The International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) is a non-profit international association dedicated to raising awareness and inquiry of feminist economics. It has some eight hundred members in over 90 countries. The association publishes a quarterly journal entitled Feminist Economics.
In 1990 Diana Strassmann organized a panel named, Can feminism find a home in economics? in which a number of scholars, including Nobel Prize-winner Claudia Goldin, participated. Strassmann credits Goldin for suggesting the panel's title. Jean Shackelford and April Aerni specifically invited members of the audience to join a start-up network for economists which would be overtly feminist in outlook. In 1992 this network became the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) with Shackleford becoming the first president.
By 2003 IAFFE had more than five hundred members from over thirty countries. The association's president from 2003 to 2004 was Lourdes BenerÃÂa. Shahra Razavi paid tribute to BenerÃÂa in a speech at the IAFFE conference in 2012 describing BenerÃÂa's work as, "not only empirically grounded and conceptually informed, but also contributing to a feminist critique that is systemic and connected to a broader critique of capitalism".
IAFFE was awarded a grant of $1.5 million in 2010 from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), to continue their work, including the publication of special issues of Feminist Economics. Since then the association has gone on to number eight hundred members in over ninety countries.
Starting in 2022 the organization entered a new, increasingly dynamic phase of its existence. This builds to some extent on the paradoxical success of its 2020 Conference: due to be held in Quito in 2020, it was postponed for a year due to COVID, and then had to move entirely online when it took place in 2021. The Conference's online nature attracted a large participation and set the ground for a new and rich series of online events. Online events include introductions to key topics in Feminist Economics, such as sessions on Feminist Macroeconomics with Diane Elson and Jayati Ghosh, or on the Purple Economy with Ipek Ilkkaracan.
In 2023 IAFFE launched new activities on teaching Feminist Economics and on identifying barriers to Feminist Economics.
The Association's funders now include Co-Impact and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. IAFFE's Annual Conferences receive regular support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and others.
One of IAFFE's main activities is its annual Conference. The most recent took place at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in July 2025. IAFFE also takes part in the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA) annual conference every year.
IAFFE offer a prize scholarship in memory of former associate editor of Feminist Economics (1994âÂÂ1998), Rhonda Williams. In 2014 the amount awarded was $1,500 to be given out at their summer conference to allow underrepresented groups in IAFFE attend the conference and present a paper. Award winners must demonstrate a commitment to one or more of the following issues: inequalities; interrelationships (racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism); and connections between scholarship and activism. Funding is provided by both Routledge and, Taylor & Francis. IAFFE also offers other prizes for published works or service to Feminist Economics.
This is list of who is sitting on the board of IAFFE.
This is a list of presidents of the IAFFE.