Advancing Pluralism In Teaching Economics

The complex economic problems of the 21st century require a pluralist, real-world oriented and innovative discipline of economics that is capable of addressing and teaching these issues to students. This volume is a state-of-the-art compilation of diverse, innovative and international perspectives on the rationales for and pathways towards pluralist economics teaching. It fosters constructive controversy aiming to incite authors and commentators to engage in fruitful debates. This volume addresses a number of key questions: Why is it important for a social science to engage in pluralistic teaching? What issues does pluralist teaching face in different national contexts? Which traditions and practices in economic teaching make pluralist teaching difficult? What makes economics as a canonical textbook science particular and how could the rigid textbook system be innovated in a meaningful way? What can we learn from school education and other social science disciplines? Through examining these issues the editors have created a pluralist but cohesive book on teaching economics in the contemporary classroom drawing from ideas and examples from around the world. Advancing Pluralism in Teaching Economics offers a valuable insight into the methodology and application of pluralist economics teaching. It will be a great resource for those teaching economics at various levels, as well as researchers.

This volume is concerned with the different schools within the discipline of economics (theoretical pluralism) and the relationship of economics to other disciplines, such as sociology, political science and philosophy (interdisciplinarity). It addresses the important implications of pluralism and interdisciplinarity for teaching economics at both undergraduate and graduate level and argues that the economics curriculum should pay equal attention to these new perspectives rather than concentrate on the traditional neoclassical mainstream. The distinguished contributors highlight the inherent challenges of presenting a combination of mainstream economics with more heterodox approaches in such a way that the student is not confused, but better understands the possibilities and limitations of different schools in economics, how to apply these different approaches, and when the boundaries of the economics discipline have been reached how then a more interdisciplinary approach can be followed. This volume attempts to offer insights into the content of such a revised curriculum and the process of how to achieve this. This book will be required reading for every serious teacher and student of economics. It will also be invaluable to anyone who questions the validity of current economic orthodoxy.

This volume is a state-of-the-art compilation of diverse and innovative perspectives, principles, and a number of practiced approaches of fields, courses, and methods of pluralist economics teaching. It fosters constructive controversy aiming to incite authors and commentators to engage in fruitful debate. The complex economic problems of the 21st century require a pluralist, real-world oriented, and innovative discipline of economics, capable of addressing and teaching those complex issues to students from diverse perspectives. This volume addresses a number of key questions: Which models could be taught outside the equilibrium and optimality paradigm? Which methods could help to improve our understanding of the complex globalized economy? How can qualitative and quantitative methods be combined in a fruitful way to analyze complex economic problems? How can the academic isolation of mainstream economics that has developed over many decades be overcome, despite its attempted transdisciplinary imperialism? What role should knowledge from other disciplines play in teaching economics, and what is the relevance of transdisciplinarity? Through examining these issues, the editors and authors have created a pluralist but cohesive book on teaching economics in the contemporary classroom, drawing from ideas and examples from around the world. Principles and Pluralist Approaches in Teaching Economics is a unique collection of diverse perspectives on the methodology and applications of pluralist economics teaching. It will be a great resource for those teaching economics at various levels as well as researchers and intermediate and advanced students searching for pluralism in economics.

With contributions from a wide array of economists from Julie Nelson to Phil O'Hara, the book presents the pluralist economics state of play and is an essential reference tool for those charged with bringing the next generations of economists to the forefront.

Economic Methodology, History and Pluralism: Expanding Economic Thought to Meet Contemporary Challenges pays tribute to Emeritus Professor Sheila Dow (University of Stirling, Scotland). This volume focusses on the contributions of Dow to economic methodology, pluralism and the history of economic thought. These explorations serve to underpin her ideas and theories on macroeconomics, banking and money. Bringing together an impressive panel of contributors, the chapters in this work examine Dow’s writings on structured pluralism and schools of thought, meanings of open and closed systems, reflections on the relationship between economics and other sciences (both social and natural), the methodology of behavioural economics, as well as the political economy of the Scottish school of thought. The book challenges the foundations of the mainstream economics paradigm in a novel and holistic manner, seeking to advance thinking across Dow’s favoured discipline. The essays in this collection provide thought-provoking reading for advanced students and scholars of economic methodology, the history of economic thought, heterodox economics and political economy. The book will also be valued by the economics profession at large, as it contains important elements and ideas concerning ethics, methodology and tolerance within economics as a discipline and as a profession.

From the financial crash to the climate emergency and Covid, this book demonstrates that recent crises have had unequal impacts, that they require a heterodox approach to economics for their understanding, and new ways of thinking are needed to address them. Drawing on a variety of heterodox and radical perspectives and global voices, including those from India, Africa, and South America, this collection explores the causes and impacts of global emergencies from a wide array of viewpoints. The first section outlines how the pandemic has shown up the biases of orthodox thought and policy, particularly its Eurocentric and patriarchal focus on the urban, formal economy. It outlines how adding an international dimension to institutional analysis uncovers systematic inequalities in the responses to emergencies, and how new paradigms can provide better alternatives. The massive interventionism worldwide has led to renewed interest in the global financial system, and also in Marxian approaches to money. The second section of the book therefore considers a range of alternative approaches to the study of finance – from Marx to Minsky – which are currently being revisited. The collection concludes with a suggestion for heterodox economics pedagogy, since changing economics education is vital for future dissemination of real-world ideas. The book will be of interest to a variety of researchers and postgraduate students, and lecturers, especially in the fields of development, health, labour and feminist economics, also international political economy and heterodox economics.

This book discusses the relationship between pluralist economics and the case study method of teaching, advocating the complimentary use of both to advance economics education. Using a multi-paradigmatic philosophical frame of analysis, the book discusses the philosophical, methodological, and practical aspects of the case study method while drawing comparisons with those of the more commonly used lecture method. The book also discusses pluralist economics through the exposition of the philosophical foundations of the extant economics schools of thought, which is the focal point of the attention and admiration of pluralist economics. More specifically, the book discusses the major extant schools of thought in economics – Neo-Classical Economics, New Institutional Economics, Behavioral Economics, Austrian Economics, Post-Keynesian Economics, Institutional Economics, Radical Economics, and Marxist Economics—and emphasizes that these schools of thought in economics are equally scientific and informative, that they look at economic phenomena from their certain paradigmatic viewpoint, and that, together, they provide a more balanced understanding of the economic phenomenon under consideration. Emphasizing paradigmatic diversity as the cornerstone of both the case method and pluralist economics, the book draws the two together and makes an effective case for their combined use. A rigorous, multi-faceted analysis of the philosophy, methodology, and practice of economics education, this book is important for academicians and students interested in heterodox economics, philosophy, and education.

Drawing on the knowledge of highly experienced academics, this authoritative Handbook explains how ethics can inform the teaching of economics. It includes state-of-the-art moral theory alongside traditional approaches to emphasise why ethics should be an important consideration for economic practitioners.