About the Journal

The idea for the journal emerged from a series of conferences in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1997, 1999, and 2000. Those conferences focused on Lonergan’s macroeconomic dynamics, the relevance of this analysis to issues of social justice, and the long-term challenge of transforming methods and approaches prevalent in the contemporary academy. In his introduction to volume 1, Michael Shute, the managing editor of the journal from 2001 until 2019, wrote this about the name of the journal:

‘Macrodynamics’ pertains to the long-term and large-scale dynamics of human process, the elements of which are relevant to any specific inquiry. ‘Analysis’ is theoretic understanding which explicitly takes into account the intermeshing of the operations of the subject with the object of investigation. ‘Macrodynamic analysis’ then would explore the ‘upper blade’ or macro-context governing ‘lower blade’ or micro-inquiry in any field. (“Introduction: The Journal of Macrodynamic Analysis,” 1 [2001], 4.)

The hope for the journal was that it would be a step towards an “academic revolution, a quixotic long shot that shifts the way we do business both in the economy and in the academy.” (“Introduction: The Journal of Macrodynamic Analysis,” 7.)