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The “Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Global Political Economy in the 21st Century” was presented to Professor Dimitris Patelis of the School of Production Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Crete by the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE).
The award ceremony took place on August 5, 2026, during the opening plenary session of the 19th Annual Forum of WAPE, hosted by the University of Greenwich in London, under the central theme “The Wealth of Nations in the Multipolar Age.”
This prestigious distinction was established by WAPE and is awarded by its Council to scholars and researchers whose work represents a distinguished contribution to the development of Political Economy.
Professor D. Patelis received the award, among other reasons, in recognition of his contribution to highlighting the dialectics of the development of Political Economy, as reflected in his doctoral dissertation, his monograph Philosophical and Methodological Analysis of the Making of Economic Science (Moscow, 1991), and his article “The Dialectics of the Development of Political Economy” (Review of Economic Sciences, Issue 6, 2004, pp. 103–128).
These works undertake a logical and methodological analysis of the history of pre-Marxian Political Economy in an effort to elucidate the laws and contradictions governing the creation of the conditions for, the initial emergence of, and the subsequent formation of economic science.
Particular emphasis is placed on the movement of thought from the external to the internal, from the surface to the essence of the object of inquiry, as well as on the ascent of cognition from the sensuously concrete to the abstract.
This approach makes possible a theoretical periodization of the history of Political Economy based on the transformations and development of its conceptual and categorical system—that is, its method.
Within this framework, classical bourgeois thought is examined as a historically specific totality, characterized by diversity and complexity, encompassing different conceptions of economics, politics, social philosophy, and the theory of knowledge.
This historical approach to the critical epistemological juncture of bourgeois Political Economy makes it possible, from this research perspective, to identify a spectrum of divergent tendencies: on the one hand, tendencies toward the dissolution of science and rationality itself, and on the other, tendencies toward elevating the Political Economy of capitalism to the level of its maturity.
The latter direction is associated with the systematic theoretical reflection of its object—the system of capitalist relations of production—through concepts and categories, in a synthesis of multiple determinations that capture the unity of its different aspects.
The World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) is an international, non-profit academic organization founded in 2004 with the aim of promoting Marxist and progressive Political Economy at the global level.
Among WAPE’s principal objectives are:
- applying and developing contemporary economic theory to analyze the fundamental problems, trends, and prospects of the global economy and individual national economies;
- exploring political and economic proposals, avenues, and measures that promote social progress and improve human well-being worldwide;
- establishing and networking a platform for communication and the exchange of views among academics, university scholars, and researchers, with the aim of overcoming geographical and linguistic barriers.
WAPE also maintains close ties with the Greek Association of Political Economy (GAPE). The 17th Annual Forum of WAPE was held in Athens in August 2024, co-organized and hosted by Panteion University.
The award presented to Professor Patelis by WAPE constitutes recognition of his long-standing research contribution and of his efforts to connect historical, philosophical, and methodological inquiry with the systematic theoretical study of Political Economy.
The video of the award ceremony can be viewed at the following link:
