The Centre for Sustainable Economics at Chanakya University aims to establish itself as a leading institution dedicated to research and innovation in sustainable economic practices. The aim of the Centre will be to develop and advance ideas around what will need to be defined as ‘sustainable economics.’
Singular View of Economics’ Worldview
Globally, the undergraduate and postgraduate economics framework is dominated by Western scholars’ may or may not necessarily have a direct bearing on Indian (or non-western) experiences, thus depriving a significant part of the world of frameworks and methods to examine their own economics, societies, and markets. As economics is the study of how we optimize resources, we cannot ignore the pluralistic and diverse strategies that is adopted by various communities and societies to optimize their resources in response to the many geographical, historical, and cultural impulses in those regions. To assume that humans think and behave alike to maximize their gains in the same manner is dangerously incomplete. Many new frameworks that may have come from experiences of non-western societies remain out of research, classrooms and indeed the field. Worse, focusing on a singular type of economic framework disconnects students of economics in non-western countries from their own communities.
Instances of Blind-spots
Economics textbooks are full of formal models that assume a strong written contract and property rights framework, Temple economies – the spinal cord of many small towns in India – remain outside the economics curriculum. The importance of relationships occupies a small footnote in mainstream economics textbooks but is central to most transactions in India. While capital market theories look down upon family-owned businesses, in India, these businesses are often known to add significantly to shareholders’ value. These books that discuss investments remain immune to the nature of the product one is investing in, but for the most part, Indian investors are known to follow so many of their cultural and religious obligations while investing (for instance, Jains not investing in industries where animals are killed).
Another example is that of questions around sustainability. Western models treat the environment as an instrument to human survival (we need to protect forest felling because forests act as carbon sinks, which is necessary for humans to survive). Indic civilizational virtues consider the environment as having intrinsic value (we should not cut forests because forests are integral to us, they are sacred, or they are one of us). Their distinction leads to different outcomes in economics. For instance, in mainstream textbooks, economic incentives are the solution to managing the environment. This ignores the traditional environmental and agricultural practices in India which are more sustainable and effective. India’s practices in which working in harmony with nature offers powerful solutions that are hardly mentioned in economics study. Gandhi’s vision on village economies was far more potent than any of the global environmental sustainability effort, and yet, mainstream economics ignores it completely.
The study of economics has become a soulless pursuit of theories and models. Interestingly, economics is – for lack of a better word – an emotional discipline.
All of this leads to civilizational loss as well. For thousands of years, societies have evolved different ways to organize markets and develop relationships with their rulers. One (western) view of economics kills such knowledge frameworks, often irreversibly.
India is one of the fewest countries in the world where these alternative models remain in practice, if not in classrooms. We need to help develop, cultivate and spread a new vision for economics which is scholarly as well as contextually responsive. The idea is not to do away with the prevailing framework of thought. The idea is to complement it, and add to it, so that scholars and practitioners find these fields of inquiry relevant, meaningful and fulfilling.
Proposed Approach
The Centre shall act as the hub of resources through which many scholars-as-spokes will be connected, located globally. Through this, we hope to build a strong network of present and ongoing economists from all parts of the world, unified on the intellectual purpose, through diverse approaches. The Centre will fund activities and scholarship that help advance the ideas it proposes and curate residencies, fellowships for attracting bright minds into thinking about the pressing questions in the field of economics.
The objective is to build credibility and establish an initial presence through a set of foundational programs that will serve as a launchpad for subsequent expansion. These include, Research Residencies attracting young scholars to spend time at the centre to produce rigorous scholarships, Publication rewards (For A or A* journals (1-2 papers) focusing on ideas that the Centre advances) Book Fellowship for ideas worth publishing, PhD scholarships for works in alignment with the vision of the centre, Annual workshop for Faculty and resource training, Industry-Government conclave for policy suggestions and visibility among In-House Research projects by the Centre.