---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Great Transition Network <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 11:46 PM Subject: The Church of Economism and Its Discontents (GTN Discussion) To: [email protected]
>From Gar Alperovitz <[email protected]> ------------------------------------------------------- We may agree or disagree with use of the term “economism,” but Richard Norgaard is certainly right to underscore the essentially religious nature of traditional economic thinking—and the need to transcend it. Also that transcending will require the introduction and affirmation of a contending formulation of equal, indeed, greater power. This, of course, is what Pope Francis emphasized (to a degree) in his recent Encyclical, starting from the framework of Roman Catholic Christianity. The great Jewish theologian, Martin Buber, opened similar and in some areas even more powerful themes in his less commonly cited works. The judgment is also at the heart of growing modern interest in “commons” philosophical formulations. And certainly other formulations that attempt to reach to broader philosophical or even religious understandings are likely to emerge as the pain of market based capitalism deepens. One part of this work is necessarily at the level of ideas, theory, and grand conceptions: I agree. Another critical part, however, forces much more careful attention to the nature of economic institutions that challenge existing ‘religious’ economic paradigms and also begin to develop institutionally supported practices in support of a new direction. Importantly, these also require moving beyond current formulations in many areas. At the local level, for instance, worker-cooperatives are now much in vogue—efforts I certainly support and, indeed, have been involved with and helped develop for many decades. However, many such institutions working in competitive market conditions can easily be forced to externalize costs in ways destructive of the environment. If there are economies of scale available, despite the best of intentions, they will often be forced to expand, and to undercut competitors, even though their internal ‘commons’ principles might suggest other hopes. Nor do such efforts necessarily produce general equality. (Worker co-ops in the oil industry are likely to have interests and incomes different from those working in co-ops in the garbage collection industry.) Again, I am a strong proponent of cooperatives; and commitment to larger cooperative principles and culture can go a long way to mitigate such problems—but, unfortunately, not all the way if market conditions put the institution under economic attack, or if conditions generate different competing institutional interests. To fully come to terms with the larger framing that Norgaard opens up, at some point we are clearly going to have to undertake institutional explorations involving a larger and more encompassing “community” approach, one that inherently includes all of the community (not just the workers in one firm, cooperative or other)—i.e. non-workers, the elderly, the young, stay at home care givers, and many others. The principle is that of inclusion. It is also one in which “externalities” of any enterprise are “internalized” by structures representing the entire community. Among many other issues, how diverse interests can be brought together institutionally without stifling creativity then becomes itself a critical issue. The challenge facing cooperatives suggests only some of the questions large scale economic institutions will have to deal with if we are to move beyond “economism”—and if what replaces it is to be sustained by institutional and community practice. Put another way, the development of new forms of community-inclusive efforts at all levels—neighborhood, municipality, state, region, and nation—are likely to be necessary complements to the development of a new “religion”—or in Karl Mannheim’s famous formulation—a meaningful “utopia” that can challenge the reigning “ideology.” Fortunately, practical experimentation in diverse areas is underway in different parts of the nation and the world, experimentation which can only benefit from the larger philosophical (religious) direction Norgaard urges. Gar Alperovitz *************************************************************** Friday, October 30, 2015 >From Paul Raskin <[email protected]> ----- GTN Friends: I write to launch our NOVEMBER DISCUSSION, which will consider Richard Norgaard’s new GTI essay, “The Church of Economism and Its Discontents.” Please read it at www.greattransition.org/publication/the-church-of-economism-and-its-discontents, and consider commenting. Is orthodox economics akin to a secular religion? Are we living in the “Econocene”? Is there a way out? Norgaard, a founder of ecological economics, argues yes, yes, and maybe. In so doing, he guides us further into the terrain of alternative economics we’ve explored recently in our discussions of GTI pieces by Herman Daly, Giorgos Kallis, Peter Barnes, and John Bellamy Foster. I wonder, though: * Is economism still a monolithic ideology? Or are critical currents within the economics mainstream increasingly questioning its reductionist framework and false predictions? * As a framing for our contemporary condition, is “the Econocene” a useful corrective to the geologic emphasis of “the Anthropocene”? How do these compare to GTI’s term, “The Planetary Phase of Civilization,” which aims to convey the multi-dimensionality of the globalizing social-ecological system? I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts on these and other issues raised by Norgaard’s stimulating essay. Comments are welcome through NOVEMBER 30. Looking forward, Paul Raskin GTI Director NOTE ON GTI’S PUBLICATION CYCLE: GTN discussions occur in ODD-NUMBERED months, and GTI publishes in EVEN-NUMBERED months. Each discussion takes up a new essay or viewpoint prior to its publication. After the discussion closes, GTI publishes the piece, edited comments from the discussion, and a response from the author (along with other new articles). You can review all GTN discussions at www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-forum. ------------------------------------------------------- Hit reply to post a message Or see thread and reply online at http://www.greattransition.org/forum/gti-discussions/171-the-church-of-economism-and-its-discontents/1415 Need help? 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