Over the last 50 years, the community of heterodox economists has expanded, and its publications have proliferated. Heterodoxy was given a big boost after mainstream economics was discredited by the Great Crash of 2008. But its power in departments of economics has waned.
Addressing this paradox, Geoff Hodgson argues that heterodox economists are defined more by left ideology than by a shared understanding of the nature of orthodox economics and of what should replace it. Heterodox economists cannot agree on what heterodoxy means. He applies work on the social nature of science and its institutions to help explain the failure of heterodox economics to gain ground. By stressing the need for a raison d’être and a defined zone of engagement, it concludes by assessing several strategic options for its future. One thing is clear: unless heterodox economics adapts it is unlikely to prosper.
Carolina Alves, a Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics at the University of Cambridge, and activitist provided a response followed by open discussion.
See slides Heterodox Econ Future.
