About the Book
Today’s economies fail to recognise that we are in a rapidly worsening crisis, reproducing and often worsening vast and harmful inequalities between people and countries. The current models are unsustainable, and at a time when global temperatures are rising and divides are deepening, humanity is left in a rapidly worsening situation of its own making, the destruction of the living world, which will make large parts of the earth uninhabitable.
Without access to the knowledge, skills or tools to build a better future, local, national and global economies will continue to fail to address the interlinked challenges of systemic racism, inequalities faced by women, the Covid-19 pandemic and the nature and climate emergency.
Across the world, economics students are coming together under the banner of the student movement, Rethinking Economics, to create a better economics – one which can help to create a world where all our children can flourish regardless of their gender, background or birthplace.
Drawing on over sixty interviews with students and professionals from identities and backgrounds marginalised in economics and a wide range of global and historical research, this book illustrates the ways in which the discipline is currently not fit for purpose and sets out a vision for how it can be diversified, decolonised and democratised.
The struggle to reclaim economics could not be more crucial - our futures depend on it. This book explains how it can be done.
This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8, Decent work and economic growth
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part I: What has gone wrong with economics?
1 Undiverse and uninclusive – With contributions from Ariane Agunsoye, Michelle Groenewald, Danielle Guizzo and Bruno Roberts-Dear
2 Harmful hierarchies – With contributions from Ariane Agunsoye, Michelle Groenewald and Danielle Guizzo
3 Blind to structural inequality
4 Whitewashes history
5 Undermines democracy and development – With contributions from Brototi Roy and Francesca Rhys-Williams
Part II: Reclaiming economics
6 Reforming academia – With contributions from Ariane Agunsoye, Michelle Groenewald, Danielle Guizzo and Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt
7 Everyday democracy – With contributions from Kamal Ramburuth-Hurt
8 For future generations
Appendices
Index
About the Author :
Lucy Ambler, Researcher at Rethinking Economics and Intersectionality Advocate, is a passionate feminist and a campaigner for menstrual health rights following her previous research projects in East Africa. She lives in Manchester with her boyfriend and her ever-growing book collection.
Joe Earle is Chief Executive of Economy, a charity which supports people, particularly those currently furthest from power, to shape the economy to achieve what matters to them. He is a founding member of Rethinking Economics and a member of the Foundational Economy Collective.
Nicola Scott, Research Manager at Rethinking Economics, investigated the political economy of GM crops during her PhD research in Mexico/US, then published articles for Ethical Consumer about corporate social responsibility. She has taught social science students at university to think critically about what they study. Nicola has been an environmental activist for over fifteen years.
Review :
‘Here comes a book full of insightful challenges to the economic mindset that has been handed down through textbooks and classrooms worldwide. The authors clearly demonstrate the power of questioning and unlearning that inheritance. But they also show what it would mean to diversify, decolonise and democratise economics to make it fit for our times, and those that lie ahead. If future generations were here today, they’d surely urge us to read this book.’
Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
‘Reclaiming economics for future generations exposes harmful hierarchies in the economics discipline and raises crucial questions about their origins, persistence, as well as how to challenge them. An important book for anyone looking to build a better economics.’
Ingrid Kvangraven, Assistant Professor in International Development, King’s College, London, and co-author of Decolonizing Economics: An Introduction
‘This book elucidates the impediments which confront women, people of colour and the marginalised in pursuing economics. More than that, it challenges the reader to understand these impediments as a vital step to overcoming them and becoming responsible agents for change. The political situation now requires such realism. Today, ever-growing numbers of people are more dissatisfied with the existing social conditions than before and more open to radical alternatives. Transforming society for the better has never been about simply accepting and working within existing constraints. We cannot create alternatives without first understanding the social impediments that deter us before dreaming, with eyes wide open, the conflicts we need to win. Indeed, now is the time to reclaim economics and offer transformative alternatives, and this book is a solid contribution.’
Dorothy Grace Guerrero, Head of Policy and Advocacy, Global Justice Now!
‘For a long time, the discipline of economics has been challenged for not addressing society’s most depressing outcomes. This challenge has finally been combined with a critique of the discipline’s Eurocentrism, lack of diversity, elitism and blunt blindness towards structural inequalities. Reclaiming economics for future generations does a fantastic job leading this critique. A must-read for everyone who craves a better future.’
Carolina Alves, Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics, University of Cambridge, and co-author of Decolonizing Economics: An Introduction
‘Reclaiming economics for future generations is a thought-provoking tour of the ways in which economics – both its study and its policy advice – does not represent the lives of people around the world and why it must change. It’s a forceful book that deserves attention and debate within the profession.’
Claudia Sahm, Senior Fellow at Jain Family Institute, Founder of Stay-at-Home Macro Consulting, and former Federal Reserve and White House economist
‘Through a meticulously argued, outrage-inducing narrative, the authors make a clear and compelling case for a radical overhaul of economics. A thoroughly readable, well-researched contribution to the field. The voices of economists and students throughout the book truly bring it to life.’
Marion Sharples, Head of International Partnerships and Training, UK Women’s Budget Group
‘For many decades, the economics discipline, particularly its mainstream vintage, has provided the intellectual scaffolding for much of the injustice we see in the world. The Rethinking Economics collective, with this new book, have provided a practical blueprint of how to reorient the discipline and align it with common sense notions of social justice. Reclaiming economics for future generations is essential reading for those of us who believe in the potential for economics to be a force for good in the world.’
Grieve Chelwa, Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, The New School, New York
‘Mainstream economic thinking is one of the main pillars of the hegemonic, uneven and unsustainable mode of living that has led to the multifaceted crisis human societies currently face. This book deconstructs it from different angles, shows its entanglements with several dimensions of social domination, and calls into question the imperative of economic growth and the modern-colonial development paradigm. Written in a collaborative way by representatives of a new generation of economists, it makes a significant contribution to imagining a liveable future for all.’
Miriam Lang, Professor of Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador
‘This courageous book takes on the dominant economic theory, called neoclassical economic theory, that has played a crucial role in perpetuating the prevailing world economic order by refusing to question the structurally embedded racial, gender, class and international power imbalances that underpins it. Combining sophisticated theoretical criticisms, deep engagement with lived experiences and trenchant policy analyses, the book shows how everyone can – and should – participate in repurposing a discipline that is too important to be left to economists alone. It is a beacon for everyone who wants to make the world a better place.’
Ha-Joon Chang, Professor of Political Economy of Development, University of Cambridge, author of 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism and Economics: The User’s Guide
‘These young economists show the way forward for a new economics apt for the pressing questions of the twenty-first century – an economics that is inclusive, ecological and diverse.’
Giorgos Kallis, ICREA Professor, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, author of The Case for Degrowth
'I enjoyed reading the book. It was inspiring to read what a group of young economists had to say. They recognise the importance of understanding history and the structural inequalities derived from it. I agree that social sciences should not isolate themselves from each other. I will recommend it to my students.'
Orlando Hill, Counterfire
'An essential resource for both teachers and sufficiently mature pupils.'
Carolina Salter, National Administrator, National Association for Environmental Education (UK)
'A fantastic book best suited to economists and students & graduates of economics. The discussion and arguments presented in this book leave the reader with a stronger ability to critique this profession and reflect on reforming its growing homogenisation.'
The Economics Book Club
