but to Economic history in Sweden, to arrange this world congress in 2025. This is not only the largest scientific conference in Lund so far (all disciplines) but probably also the largest ever been organized within any of the economic disciplines in Sweden.”

This year’s theme is “Equality and Sustainability Challenges.” Why was that theme chosen, and what kinds of questions will it raise?

“The theme highlights some of the central issues facing humanity today and also connects to a broad and diverse range of historical problems. To address both the challenges and to find insights from the historical record for that endeavour, a range of perspectives will be necessary.”

What can participants expect when they come to Lund for the WEHC 2025?

“They can expect a beautiful summery Lund. The congress takes place in AF Borgen, Kulturen, Universitetshuset, Palaestra, and a large congress pavilion in Lundagård, so participants get to experience our historic city center. There will be 19 parallel sessions over four full days, poster sessions, three highly interesting keynotes, two mingles, excursions, etc.”

Listen to the keynotes

The congress in Lund will run for a full week starting on 28 July, featuring a rich and varied programme. Updates will be shared regularly via LUSEM’s social media channels. The congress’s keynote lectures will also be streamed on YouTube. Below you’ll find key dates, information, and relevant links.

WEHC Keynote 1.
28th of July 2025. 9:30am. AF Borgen Lund.
Work, Gender, Race and Class: Towards Intersectional Political Economics?
Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk (Utrecht University)

https://youtube.com/live/TUiQk1C9APE

WEHC Keynote 2.
28th of July 2025. 6pm. AF Borgen Lund.
Big Data and Machine Learning Explorations of Economic History and Collective Memory
César A. Hidalgo (Toulouse School of Economics)

https://youtube.com/live/NvF1Wzz1Tjk

WEHC Keynote 3.
30th of July 2025. 6pm. AF Borgen Lund.
Greening the Past, Informing the Future: Economic History’s Dual Role in Sustainability Challenges
Mar Rubio-Varas (Public University of Navarra)

https://youtube.com/live/GMu7y4sf8uA