Crisis system : a critical realist and environmental critique of economics and the economy / edited by Petter Næss and Leigh Price.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Næss, Petter, editor.

Price, Leigh, editor.

Series:

Ontological explorations

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic policy.

Capitalism--Environmental aspects.

Capitalism.

Socialism--Environmental aspects.

Socialism.

Economic development--Moral and ethical aspects.

Economic development.

Physical Description:

ix, 228 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

This book throws light onto the nature and causes of three different but strongly interconnected crises in contemporary societies worldwide: an economic crisis, an ecological crisis and a normative (moral and political) crisis. These crises are reflected in the profoundly inequitable distribution of wealth, resources and life opportunities around the world. If we follow the causal roots of these crises, we are led back to an inherent dynamic in the capitalist economic system itself, discursively expressed as neoclassical, mainstream economics. For instance, by conflating human needs with market demand, mainstream economics disregards the needs of those who do not have sufficient purchasing power, as well as any needs that cannot be quantified or monetised in some way. Mainstream economics also ignores the notion of natural limits. Furthermore, it seems that everything that is quantifiable is potentially for sale and this results in the substitution of nature, indigenous cultural traditions and various life forms with commodities and 'human capital'. The latter is defined as the skills instrumental for continual economic growth. Besides critiquing the academic discipline of economics, this book also points to a number of dysfunctional and crisis-prone structures and practices of substantive economic life. It will be of interest to students and scholars working in philosophy, economics and environmental studies. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction / Petter Næss and Leigh Price

Ideology and economics / Tony Lawson

The economics of research : the contribution of critical realism / David Tyfield

Inaccurate and biased : cost-benefit analyses of transport infrastructure projects / Petter Næss

Arguments for and against economic growth / Jin Xue

The symptomatology of crises : some critical realist reflections / Bob Jessop

Using retroduction to address wicked problems / Leigh Price

Housing standards, environmental sustainability and social welfare / Petter Næss and Jin Xue

Systemic issues within the crisis of global capitalism : the case of land and food / Robert Biel

The illusion of green capitalism / Petter Næss

China at the crossroad : ecological modernization or ecosocialism? / Jin Xue

Making the critique of capitalism fit for the present crisis / Arne Johan Vetlesen.

ISBN:

9780415818735

0415818737

9780415818742

0415818745

OCLC:

861676185