Marx’s Theory of Value at the Frontiers does a deep dive into the fundamentals of value theory to investigate the political economics of today. Güney Işıkara and Patrick Mokre go to its frontiers, where value theory is modified, to explain the explosive crises looming in imperialist conflict and ecological breakdown. They join AHE’s webinar to introduce what Marxist economics has to say about value transfers and ground rent, and what their new empirical approach adds to our understanding of the geopolitical shifts in the last decades.
Decolonizing Economics explores the deeply Eurocentric foundations that shape how economists study the world today. These have rendered the discipline ill-equipped to tackle critical questions, such as structural racism, uneven development, the climate crisis, labour relations, and how structural power shapes economic outcomes. Decolonizing economics entails challenging the norms of neutrality and objectivity that economists claim to speak from, while fostering alternative ways of understanding the economy that take seriously structural power relations and contemporary processes of economic development. Readers will come to understand the political stakes of decolonization and the wide range of scholarship that already exists that can help us grasp economics from non-Eurocentric perspectives. Through such scholarship, we can gain an enriched understanding of capitalism and its relationship to exploitation, colonialism, and racialisation.
We invite economists, policymakers, practitioners, and members of the wider public to join us for an interactive discussion of this timely and fundamental critique of mainstream economics.
This global book webinar series is part of an initiative organised in association with the UN Economist Network, a community of over 500 economists working across UN agencies, regional commissions, and country offices. Its purpose is to increase the visibility and cross-pollination of work by scholars and practitioners advancing fundamental reform of the pedagogy and practice of economic growth and development.
The series seeks to strengthen a network of networks, linking leading thinkers from research, policy, and practice around the world, including younger and mid-career professionals, who are developing new approaches to economic theory and policy with the potential to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the human-centred objectives of social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and human dignity and resilience. We look forward to welcoming you to this important discussion.
Decolonization has long been debated across the social sciences, but the economics discipline has so far avoided such critical engagement. This book provides a much-needed intervention. Dutt, Alves, Kesar, and Kvangraven uncover the deeply Eurocentric foundations that shape how economists study the world today. These have rendered the discipline ill-equipped to tackle critical questions, such as structural racism, uneven development, the climate crisis, labour relations, and how structural power shapes economic outcomes. Decolonizing economics entails challenging the norms of neutrality and objectivity that economists claim to speak from, while fostering alternative ways of understanding the economy that take seriously structural power relations and contemporary processes of economic development.
Through this work, readers come to understand the political stakes of decolonization and the wide range of scholarship that can help us grasp economics from non-Eurocentric perspectives. By engaging with these perspectives, the book invites an enriched understanding of capitalism and its relationship to exploitation, colonialism, and racialisation.
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The Webinar
You can find further details about the webinar here.
A Webinar on Development in India under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
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While it is criticized for eroding democracy and secular norms, India’s Hindu nationalist government is often portrayed as a roaring economic success. With an estimated growth rate of 7.6% in 2023-24, a booming stock market, massive public investment in infrastructure, and a rising middle class, a widely prevalent narrative suggests that India is becoming an economic powerhouse. At the same time, India’s educated youth unemployment is at a record high of 66%, rural wages are stagnant, precarity is rising, and the level of inequality has surpassed that in the colonial period.
What is India’s true economic record over the past decade? To what extent are the claims of prosperity justified and how widely are these gains shared? How reliable are the data that are being used to make these claims? Our roundtable of eminent experts will address these questions and examine the political economy underpinnings and consequences of India’s Hindu nationalist regime.
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13th May 2024 at 9:00am EST / 2:00pm BST / 6:30pm IST / 7:30pm CET
Nitin Kumar Bharti is a postdoctoral scholar in the Economics department of the New York University-Abu Dhabi. He is also Coordinator for South and South East Asia at World Inequality Lab at Paris School of Economics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Namur and the Paris School of Economics in 2022. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree from IIT-Kharagpur and has two years of experience working in the corporate sector. He is an applied micro-economist, and his research interests lie in understanding the development of educational systems and their linkage with economic growth and inequality. He is also interested in studying the long-term evolution of economic inequalities in the South Asia region
Jean Drèze, development economist, is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University and Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. His recent books include An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (with Amartya Sen) and Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone. Jean Drèze is also active in various campaigns for economic and social rights.
Professor Jayati Ghosh taught economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi for nearly 35 years, and since January 2021 she has been a Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has authored and/or edited 20 books and more than 200 scholarly articles. Recent publications include When Governments Fail: Covid-19 and the Economy, Informal Women Workers in the Global South, and Demonetisation Decoded. Jayati has advised governments and consulted for international organizations, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Dipa Sinha is Assistant Professor, Economics at Ambedkar University. She works on issues related to food rights and nutrition, public health, gender and social policy. She has worked for over five years with the Office of Commissioners to the Supreme Court (on the Right to Food) She has been part of a number of national and international research studies on food rights, health financing, gender and social development. She has done her MA in Economics from JNU, MSc in Development Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London and Ph.d from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Since the beginning of the military dictatorship in March 1976, pro-market visions were imposed by violating human rights in the darkest period of Argentina’s history and occupied political thought for more than four decades, even in democracy. Although these ideas had a brief pause in the period 2003-2015, they are still in force and now more than ever under the new administration of Mr. Milei. Mr. Milei has imposed a huge depreciation of the national currency, reducing the purchasing power of workers, and an adjustment of public spending by dismissing more than 50,000 public employees under the slogan of efficiency. Inflation has reached 200% per year and poverty has reached 60% under his administration, which has been in place for less than 5 months. As a heterodox community, we wish to better understand the social and economic consequences of the Milei government and discuss the possible alternatives Argentina now faces.
Ramiro Álvarez is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Political Economy and Development Studies at the National University of Moreno (Argentina). He is a specialist in the Political Economy of Argentina. After his Master in Economic Development at the National University of San Martín (Argentina) he did his PhD at the University of Siena (Italy). Ramiro teaches basic and advanced economics at different Argentinean universities. He has been a guest professor at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo due to his studies in Political Economy and he published many papers analysing the political “pendulum” in Argentina, and its impacts on income distribution and growth.
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Matías Vernengo is Full Professor at Bucknell University. He was formerly Senior Research Manager at the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA), Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Utah, and Assistant Professor at Kalamazoo College and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He has been an external consultant to several United Nations organizations including the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He has eight edited books, two books and more than one hundred and twenty articles published in scientific peer reviewed journals or book chapters. He specializes in macroeconomic issues for developing countries, in particular Latin America, international political economy and the history of economic ideas. He is also the emeritus founding co-editor of the Review of Keynesian Economics (ROKE), and co-editor in chief of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.
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María Carolina Moisés is a distinguished Argentine politician and political scientist with a rich career dedicated to public service and political advocacy. Beginning her political journey with foundational education from the University of Belgrano, where she earned a degree in Political Science, she has been a pivotal figure in Argentine politics. Her early academic achievements were complemented by international exposure through a program at the University of Berkley, Boston, which broadened her perspective on governance and public policy. Carolina’s political career is marked by her tenure as a National Senator for Jujuy since December 10, 2023, showcasing her continued relevance and leadership in Argentine politics. Prior to this role, she served as a National Deputy for Jujuy from December 18, 2017, to December 10, 2023, and previously from December 10, 2005, to December 9, 2009, where she was known for her passionate advocacy and significant legislative contributions, including her involvement in the landmark Audiovisual Media Law. As a speaker, María Carolina Moisés brings a wealth of experience, a profound understanding of political dynamics, and a visionary approach to addressing contemporary challenges. Her career is a testament to her unwavering dedication to public service, making her an inspiring figure in Argentine politics and beyond.
Inflation in the UK reached their highest rates in 2022 and 2023 for three decades, putting an end to over a decade of historically low interest rates and pushing many into a cost of living crisis with poverty deepening for many.
Despite its prominence in recent political debate, public understanding of the causes and consequences of inflation remain partial and often cantered around and old conservative doctrine of the wage/price spiral.
Drawing from recent publications, the seminar explores evidence based understanding of recent hikes in inflation and the distributional conflict between wages and profit that ensue.
The Open University Economics Seminar Series and Rethinking Economics International are pleased to be hosting Rafael Wildauer (Greenwich University), Christine Berry (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) and Laurence Jones-Williams (Rethinking Economics International). The event will be chaired by Susan Newman (The Open University).
Christine Berry is a communicator, thinker and changemaker based in Manchester. Christine’s recent work has focussed on how we can build a more democratic economy, and in particular on the need to democratise ownership. She has been described by the Guardian as “one of the central figures” in the new economics, and her work has also been covered by the Economist, the Financial Times and various other major newspapers. She is currently working part-time with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation alongside completing her first solo book, Owned, published by Verso Books. Other hats include Associate Fellow of IPPR North, Senior Fellow of the Finance Innovation Lab and Associate Fellow of Abundance.
Laurence Jones-Williams is Director of Rethinking Economics International, a global charity working to transform economics education for people and planet. He has been with Rethinking Economics for the past 6 years and has overseen its growth to over 120 groups in over 30 countries, with 1,000s of students becoming rethinkers and over 10 major changes to economics curricula. Laurence also co-founded the Greater Manchester Tenants Union, previously studied Mathematics and Physics and is in his final year of a Masters in Leadership accredited by Essex University.
