Heterodox economics and the crises of capitalism: Rethinking pedagogy in higher education

Abstract

This article argues that the established corporate education system is intrinsically incapable of promoting the skills that are required to face the multiple crises of capitalism. Heterodox economics has only recently started to investigate possible alternative teaching and learning methods. Based on the synergy between academic research and the experience of a non-profit organization that uses a critical pedagogical approach to promote social change, this paper argues that pedagogical methods used in popular education could provide valuable resources for teaching economics in higher education. The paper advances the discussion on the role of pedagogy in the process of social change, and proposes a set of techniques that could enhance authentic learning. These new approaches are argued to be essential to help address the current world crises by promoting critical and inclusive classroom practices.

Keywords:

• capitalism
• heterodox economics
• pedagogy

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the reviewer and Chen Shuoying for invaluable comments, suggestions and editorial advice. We also would like to thank Al Campbell, Geoffrey Schneider, Yavuz Yasar and Colin Thacker for their inestimable advice and support.

Notes

¹ As it will be elaborated later, this article uses the term ‘heterodox economics’ to refer to the contributions of Marxian economics, radical political economy, ecological economics, feminist economics, social economics and old institutionalism.

² This includes, for instance, the slow deterioration of tenure and the increased reliance on external grants.

³ Feminist economists, despite their heterogeneity, share the vision that economics should be more responsive to the needs and well-being of people, with particular regard to women and their families. In this direction, feminist economists advocate the use of gender as an analytical category to capture the role of patriarchy and power relations in the functioning of capitalism. In this process, feminist economists emphasize the need for new pedagogical methods to foster the ability to think critically and carefully on the relevance of race, class and gender in the society (Nelson 1995; Aerni et al. 1999; Shackelford 1992; Lewis and McGoldrick 2001).

⁴ This is clearly a challenging process. The flexibilization of the labor market since the early phases of neoliberalism, in the context of greater international capital mobility, has enhanced the search for a degree as an attestation of qualifications to increase one's competitiveness in the global reserve army of labor. In this context, certificates matter more than the actual skills. In turn, students' approach to education has increasingly been assimilated to a consumer who simply purchases education like any other commodity. The pedagogical techniques the authors advocate do not claim to be solutions, but certainly mechanisms that can favorably affect students' attitudes and degree of commitment.

⁵ Multi-faceted Identity is an exercise that helps the participants think deeply about their identities. It aims to explore how the socialization process on fundamental notions such as gender, race, class, age, sex, sexual orientation, faith/religion, immigration status, appearance, and education level play a critical role in explaining the formation of social stratification. Normal to Me is an exercise that helps the participants reflect on the degree to which social values and beliefs have been normalized and internalized. Because racial, gender, class, ethnic, age, national hierarchies are assumed to be ‘normal’ by many, they tend to shape our actions and expectations to one extent or another. In this exercise, participants are walked through a series of examples regarding how power and opportunities are structurally segregated in the United States. Culture Walk is an exercise that motivates the participants to think deeply of how their identity can be articulated, and to elaborate the meaning and impact of being part of a group/community.