CEGBI/SBS Summer Conference 2026
Event details
The End of the Rules-Based Order? Institutions in Crisis
The CEGBI Summer Conference 2026 welcomes submissions from scholars across disciplines whose work engages with the theme “The End of the Rules-Based Order? Institutions in Crisis.” We invite contributions that explore how institutions are being reshaped, challenged, or reconfigured in response to political, economic, social, technological, and environmental pressures.
The conference aims to bring together scholars from across the School for Business and Society and beyond to reflect on one of the defining challenges of our time: the apparent erosion of the rules-based international order and the growing strain placed on political, economic, legal, and social institutions.
Across business, government, and civil society, long-standing institutional arrangements are being challenged by geopolitical fragmentation, economic nationalism, climate change, technological disruption, and growing societal polarisation. This conference provides an interdisciplinary forum to examine how institutions adapt, fail, or are reshaped under these pressures, and what this means for business, policy, governance, and society more broadly.
The conference also provides space to reflect on teaching, research, and engagement in times of institutional uncertainty, including questions of pedagogy, inclusion, academic practice, and the role of universities in shaping future leaders.
Key topics include, but are not limited to: The future of the rules-based international order; Institutional breakdown, resilience, and reform; Global governance, geopolitics, and business strategy; Climate change, sustainability, and institutional responses; Regulation, law, and corporate accountability; Inequality, social justice, and political economy; Business ethics and legitimacy in times of crisis; The role of higher education in uncertain times; Innovation in teaching, assessment, and academic practice; Interdisciplinary approaches to global challenges.
Keynote Speaker: Professor John Hudson, Dean of School for Business and Society, University of York
All members of staff from the School for Business and Society (SBS) are invited to participate, as well as all PhD students and associate members, both internal and external to the university. Contributions are also welcome from researchers from other departments at the University of York with broad interests related to the interdisciplinary theme of the conference.
The conference will take place in Heslington Hall and is free to attend. Refreshments, lunch, and a drinks reception at the end of the conference will be provided. For further information and updates on the Summer Conference please check the CEGBI website.
For any queries, you can also contact the conference's organising committee:
Professor Teresa da Silva Lopes (teresa.lopes@york.ac.uk); Dr Maria Franco Gavonel (maria.francogavonel@york.ac.uk); Dr Malek El Diri (malek.eldiri@york.ac.uk); and Dr Emad Elkhashen (emad.elkhashen@york.ac.uk).