Just seeing the RCT 'scandal' brewing among econs again. This is not a question about some bad apples or some instances of malpractice. The RCT industry has been completely distorted from its inception in Econ and this is closely tied to the incentive structure of the discipline. There have been loads of papers through the years calling out the lack of rigor in experiments by 'top' randomistas. The response by randomistas has consistently been to ignore any fundamental critique and to keep going. So it's unsurprising that 'scandals' keep re-emerging.

Here is our commentary on how the 2024 Economics Nobel integrates colonialism into economics, while leaving a colonial worldview intact (with @SurbhiKesar & @devikadutt). To explain how & why they do this, we go back to the colonial origins of economics. epw.in/journal/2024/4… As Econ is increasingly being challenged for not adequately dealing with issues of racialization & imperialism, the "colonial turn" in economics that AJR represent seems to offer a defense. But they don't deal with the fundamental problem: the Eurocentric view of capitalism.

What's wrong with development studies & how can we change it?

It was super interesting & thought-provoking to discuss this with @SaraStevano @Kamnatweets and @IndrajitRoyYork recently in Manchester.

We summarized the discussion on the @devcomms blog 👇
devstud.org.uk/2023/03/07/wha… After the intro by @pritishbehuria & @GoodfellowTom (linked to above), you can read the interventions summarized in chronological order.

I was up first, focusing my intervention on the problem of lack of South-centered theorisation in development studies
devstud.org.uk/2023/02/28/the…

Our paper on decolonizing economics teaching is finally out!

@SurbhiKesar & I surveyed 498 economists to evaluate possibilities and challenges associated with efforts to decolonize economics.

As you may imagine, the results are not super encouraging...🧵
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10… Building on scholarship by Amin, Quijano, Sanyal, and feminist IPE, we see a radical decolonization agenda as one necessitates unpacking how dominant approaches may hinder the study of systemic processes associated with decolonization, such as structural racism and imperialism.

Economists can learn from anthropologists.

I mean it! And not in a "they provide valuable context for our research" kind of way.

Anthro can help us understand financial processes & structures of oppression. Anthro can help us theorise.

Some resources & anthros to follow👇 Markets of Dispossession by @JElyachar dukeupress.edu/markets-of-dis…

Best Practice: Management Consulting and the Ethics of Financialization in China by @KimberlyZChong
dukeupress.edu/best-practice

How do key arguments in the financialization literature change if they are interrogated from the vantage point of the Global South?

@KaiKodden @nssylla and I tackle this question through a historical study of the financial systems of Senegal & Ghana. 🧵👇
academic.oup.com/cje/advance-ar… We engage with 2 main camps in the financialisation lit: 1) largely descriptive studies of how financial institutions, actors, motives & practices have expanded in recent decades (e.g. Krippner, Epstein), focusing on quantitative changes.
We call it the 'expansion' view.

What happens when 7 scholars from different heterodox traditions, including Marxism, Post-Keynesianism & Dependency Theory, get together to work on finance?

It actually did not descend into total chaos 🤯

Check out our research agenda on international financial subordination 😊

https://twitter.com/IliasAlami/status/1549645666380652544

We identify how different heterodox & disciplinary traditions bring different strengths to the table for conceptualising how developing economies remain in a subordinate position in the global monetary and financial system, and how this shapes the ways in which finance operates.

Samir Amin critiqued cultural views of Orientalism and proposed alternative, structural analyses of imperialism, Eurocentrism, uneven development and ideology.

What can contemporary development economics and quests for decolonization learn from this?
aeon.co/essays/if-you-… In this piece I try to make Samir Amin's ideas more accessible to a wider contemporary audience (thanks @samhaselby for the push!).

Many already know Edward Said, who became very influential with his 1978 Orientalism. I therefore start with Amin's critique of Said from the Left.

For those of you who missed it, many of the videos from #AHE2020 are now up on @hetecon's YouTube channel.
youtube.com/channel/UCrha0…

Hope it will inspire many of you to join the heterodox economics movement (and maybe even AHE??) 😊 Opening plenary on #COVID19, Capitalism and the Environment, featuring the brilliant @JKSteinberger @jasonhickel and Chantal Naidoo, chaired by @danielle_guizzo.

Why Do Economists Have Trouble Understanding Racialized Inequalities?

Based on survey data, @SurbhiKesar and I make some observations regarding the Economics discipline and its lack of capacity to deal with race... +
ineteconomics.org/perspectives/b… We find that economists in mainstream Econ depts are the least likely to teach about racial inequalities & colonialism (see figure). We believe the reason for this is the inadequate manner in which mainstream Econ theorises inequality, and race in particular. +

#AHE2020 as seen from rural Norway. @SurbhiKesar (@working_india) introducing the panel on perspectives from the Global South on Heterodox Economics with a stellar panel calling in from India, Italy and the US. Prabhat Patnaik opens the plenary, speaking on globalization, inequality and economic crisis. #ahe2020

#AHE2020 starting in one hour!!

Cristina Fróes de Borja Reis (et al.): The economic development of Latin America and its main problems: A Feminist Perspective

@retepelyod: Economics after Slavery

@SurbhiKesar: Economic dualism, precarity, and exclusion

@hetecon

https://twitter.com/ingridharvold/status/1287768589819420673

Reis' paper rereads Prebisch's manifesto to break w/its economicism & eurocentrism. It denounces how racial & gender inequalities are at the root of the world system, mirroring the harmful relationship btwn patriarchy, racism & capitalism, which is more perverse in the periphery.

Really happy to have had the opportunity to write a paper on what the effects of and responses to #COVID__19 say about the cracks in the dominant Economics narrative with the brilliant @cacrisalves for @reviewagrarian.

Time for a lil thread. Full paper: ras.org.in/changing_the_n… +

https://twitter.com/cacrisalves/status/1284047581211918336

We look at how Econ moved from political economy analysis to an allegedly "exact science" & how this has led to a weakening of the discipline. We connect this to economists' tendency to see #COVID__19 as an "external" shock rather than as connected to our systems of production.+

Last week I wrote about how I think dependency theory can be best understood as a research programme in @DevandChg.

Today I summarize how a dependency programme can be employed to understand global inequalities in the wake of #COVID19!

via @_ourEconomy
opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/… How is dependency theory particularly relevant now?

First of all, how industry is structured globally still reproduces relations of dependence and leaves workers in developing countries especially exposed during the pandemic.

Is dependency theory relevant today? If yes, what can we learn from it? Why was it dismissed?

That line of inquiry I started as an Econ PhD student at @NSSRNews has now culminated in a @DevandChg article!

Any feedback is very welcome. Here's a thread 👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11… First of all, dependency theory as a body of research has often been bastardized and misrepresented. This has led to dismissals of the research on false grounds, as well as confusion regarding its main contributions. Hence the title of the article: "Beyond the Stereotype".

If you're looking for a detailed and concrete example of how the methodological & theoretical approach of the randomistas impacts development research & policy conclusions, this paper by @N_Kabeer is for you 👇
tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.108… Rather than remaining at the level of abstract critique, Kabeer dives deep into this study of women empowerment and its relation to development by Esther Duflo - her third most cited single-authored paper.
aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…

On a more serious note....

The responses by Wæver & Buzan regarding #SecuritizationTheory being racist & methodologically white remind me a whole lot of how many economists react to calls to decolonize economics. These are not personal attacks, but structural critiques... 🙄 .. And while I get tired of economists using "rigor" as some kind of impregnable shield against these kinds of critiques, it seems like IR has reached a new level of methodological gatekeeping with this "deepfake" terminology 🧐

How is heterodox economics relevant for understanding the world? How can hetecon theories, e.g. those of production & reproduction, help us understand both causes & consequences of #COVID__19? What are the gender, race & class implications of the pandemic?

CfP Deadline May 15th! We are particularly excited about the confirmed plenary speakers thus far:

Leading feminist activist in Argentina & historian Dora Barranco brings important insights regarding the role of #hetecon in Argentinian policy and activism in particular.
awid.org/news-and-analy…

A bit random, but I wrote a book review of @PikettyLeMonde's new book for @nature.

The introduction got me excited about the project's ambition, but the book left me disappointed.

Piketty's analysis of both ideology & capital leaves a lot to be desired. nature.com/articles/d4158… On the positive side, Piketty makes it very clear that inequality is not natural, but ideological and political. This is an important starting point for a conversation about what drives inequality and measures to take to build a more just world. However...

Highly uneven impacts and responses to #Corona reveal important political economy differences across the world.

The US & UK responses particularly expose the weaknesses of these economies as well as the governments' incapacity - and will - to tackle systemic societal issues.
1/n There's been a lot of great reporting on the virus (along w/lots of crap), but this one here by Thomas Pueyo is still one of my fave. It shows very clearly why it's so important to put restrictions in place *early* to limit impact on the population. 2/n
medium.com/@tomaspueyo/co…

I'm super honored to have been given the chance to write a legacy piece for Samir Amin. Thanks @DevandChg & @AndrewM_Fischer!

In it, I unpack Amin's intellectual legacy, including on unequal exchange, eurocentrism and delinking, as well as his activism.👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11… @DevandChg @AndrewM_Fischer I argue that few scholars oppose disciplinary conventions & boundaries the way that Amin did. He was an economist, but opposed the mainstream; he was a Marxist, but was deeply critical of contemporary Marxism; he wrote on Eurocentrism, but believed in universal, material truths.