Title: Mind and matter: developing pluralist development economics

Authors: Irene Van Staveren

Addresses: Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 29776, 2502 LT, The Hague, The Netherlands

Abstract: The article makes a plea for pluralist economics and especially pluralist development economics. In the first part, the argument is developed why this is necessary, referring to the current financial crisis and the methodologically inconsistent dominant concept of rationality. The second part gives examples of pluralist economic analysis. The examples deal with gender norms in Africa as asymmetric gendered institutions, the irrationality of ruthless utility maximisation and the efficiency of redistribution following the law of diminishing marginal returns. The article concludes that pluralism does not imply theoretical unification but rather closeness to real world issues such as poverty, with a policy focus.

Keywords: pluralism; rationality; gender; institutions; efficiency; economic theory; pluralist economics; financial crisis; poverty.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2011.041694

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2011 Vol.2 No.2, pp.120 - 144

Published online: 29 Jan 2015 *

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