History

The International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) is a non-profit organization that seeks to advance feminist inquiry of economic issues and to educate economists and others on feminist points of view on economic issues. IAFFE was conceived as a result of small group discussions at the American Economic Association Conference, in Washington, DC in 1990. Women economists found each other to discuss the difficulties in doing feminist work and their desire for conversation with like-minded economists. The session, “Can Feminism Find a Home in Economics?” attracted an overflow crowd, many of whom became a part of an initial mailing list of people interested in feminist economics.

A year-long collaborative process yielded an organization: the International Association for Feminist Economics. IAFFE was formally incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1992. In 1997 IAFFE gained NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

IAFFE has approximately 600 members in 64 countries. While the majority of IAFFE’s members are economists, the group also includes scholars in other disciplines, students, activists, and policy makers.