For further information contact Lyla Mehta (L.Mehta@ids.ac.uk) and Oliver Burch (O.Burch@ids.ac.uk).

Scarcity is considered to be the ubiquitous feature of the modern condition and the scarcity postulate (i.e. that human wants are unlimited and the means to achieve these are scarce and limited) underpins modern economics.  Some economists see scarcity as essential to the definition of economics. Scarcity is also widely used as an explanation for social organisation, social conflict and the resource crunch confronting humanity's survival on the planet. Scarcity is made out to be an all-pervasive fact of our lives - be it around housing, food, water or oil. The scarcity of these essential commodities and resources is used as an explanation for growing environmental conflicts and human insecurity.

The proposed workshop will tease out propositions and questions from an interdisciplinary perspective, based on short commentaries and submissions from a few leading thinkers.   The first half of the workshop will focus on the conceptual challenges. The second half will compare and contrast different resources, (food, water, energy) in order to unpack the policy, institutional and practical dimensions across the different material characteristics of resources.  The workshop is the culmination of an ESRC Science in Society research project titled ‘Science, Technology and Water Scarcity: Investigating the ‘Solutions.’ It is funded by the ESRC Science in Society Research Programme.

Day 1 June 6 2005

9.00- 9.30 Registration and coffee

9.30 – 12.30 Sessions 1 and 2: Introduction and the legacy of the scarcity postulate

These sessions provide the context for the workshop and will unpack the taken-for-granted nature of scarcity and examine its far-reaching implications for a range of issues and debates, e.g. politics of allocation, science and technology and population debates

Lyla Mehta

Steve Rayner

Nick Xenos

Betsy Hartmann

Coffee Break 11 – 11.30

Discussant: James Fairhead

Discussion

12. 30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30 Session 3: Economics and scarcity

This session will ask economists to reflect on the role played by scarcity in economics, if possible in historical perspective, and ask whether its naturalisation is really a problem. The aim is also to highlight a diversity of perspectives within economics.

John Toye

Ben Fine (paper only)

Fred Luks

Franck Amalric

Discussant: Lawrence Haddad

15.30 – 16.00 Tea:

Sessions 16.00-18.00: Resource scarcity, institutional arrangements, policy responses and innovation systems (Food, water and energy)

These sessions will examine scarcity debates across three resources (food, water and energy) to examine policy and institutional responses to ‘scarcity’ as well as their implications for innovation/ science and technology. The aim is to examine similarities and differences across resources having very different material, cultural and symbolic characteristics.

16.00 – 17.30 Session 4: Food and agriculture

Ian Scoones

Erik Millstone

Nick Hildyard

Discussant: Tim Forsyth

18.00 onwards Drinks and dinner at IDS

Day 2 June 7, 2005

9.00 – 10.30 Session 5: Water

Barbara van Koppen and Bruce Lankford

Jasveen Jairath

Jean Robert

Discussant: Alan Nicol

10.30 – 11.00 Coffee

11.00 – 12.30 Session 6: Energy

Steve Oga Abah and Jenks Okwori

Dipak Gyawali and Ajaya Dixit

Discussant: Jan Selby

Lunch : 12.30 – 14.00

14.00 – 16.00 Session 7 : Ways forward: Alternatives to globalised and universalised notions of scarcity

Commentaries from a few participants will explore alternatives to universalised notions of scarcity (e.g. precaution, waste, scarcities, entitlements etc.) as well as provide reflections on the discussions of the two days

Melissa Leach

Michael Thompson (paper only)

Shiv Visvanathan

Brian Wynne

Sheila Jasanoff

16.30 – 17.00 Tea

16.30 – 17.00 Session 8: Wrap Up

Dinner for those who are still around