Ten Principles of Feminist Economics

Continuing our airing of heterodox economics perspectives, and our exposé of the mainstream, here are:

Ten Principles of Feminist Economics: A Modestly Proposed Antidote
By Geoff Schneider and Jean Shackelford

In mainstream economics today there is a particularly egregious recent trend toward producing lists of "key economic ideas" which tend to promote a narrowing of economic thinking, and in turn produce a more "scientific" and less inclusive approach to course contents. …

Since such lists represent what are widely proclaimed (by their authors) as universally accepted principles and therefore worthy of teaching to students, we might also wonder about the missing or other perspectives. Despite the inherent dangers of constructing a list that purports to cover the key economic ideas of any perspective, in this paper we yield to temptation and offer a feminist alternative to these standard principles of economics.

Some Principles of Feminist Economics [abbreviated here, omitting abstracted decriptions by Schneider and Shakelford]

1. There can be no such thing as a definitive list of the principles of feminist economics.
2. Values enter into economic analysis at many different levels.
3. The Household is a locus of economic activity.
4. Non-market activities are important to the economy.
5. Power relationships are important in an economy.
6. A gendered perspective is central to the study of economics.
7. Human beings are complex, and they are influenced by more than just material factors.
8. People compete, cooperate and care.
9. Government action can improve market outcomes.
10. The scope of economics must be interdisciplinary.

Hat Tip to Robert Vienneau, Thoughts on Economics.

Comments

[Verdurous]

Intersting that only point six refers to gender. The others seem like sensible ideas that can be embraced without any discussion or reference to feminism.

[Dave Iverson]

Verdurous,

I agree. I think they include items other than #6 to distance themselves from "fundamentalists" in the mainstream. See, e.g.
http://forestpolicy.typepad.com/ecoecon/2006/11/economic_fundam.html

Also to align themselves with others who, like them, want to differentiate themselves from "fundamentalists."

[Biopolitical]

#1 is not an economic principle, #6 I don't understand, and the second part of #7 can be read as a religious/supernatural statement that the mainstream would object to. All the others are mainstream.

#9 is as true as "you can fall from the tenth floor, survive the impact and get a generous deal to write a book on your experience." You can.