Why we believe and argue that the entire field of economics needs a structural reboot and a foundational overhaul

 

Why we believe and argue that the entire field of economics needs a structural reboot and a foundational overhaul  

Sujay Rao Mandavilli

What is Economics?

Economics is one of the oldest fields of study, and one of the most important fields of study in the social sciences. Economic problems and problems of survival have pre-occupied humans since pre-historic times. The American historian of Economic thought Robert Heilbroner described economics as a "Worldly Philosophy" because it is concerned with matters of how our material wants are best served with limited resources. Economics is the science that deals with economies, and studies the functioning of economies too. It also deals with the production, consumption and transfer of wealth in relation to factors of production such as land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship. It also studies the behavior and functioning of economic agents and actors, and how they function in diverse situations. The science of economics pervades virtually every aspect of human life, and its applications are wide-ranging and far-reaching. Many definitions have been provided for Economics, and we reproduce a few below. The eminent economist John Stuart Mill defined Economics as “A science which traces the laws of phenomena of society that arise from the combined operations of mankind for the production of wealth, in so far as those phenomena are not modified by the pursuit of any other object.” According to Alfred Marshall, “Economics is a study of man in the ordinary course and business of life. It investigates how a man gets his income and how he uses his income in different ways. Thus, it is on one hand, the study of wealth and on the other hand, a part of the study of the nature of man.” Some Economists have also emphasized the judicious use of scarce resources and trade-offs wherever necessary through economizing, though technology in the form of sustainable solutions may eventually make this definition less relevant, and usher in a new era in Economic theory. A scarcity based definition has been provided by Lionel Robbins who states, “Economics is a science which studies human behavior as an inter-relationship between ends and scarce means which may have many different uses.” Economics is therefore sometimes referred to as the science of ‘constrained choice’. Economics is broadly divided into microeconomics and macroeconomics. The field of Microeconomics studies the economic behavior and decision-making processes of individuals and economic decision makers. On the other hand, Macroeconomics studies the functioning of the economy as a whole through the use of suitable metrics and indicators, and analyses entire industries and economies.

 

History of Economics?

The history of economic thought comprises theories proposed by different thinkers in the subject that is now known as economics, from the ancient times to the 21st Century, and Economics has comprised many different schools of thought down through the ages. In Ancient Greece, the polymath Hesiod who was a contemporary of Homer, wrote the earliest known work investigating the early origins of economic thought, in the Seventh Century BC. The Greek philosopher Aristotle also examined ideas about wealth acquisition, and discussed whether property was better left in private or public hands. He also analyzed different forms of government such as aristocracy, monarchy, democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny. Xenophon of Athens authored the work ‘Oeconomicus’ in the fourth century BC, and this was an important treatise on household management and agriculture. Plato’s famous work ‘The republic’ discussed forms of government, specializations of labour and production, and also developed a credit theory of money. In Ancient China, Fan Li, adviser to King Goujian of Yue of the fifth century BC, wrote on economic issues and developed a set of golden business rules. In Ancient India, Chanakya who lived during the period of the Mauryan Empire, authored the famous treatise Arthashastra which dealt with statecraft, economic policy and military strategy. This work which was compiled between 300 BC and 200 CE, stated that there were four important fields of knowledge, i.e., the Vedas, the Anvikshiki (the science of enquiry), the science of government and the science of economics, which included dealings in cattle, business and trade.

Thomas Aquinas who lived in the Thirteenth century was an important Italian economic writer and a Catholic priest. He was a part of a group of Catholic scholars known as ‘the Schoolmen’. In his book ‘Summa Theologica’, Aquinas developed the concept of a just price, which later evolved into the modern concept of long run equilibrium, which was a price just sufficient to cover costs of production, and the maintenance of a worker and his family producing those goods. He believed that it was incorrect for sellers to raise their prices beyond this point, and for lenders to charge interest on loans. One of Aquinas' main critics was the Scottish philosopher Duns Scotus. In his work ‘Sententiae’ published in 1295, he argued that buyer and seller usually have different concepts of a just price. If people did not profit from a transaction, they would prefer not to trade. Another early economist French philosopher Jean Buridan was the originator of the metallic theory of money, and analyzed money from two different angles: its metal value and its purchasing power, which could vary. He argued that aggregated, not individual, demand and supply determined market prices. Therefore, according to him a just price was what the whole of society and not just one individual is willing to pay. Another French philosopher and priest Nicolas d'Oresme published a notable work about the origin and nature of money. Saint Antoninus of Florence  was another influential writer who addressed issues of social and economic development, and argued that the state had a duty to intervene in trade for public good, and help deserving sections of society as well. [1]

The fourteenth century Islamic writer Ibn Khaldoun was another important intellectual who developed theories on the lifecycles of civilizations, specialization of labor, and the value of money as a means of exchange and not just a store of value. He also developed ideas on just taxation, but his work was not immediately recognized in the west. In the Western world, economics was not considered to be a separate field of study, but part of philosophy until the Industrial Revolution which accelerated economic growth in the Western world, and eclipsed development elsewhere. The philosophy of Mercantilism dominated European economic thought from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth centuries, as it emerged from feudalism and the dark ages, and headed towards proto-industrialization. After the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, Balboa and other explorers opened up several opportunities for trade, monarchies wanted external trade to boost their economic power. Mercantilism was a movement that advocated the use of the state's powers to protect local markets and supply sources from imports, and exports and one-way trade boosted. Mercantile theorists and advocates such as Jean-Baptiste Colbert believed that international trade could not benefit all countries equally. According to them, Money and precious metals were the chief source of riches. Therefore, tariffs had to be levied on imports and measures used to encourage exports, in order to bring money into the country. In other words, a positive balance of trade had to be maintained, and imports discouraged at all costs. Even though Mercantilism never became a systematic scientific theory, mercantilist ideas manifested themselves in many acts such as the Navigation Act of 1651 and the Sugar Act of 1764, and such policies were implemented by the British and the Dutch East India Companies. The term mercantilism was however not coined until the year 1763, by Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau, and was popularized by Adam Smith in 1776, who opposed the idea.

In the sixteenth century, the Jesuit School of Salamanca of Spain initially founded by Spanish theologians took economic theory to a new high, but their contributions remained largely forgotten until the 20th century until they were brought to light by Austrian Economist Joseph Schumpeter in his ‘History of Economic Analysis’ which was published in 1954, and by the English Economist Marjorie Grice-Hutchinson. This school is often referred to as the ‘first economic tradition’ in the field of economics, and important contributors were Domingo de Soto, Martin de Azpilcueta, Luis de Molina, Jean Bodin, and Tomas de Mercado. The University of Salamanca and the University of Coimbra played a major role in this tradition. [2]  In 1516, the Englishman Sir Thomas More published his work ‘Utopia’, which described an ideal society where land was publicly owned and there was universal education and tolerance, which later inspired the English Poor Laws of  1587 and the communism-socialism movement of the Nineteenth century. In 1517, the eminent Astronomer Nicolas Copernicus proposed the quantity theory of money which argued that the general price level of goods and services was directly proportional to the amount of money in circulation. In 1519, he published the earliest version of what is now called Gresham's Law. According to this law, "Bad money drives out good money".

In 1568, French jurist and political philosopher Jean Bodin published the first known analysis of inflation endorsing the quantity theory of money. In 1598, French mercantilist economist Barthelemy de Laffemas published a work containing the earliest version of under-consumption theory, which was refined by John Maynard Keynes. Debates over free trade and the desirability of government regulation of companies date back to 1622 when English merchants Edward Misselden and Gerard Malynes discussed the desirability of state regulation.  In the Sixteenth century, the English Economist Thomas Mun strongly advocated mercantilist policy, and became the last among the early Mercantilists, even though his works were not published until his death. 

The English Economist Sir William Petty is often considered to be the first ‘Scientific Economist’ because he applied the scientific tradition of Francis Bacon to Economics, using measurable phenomena and quantitative precision, and put to use statistical mathematics in his analysis too. This preceded econometrics by several centuries. During the time of King Louis XIV in France, national guilds were used to regulate major industries, and this is regarded as the first attempt to regulate industry by government. In 1695, French economist Pierre Le Pesant, Sieur de Boisguilbert questioned mercantile economic policy and argued that the wealth of a country should be valued on the basis of its production and exchange of goods and not on its assets.  Hugo de Groot and Anders Chydenius were among the earliest Economists to advocate free trade, and they expressed their ideas in legal terms. In 1696, British mercantilist Charles Davenant became the first economist to study consumer demand and perfect competition. In 1767, Scottish mercantilist economist Sir James Stuart published the work “An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy”, which was the first complete economics treatise.

The British Enlightenment took place in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries riding on the general renaissance in Europe, and spurred the advancement of economic thought. The Irish-French Economist Richard Cantillon wrote an important treatise on human reason and market competition in the economic world in 1730, and his works came to be known as “the cradle of political economy”. Another important English enlightenment thinker John Locke combined philosophy, politics and economics to form a logical and a coherent framework. Locke argued that people contracted into society, and this was bound to protect their property rights. He believed property included people's lives and liberties, and their wealth, too. Locke argued that not only should the government stop interfering with people's property, but also that it should ensure their protection.

Dudley North and David North were other influential economists of the era, and both opposed the unintended consequences of mercantilism. A Frenchman Vincent de Gournay by name, was one of the early Physiocrats. This term is derived from a Greek word meaning "Government of nature", and believed that agriculture was the main source of wealth, an idea also championed by Francois Quesnay. He also opposed government regulation, stating that it inhibited commerce and trade. The Physiocrats' economic theory, believed in the notion of a circular flow of income throughout the economy. Other Economists like Anne Robert Jacques Turgot who advocated liberalism, divided society into three classes namely the agricultural class, the artisan class and the landowning class. In 1751, Neapolitan philosopher Ferdinando Galiani published a treatise on money called Della Moneta (On Money), twenty-five years before Adam Smith's ‘The Wealth of Nations’, which is one of the earliest modern economic analyses. It discussed different aspects of monetary theory, including the origin of money, its regulation, and inflation.

The Scottish Philosopher Adam Smith is widely considered to be the father of modern Economics and played a major role in bringing about the Scottish Enlightenment. His 1776 publication “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” coincided with the American Revolution, and also with the dawn of a new industrial revolution that led to increased levels of prosperity throughout Europe. Adam Smith believed in the self-regulating invisible hand, and that the idea that wealth was derived solely by self-interest, and not by benevolence, magnanimity or charity.  Thus, Adam Smith advocated a free market economy, based on secure property, capital accumulation, important role for markets and a division of labour with only a limited role for the government. He was therefore opposed to mercantilism, which he felt stunted specialization. Smith also studied productive and non-productive labour, and its role in economic development. Adam Smith’s ideas were later developed by William Pitt the Younger, and other economists. Other leading thinkers of the age were Jeremy Bentham who developed the concept of utilitarianism to maximize happiness and minimize pain, David Ricardo, known for his theory of Comparative Advantage, and Jean-Baptiste Say who developed Say’s law which stated that supply always equaled demand. 

John Stuart Mill was another important Economist, and also an influential thinker in the history of classical liberalism. Mill's textbook, which was published in 1848, and titled “Principles of Political Economy”, presented the views of the economic thought prevalent of the time. Mill adopted a middle ground between Adam Smith's views on expansion due to trade and technological innovation and Thomas Malthus' view of the attendant dangers of unbridled population growth and imagined imminent famine due to food shortages as expounded in his famous essay, “Essay on the Principle of Population”. Another important theory of this period was the labour theory of value, which argued that the economic value of a good or service was determined by the socially necessary labour required to produce it. This contrasted with value deriving from a general equilibrium theory of supply and demand. A school within classical economics formulated the under-consumption theory. This theory argued for government action to reduce unemployment and mitigate the impact of economic downturns, and is seen as a predecessor of Keynesian economics of the 1930s. Another school of this era was Manchester capitalism, Manchester liberalism or Manchesterism of Richard Cobden and John Bright, which advocated free trade, and government policy based on free trade.

The German philosopher Karl Marx was a leading thinker of his day (and one of the most influential thinkers till date) and wrote “Das Kapital” which along with his “Communist manifesto”, became his most important and well-known works. He also introduced new concepts such as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. According to Marx, Capitalism was based on exploitation and inherent contradictions, and it would eventually lead to revolution by the masses, and the establishment of a classless society. In this society, the means of production would be commonly owned by the proletariat. Marx used the word "commodity" and stated that when people mixed their labor with an object it became a "commodity". However, commodities have a dual nature, and a dual value.  He distinguished between the use value of an object and its exchange value. The use value of a commodity existed only as long as that commodity is consumed or used. Marx argued that employers always paid their workers less in "exchange value" than the workers produced in "use value". According to Marx, this was "surplus value". Capitalism according to Marx, was a system based on exploitation. With every economic boom and recession,  Marx claimed, conflict between capitalists and workers would increase, until capitalism collapsed under the weight of its own inherent contradictions. In Marxism, society consists of two parts, known as the base and the superstructure. The base comprises the forces and relations of production, and determines the superstructure which determines culture, institutions and power structures of a society. Thus, Marxist theory greatly emphasized material needs of society. However, his vision of a utopia did not come to pass, and his theories led to totalitarianism, with most communist societies degenerating into dictatorships. Marx also never understood the dynamism and flexibility of Capitalism and its potential to create wealth. Marxism also incorporates methods of socioeconomic analyses that views class relations and social conflict using a materialist view of history, and a dialectical view of social transformation, and strongly influenced historiography as well. The ideological divisions between “Communists”, and “Capitalists” became entrenched, and remain entrenched to this day with dogmatic positions, and very few via media solutions in sight.  

In 1879, the American Economist Henry George published a treatise explaining why poverty accompanied progress and economic booms led to busts. He also provided the foundation for the economic philosophy that came to be known as Georgism. According to this philosophy, people should own the value they produce themselves, but economic value from land and other natural resources should be owned by all members of society. His work led to the dawn of the Progressive Era, and the reforms that accompanied it. Georgism eventually declined in the second half of the Twentieth Century as Marxist ideology and the Austrian and Keynesian neoclassical schools gained traction. According to Paul Samuelson, Henry George was one of the six "American saints" in classical economics, and he partially influenced many modern writers such as Joseph Stiglitz and Milton Friedmann. In 1895, the London School of Economics (or the LSE in short) was founded by Fabian Society members (The Fabian society had been founded in 1884 and was named after the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus) Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, R H Tawney and George Bernard Shaw, for the betterment of English society and for the advancement of democratic socialism through a gradual process rather than a sudden overthrow. Fabian Socialism later came to be associated with economic stagnation and decline, though it was adopted in different guises in different parts of the world.

Neoclassical economics was another school of Economics which developed in the 1870s. This school focused on the determination of goods, outputs and income distributions in the markets through supply and demand, though the term was introduced by Thorstein Veblen much later, only in the year 1900. Further definitions of Neo-classical economics were provided by Colander, Rosser and Holt (Colander, Rosser and Holt 2004), and by Arnsperger and Varoufakis (Arnsperger and Varoufakis 2006). There were many branches in Neoclassical Economics such as the Austrian school, Cambridge School, and the Lausanne school, and the term is sometimes used as an umbrella term to cover other concepts. The Cambridge School was founded with the publication of Jevons' “Theory of Political Economy”, who also developed theories of partial equilibrium with a special focus on market failures. Its adherents were Alfred Marshall, Stanley Jevons, Arthur Pigou and Francis Y. Edgeworth, and many of these Economists laid the foundations for modern Microeconomics. The Austrian School of Economics comprised economists such as Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk, Carl Menger, and Friedrich von Wieser, who developed the theory of capital and attempted to explain economic crises as well. The Lausanne School, led by Leon Walras and Vilfredo Pareto, was the third school which developed the theories of General Equilibrium and Pareto efficiency. It was founded after the 1874 publication of Walras' “Elements of Pure Economics”.

Walras suggested that free markets tended towards equilibrium in the long run, and served the needs of countries very well. In 1933, Joan Robinson and Edward H. Chamberlain published works on imperfect competition and monopolistic competition, taking Neoclassical Economics in a new direction. Neoclassical Economics along with Keynesian Economics dominates mainstream microeconomics today, although it has not been free from criticism. The British Economist Alfred Marshall is also credited for his attempt to use mathematical analysis in economics, and transform it into a much more scientific profession without obliterating the basic concepts of Economics. He was the first professor of economics at the University of Cambridge, and completely jettisoned the old-fashioned term "political economy" for the term "economics". Economic schools of thought are also sometimes classified into orthodox schools and heterodox schools, where the latter is based on a criticism of the old-school theories and ideas, and often recommends radical approaches.

The overview presented above should serve to demonstrate that most economic models have been largely Euro-centric in their orientation given that economic theory evolved primarily in the West. Cultural factors and cultural differences around the world have been largely ignored in economic analysis, as also the fundamental differences between the natures of economies of developed and developing countries (the latter are characterized by extreme differences in wealth and socio-economic disparities as well). Before the fall of the Iron curtain, most developing countries leant towards alien Marxist or centrally-planned models, or watered down alternatives like Fabian socialism. After the 1980’s, developing countries were mostly rudderless, and swung towards capitalistic models of growth which did not suit their needs particularly well either. The idea that developing countries must therefore play a major role in formulating economic theory in the Twenty-first century and beyond, is one of the foundational principles and the guiding force behind this paper, and can potentially lift billions out of poverty.  Thus, there are a range of possibilities between the solutions proposed by the left and the right. This approach is also in tune with our philosophy of the ‘Globalization of Science’, particularly social sciences. In the next few pages we will attempt to show, that while an interface between Anthropology and Economics has indeed been attempted by many scholars, such efforts have largely been piecemeal, and driven primarily by western interests and perceptions.  The time has therefore arrived to integrate Anthropology and Economics much more robustly keeping in mind the potential downstream implications of such endeavours. 

Drawbacks of current approaches to economics

The following are the drawbacks of current approaches to economics, per our view. This may be on account of the fact that the field of economics did not historically develop this way on account of its inherent Eurocentrism:

1.       Do not take social aspects into account and consideration

2.       Do not take cultural aspects into account and consideration

3.       Do not take motivational aspects into account and consideration

4.       Money-centric approach

5.       Western centric approach

6.       Do not discuss factors such as sustainability

7.       Rely heavily on trickle down models

8.       Do not discuss issues such as welfare and happiness adequately

Our approach to anthropological economics

In our paper on Anthropological economics which was published in 2020, we had probed the interface between Anthropology and Economics, overviewed Economic Anthropology, established the connection between anthropology and public policy, reviewed cultural economics, cultural finance, economic sociology, Marxist sociology, developmental anthropology, the anthropology of development, economic growth versus economic development, developmental economics, welfare economics, behavioural economics, the psychology of economic development, value judgments is economics, etc. We had also postulated new concepts such as economic activity, economic actors, culture goods, non-culture goods, anthropological goods, sociocultural goods, socioeconomic goods, occupational groups, creative classes, intellectual classes, entrepreneurial classes, human capital, cultural capital, social capital, etc. We had also reviewed concepts such as the human development index, and the concept of poverty. We had also then, proposed concepts such as econoethnography, the introspective method, the investigative method, the case study method, thematic apperception tests, the sociological ninety ten rule, etc. we had also studied controllable factors versus non-controllable factors.

In sum, we had published the following papers on Anthropological Economics:

1.       Introducing Anthropological Economics: The quest for an Anthropological basis for Economic theory, growth models and policy development for wealth and human welfare Maximization, ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Social studies (2020)

2.       Delineating “Cultural limits” and “Anthropological limits” as central theorems in the social sciences: Some more useful and practicable techniques for social sciences research, Social Sciences Research Network 2024

3.       Measuring economic performance against “Cultural limits” and “Anthropological limits”: Techniques and strategies for better economic planning and economic modeling, Social Sciences Research Network 2024

 

The following are our related books on the subject

1.       Plotting the contours for India’s economic development: Why this could be a role model for other developing nations as well, Google books, 2024

 

The following are our related articles on the subject which were published on our blog in 2024.

1.       Do Indians and people from other developing countries suffer from a general aspiration deficit syndrome? (2024)

Globalization of science

Even though scientific endeavour has become much more globalized in the past few decades, with many researchers in India, China and Africa among other nations taking up science and making positive and noteworthy contributions across disciplines, Eurocentric paradigms or paradigms emanating from narrow region-specific data or considerations have not been obliterated completely from various branches of science. Research publications from unexpected parts of the world have been increasing of late, but these pale in comparison with the quantum scientific output still emanating from the West. Colonial bias is also at long last disappearing with the emergence of anti-establishment driven or even reactionary schools of thought, but a lot more may need to be done to make science completely cultureneutral and prejudice-free. Furthermore, while Asians have made major contributions to technology, their contributions to various fields of the social sciences remain abysmally low or non-existent. In these fields, old Eurocentric paradigms still predominate. All these metrics and observations imply that a lot more work needs to be done.

The ‘Globalisation of science’ as we see it, refers to the examination of phenomena and the formulation of strategies from the prism of multiple socio-cultural backgrounds, which is highly desirable in virtually every field of scientific endeavour, but is particularly meaningful and productive in various fields of social science such as Anthropology, Sociology, Linguistics, Historiography and Economics and will lead to what we call ‘true multivocality’, and eventually, a global renaissance and enlightenment in much the same manner as took place in the west a few centuries ago. In this paper, we not only examine why the ’Globalization of science’ has many positive benefits for science and scientific method as a whole, but also stress and emphasize the need for ‘horizontal collaboration between nations’, particularly developing ones. This paper attempts to cover both theoretical sciences and the practical, commercial applications of science, and the development of socially and culturally apposite economic development paradigms and frameworks as well, even though our scope may prima facie appear to be biased in favour of theoretical and foundational science. Even as we issue a clarion call for the propagation of science around the world, all endeavours must be accompanied by the inculcation of a scientific temper, otherwise dubious constructs will result as exemplified by the Hindutva catastrophe in India.

Other concepts

The following additional concepts must also be borne in mind

Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis which uses a dialectical materialist interpretation of history, also known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, and social transformation. Marxism is attributed to the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism has had a definitive impact on modern society and modern thought, and has spawned many variants as well in due ocurse.  Communism on the other hand, is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology  whose goal is the creation of a utopian communist society, and a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in the society based on need. In most variants of communism, private property is abolished, and so is established social order.

Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing a diverse set of economic, political and social systems which is characterised by common ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. Socialism describes the economic, political, and social theories and movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership may include public, community, cooperative, collective,  or employee ownership of resources. Socialism is is a very common and widely practiced left wing ideology that can be found in many parts of the world. Fabian socialism is another form of socialism that represents the ideology of the Fabian society, is now in general retreat all over the world. This is akin t democratic socialism, and advocated peaceful and graduated means of bringing about social change, rather than outright revolution.

Keynesian economics is named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output and inflation. This approach and technique is naturally highly suitable for developing countries such as India, and is something that we fully and wholeheartedly endorse, subject of course, to some checks and balances. KN Raj, who was the author and architect of the successful First five year plan, advocated exactly this kind of an approach. This approach varied from the approach advocated by PC Mahalonabis who was more a socialist at heart. The two concepts and approaches are therefore entirely different. The right kind of government spending can create the necessary social and economic infrastructure to boost economic growth in the long term. The idea that mainstream economic models were grossly insufficient and grossly inadequate were noted by other economists such as CT Kurien. Very little has however been done by way of a fundamental reorientation in the field of economics. From our philosophical standpoint, trickle up approaches, and bottom up approaches are the only way. Other approaches such as “Gross national happiness” have been proposed. However, they barely scratch the surface.  We believe these approaches will revolutionize the way economics is approached and studied. We also advocate horizontal collaboration, and a greater collaboration between developing countries.  Refer our paper, “Taking the benefits of science to underrepresented regions of the world: Promoting Horizontal collaboration in social science research as a meaningful extension of cross-cultural research design” which as published in 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] The history of economic thought: A reader, Medema, S., & Samuels, W. J., Routledge, London, 2003

[2] 21st Century Economics: A Reference Handbook, Sage Publications

Do Indians and people from other developing countries suffer from a general aspiration deficit syndrome?

 

Do Indians and people from other developing countries suffer from a general aspiration deficit syndrome?

Sujay Rao Mandavilli

 

What is aspiration? An aspiration is a fervent hope, desire or ambition to achieve or accomplish something in life. It also refers to the implicit and explicit desire to fulfill one’s desires, ambitions or dreams. An ambition which is a desire and determination to achieve success is always necessary if one wants to progress or keep moving forward. An aspiration deficit refers to a general deficit or lack of ambitions or aspiration. An aspiration deficit may lead to failure or stagnation. This may manifest itself at an individual level or at a group or a cultural level. This is because individuals are subject to peer-pressures and peer-influences throughout their lives. They are also influenced by their cultural values, mores and norms which would naturally vary widely from culture to culture. Therefore, individual mind-orientations would also be dependent on cultural-orientations. In a previous paper, we had also discussed concepts of mindspace, thoughtworlds, and worldviews, which would also additionally impact all these. All these concepts must be thoroughly grasped and understood because they go firmly hand in hand.

People can do well if they aspire to; they can surmount all odds if they have the will power to do so. We all know the story of American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer Helen Keller who was deaf, dumb, and blind but went on to achieve stupendous success in life. Bhimrao Ambedkar too surmounted all obstacles to achieve great success in life, transforming the lives of millions of people in the process. Another inspiring story is that of David Blunkett who was blind since birth, and despite coming from a poor family in one of Sheffield's most deprived districts, he rose to become Education and Employment Secretary, Home Secretary and Work and Pensions Secretary in the UK. The famous Indian Economist and Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal also described what he called a "poverty of aspiration", stating that most Indians aspired for lower end jobs  reflecting “limited aspirations".

Another related concept is that of “Symbolic violence”. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu used the term “symbolic violence” beginning from the early 1970’s to describe how a dominant social group successfully normalizes the position of a subordinate group as being just due to their inherent shortcomings or weaknesses (often stemming from ignorance or lack of knowledge or education for example) – making the unjustified disadvantage appear natural, or even necessary. This is achieved by bringing the subordinate group to come around to the arbitrary criteria as being both objective and fair. No physical violence or abuse is however involved in most cases. We have had many examples throughout history, some of which are described later on in this article. We can cite the attitude of the otherwise brilliant archeologist Gregory Possehl towards some Indians to boost this case, as we have had first hand experience with him.

Blacks also generally lack aspiration deficit, and so do many, if not most Indians. The gap in real world  performance between various ethnic groups is highly unlikely to be genetic. There may be a lot of social and cultural factors involved. We had described Certainty uncertainty principle for the social sciences according to the principles and tenets of which certain factors must be weighed against certain factors. The name of the paper was “Elucidating the Certainty uncertainty principle for the Social Sciences: Guidelines for hypothesis formulation in the Social Sciences for enhanced objectivity and intellectual multi-polarity”. We had also extended the concepts mooted in the aforesaid paper to discuss racism. The name of the paper was, “Quashing racism: Presenting the ‘Comprehensive sociocultural persecution complex’ as a logical extension and a practical application of the Certainty uncertainty principle for the social sciences”. The term “Race” is of course, an outdated term. Modern scholars have used and adopted several other terminologies such as clines, ethnobiological identity, etc, and the origin of humans would itself be complex and nuanced requiring a multilayered and a multidimensional approach.  

As per the principle mooted in this paper, the variation in performance may be more reliably identified with social and cultural factors, (for example, there may be very few opportunities to pursue careers in science in developing countries) and only if these are eliminated, we can proceed to racial or biological factors. This is not only because the latter are much more difficult to prove, but because they can also be misused by mischievous elements. The Flynn effect must be borne in mind too. The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence test scores that were measured in many parts of the world over the twentieth century, mostly due to nutritional factors. Eventually, other parts of the world may catch up with the west in this respect. People in some cultures may also suffer from an “Inferiority complex”, or a feeling of inadequacy. They may also suffer from a persecution complex which refers to either a justified or an unjustified belief that people are after them.  This may be partly justified because as we have observed over the years, people from developed nations want to maintain their status quo at least in science. This is what we meant by the “Comprehensive sociocultural persecution complex”. Let us now analyze some real-world factors which may lead to such complexes, and may also lead to real-world differentials in performance.

Caste system

A caste system also known as Varna or Jati, is a hierarchical system that originated in ancient India which is often attributed to Hinduism and the Vedas. The caste system refers to a social group into which an individual is born within this system of social stratification. The four main layers of the caste system are the Brahmins, or the priestly class, the Kashatriyas or the warrior class, the Vaishyas or the business class, and the Shudras who form the lowermost rung and echelon of society. Such as individual has limited to no social mobility, even though some mobility has indeed been observed and witnessed in both ancient and modern times. The caste system impinges on various aspects of daily, quotidian life including social and cultural mobility, matrimony, religious ceremonies, etc. The caste system is a general over-simplification as there were many patterns and exceptions observed across space and time. In accordance with the caste system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (this is known as endogamy), follow lifestyles linked to occupations prescribed for the caste, follow rituals assigned to a group, etc. At times, untouchability and segregation of basic facilities was also practiced, and this could extend sometimes also to visual pollution. This system was fought valiantly by Bhimrao Ambedkar also known as Babasahib Ambedkar, but exists in a diluted and in a highly whittled down form today.

Apartheid

The Apartheid  system is a now defunct system of government-institutionalized and government-mandated racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s, the system of apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian white-dominated political culture with limited to no rights for blacks and coloreds.  Segregation was also enforced in employment and housing. There were very few public facilities provided for blacks and coloreds, and even where these were provided were almost always of inferior quality. There were Indians in South Africa as well, and these occupied the middle rung in the apartheid-driven classificatory system, just one rung above blacks. Apartheid led to orchestrated international and domestic opposition, and some of the most influential global social movements of the twentieth century. It was also widely condemned in the United Nations and led to wide-ranging international sanctions on South Africa, eventually forcing it to dismantle the system. Among the leading lights of the Anti-Apartheid movement was Nelson Mandela who fought valiantly and heroically throughout his life to end the system.

 

Treatment of American Indians

Native Americans is named that is used to refer to indigenous native Indians who lived in North America including parts of present-day Canada and Alaska before white settlers arrived. There are an estimated five million of them today. These people are also sometimes called American Indians, or less often, First Americans. At its core, it includes peoples indigenous to the mainland forty -nine states plus Alaska; the indigenous peoples of South America are also sometimes referred as American Indians. The European colonization of the Americas that began in 1492 with the discovery of the Americas resulted in a steep reduction in the population sizes of Native American population on account of several factors such as diseases, persecution, enslavement and ethnic cleansing. Many native Americans were then pushed to reservation camps or territories that were earmarked for them. By 1871, their territories had been effectively derecognized, and they were bound to follow all federal and respective state laws as applicable, but with some significant exceptions.

Colonialism

Colonialism is a policy of official and systematized control and exploitation of people who are native to a particular region, and their resources by alien colonizers. Colonizers hold a monopoly over political power and often do not confer legal, administrative, social, cultural, or political rights to the oppressed peoples. Colonialism was introduced by European nations such as Britain, France, Netherlands and Portugal, and spread globally from around the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, encompassing a significant part of the earth’s geographical territory and population. Colonizers mostly began as traders, and had trading rights conferred on them by local ruling monarchs. They eventually gained control of large swathes of alien territory, and established trading outposts and factors before becoming de facto rulers. These actions were often justified as “civilizing missions”, but had disastrous economic consequences and implications for colonies. Many colonies began to fight for their freedom in due course. India’s movement for independence famously began in 1857 with the first war of Indian independence but became a full-blown movement by the beginning of the twentieth century. In later years, Mahatma Gandhi famously led the movement, and India won its independence in 1947, triggering many such movements elsewhere in Asia and Africa.

Since then, there have been several movements to bridge the social and the cultural divide, some of which are as follows:

 

Civil rights movement

The civil rights movement was a prominent social movement and campaign that lasted approximately between 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish federal-sanctioned racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement across the country that was facilitated by Jim Crow laws, and viciously racist governments. Though the movement had its early origins in the Reconstruction era of the late nineteenth century after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, it began in the modern sense of the term in the 1940s, and peaked in the 1960’s. This movement was marked by speeches, marches and boycotts with notable figures such as Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks.

Black lives matter movement

Black Lives Matter is the name given to a more recent political and social movement that sought to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others, and increased in intensity after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the year 2020.

Reservation in India

 

The name “reservation”, which has a rather different meaning in the USA, is a government-mandated and government-enforced system of caste-based affirmative action in India which is based on the provisions of the Indian Constitution. According to this policy, the Union Government and different states in India sets a fixed and predetermined percentage of reserved quotas or seats, in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc, for socially and economically backward people. While there has been a general widespread support for this policy among the general public, some see it as reverse discrimination and a resurrection of the caste system in a new form by discriminating against upper castes.

 

Affirmative action 

The term “Affirmative action” refers to a set of policies and practices followed by a government that aims to benefit marginalized groups. The premise for affirmative action is based on the nation that it may help bridging inequalities in daily life, jobs, increasing access to quality education, etc. These policies may vary widely from region to region, and take on many shapes and forms, but in some contexts they tend to be controversial.

Human rights in the former USSR

Human rights in the former and erstwhile Soviet Union were severely limited and curtailed. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state under Lenin and Stalin, and was gradually liberalized by glasnost and perestroika schemes in the 1980’s, until it collapsed in 1990. Freedom of speech was highly suppressed and dissent was severely punished, leaving virtually no room for it in the long-run. Western values were sometimes referred to as bourgeois morality, and even history was sometimes significantly rewritten just to prove a point. Government propaganda was widespread and ubiquitous. Censorship against authors, writers and dissenters was all-pervasive and strictly enforced. 

Culture of poverty

Culture of poverty is a concept in social theory that states that the values and attitudes of people trapped in poverty, further perpetuate the vicious cycle of poverty, in which they may be consequently trapped even for generations. This may also be referred to a poverty-perpetuating value system. This concept first appeared in 1959 in a study among Mexican families by Anthropologist Oscar Lewis It attracted both attention and criticism in the 1970’s, and made a strong comeback in the 2000’s. It seeks to explain why poverty persists despite the formulation of antipoverty programs, and strongly argues that poverty cannot be understood on material bases alone. In the words of Anthropologist Oscar Lewis, "The subculture of the poor develops mechanisms that tend to perpetuate it, especially because of what happens to the worldview, aspirations, and character of the children who grow up in it". (Lewis 1969) Victorians also through that poverty could be attributed to cultural factors, and this is a recurrent theme in Charles Dickens’ novels. However, others emphasize the need to analyse structural factors along with the motivation of individuals. There is also a risk that this approach can be used to perpetuate cultural stereotypes biases and prejudices, and even unwarranted moral critiques of the poor. Lewis provided seventy different characteristics of the presence of the culture of poverty, which he believed was not shared by all the lower classes. According to him, people forming a part of the culture of poverty have a strong feeling of hopelessness, despondency and despair, besides a feeling of perpetual marginalization and alienation from their own society. He argued that this could not in most cases be attributed to racial or ethnic factors, and that there were many other factors at play. They often lack the vision, courage and determination to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and may have a myopic, self-centric view of the world, mostly due to the lack of knowledge. He argued that people usually break out of the culture of poverty through better education, contact with other groups, and memberships of institutions. This is caused by, and further leads to a crisis of self confidence and low intrinsic and extrinsic expectations, what one might call the Golem effect. This concept evolved in the context of developing countries, but could be applied to developed countries too.  It consequently influenced work Daniel Moynihan and others during the war on poverty carried out during Lyndon B Johnson’s presidency in the 1960’s.

Other Anthropologists have sought to research poverty in relation to factors such as Family structure, and breakdown in family values, presence or absence of different types of welfare benefits, nature of employment and patterns of unemployment –frictional, seasonal, cyclical etc., quality of education, and desire for change arising from cultural mores, values and norms. A complete summary of various poverty measurement methods in common use has been compiled by the Mexican academic Julio Boltnivik. Another notable approach for poverty alleviation is Human capability approach proposed by Amartya Sen. This approach seeks to maximize human capability and potential to minimize poverty, and proposes various parameters to this effect.

According to most recent studies, poverty is caused not by lack of opportunity itself, but by a diverse set of other factors such as social and cultural barriers, absence of market-oriented skilling, the absence of relevant education systems, linguistic barriers, and the culture of poverty. This realization is one of the driving forces behind the science of Anthropological Economics that we had proposed and talked about.

Mind-orientations

We had proposed in a previous paper that individuals would have mind-orientations, and the following would be the basic Mind-orientation types. Each Mind-orientation type may be further subdivided into several types, though the latter is mostly left open-ended at this stage for further interpretation and elaboration.

-          Family orientation: In this case, the individual’s efforts are primarily geared towards the satisfaction of familial needs. This is perhaps the most common type of mind-orientation amongst a vast majority of people in different parts of the world, and particularly in traditional and conservative societies including India. Individuals with familial orientation may be adept or expert in making a living through various means, but these efforts are usually geared at satisfying the needs of the family, and are not a goal or an end by themselves.  Such individuals may be punctilious and meticulous, paying great attention to detail and execution. Such individuals may also be often empathetic to the needs of others, often putting their own needs next or even last. Family orientation is very common among women, but not too uncommon among men, either.  A Family mind-orientation has several tangible benefits which include the preservation and transmission of culture.

-          Employment or Business orientation: In this case, the individual’s efforts are primarily geared towards employment of business. I.e. satisfaction of livelihood needs, and all other efforts are subservient to these. Such orientations are common in many parts of the world, including developing and developed ones, and equate to a situation where livelihood is a passion or calling in life. Employment or Business orientation is very common among men, but not too uncommon among women, either. Employment orientation may be distinct from Business orientation, and the modal personal traits or attributes may vary in each case. The former may be marked by humility and attention to detail, while the later may be marked by brazenness and acceptance of risk.  An employment or business orientation has several economic benefits for society, and will lead to a greater well-being for society as a whole. However, this may be suitably sub-categorized for a more granular analysis. For example, accountants may possess different modal attributes from doctors and this may be reinforced through parenting. This is why doctors’ children may be more successful as doctors and not engineers. In some cases, changes may be introduced through rebelliousness and recalcitrance, and we have discussed this in another part of this paper.

-          Individual mind-orientation: In this case, the individual sends to be self-centric in his pursuits. This type of orientation is characterized by a great emphasis or satisfaction of individual goals and aspirations.  He may also attach a great deal of importance to his own personality or image makeup. There may be several variations of the basic theme, and each will be characterized by different personal traits or attributes. A variant for example may be the hedonistic personality type where are other endeavours are sacrificed to the pursuit of undiluted pleasure. Another variant is the Politician and the Manipulator, and this type of person typically seeks unnatural control over others, often going to great length to strategize and legitimize deviant behaviour. Yet another type may be the basic introvert who may be characterized by a general disinterest in the affairs of others around him. 

-          Societal Orientation: This type of Mind-orientation tends to put the well-being and needs of society above individual and all other needs. This type of mind-orientation is relatively rare in most societies, in spite of the fact that has some tangible benefits to offer to society.

-          Religious, spiritual or philosophical orientation: In this case, a great deal of importance is placed on religious, spiritual or philosophical needs often at the expense of all other needs. It may also be recommended to distinguish religiousness from spiritualism or a philosophical bent of mind for further analysis as there may be subtle differences between all the three. Religious, spiritual and philosophical orientation beyond a certain degree of measure may be counter-productive and lower the well-being of society.

-          Intellectual or creative orientation: In this type, a great deal of importance is placed on intellectual needs and creativity. A variant of this may be an Artistic Mind-orientation. A few may however, wish to treat the two as separate categories. This type of mind-orientation is relatively less common particularly in traditional or conservative societies, and may be the exception rather than the norm in most advanced societies.  The exact opposite of this kind of orientation is regimentation and adherence to bureaucracy or a procedural orientation, and this will stifle creativity and imagination in the ordinary course of events.

-          Militant-orientation: In this type of orientation, individuals are geared to fight and protect society from external threats and forces. This type of mind-orientation may be present to some degree in advanced societies, but may be more common in tribal and feudal societies.  

-          The Anarchist or the queer man: This type of mind-orientation may not be a bona fide category per se but a residual type and may be characterized by a partial or complete disorientation on some or many fronts. Many would not accept this as a mind-orientation and may be a resultant of unique personal experiences or a worldview shaped by cognitive dissonance.

-          Other types of Basic mind-orientation: Other types of basic mind-orientation may also defined with a proper justification, but most may be subservient to and slotted into the above categories. 

What are cultural orientations?

The following are Cultural orientations unlike the Mind-orientations described earlier, and we had proposed the Seven Cultural Orientations as described below in the same paper. We had also made a reference to Hofstede cultural dimensions, information about which can be found anywhere on the internet.

Past-orientation versus future-orientation

Past-orientation and Future-orientation is the relative emphasis placed by a society or culture on its past and future. Future-orientation is associated with characteristics such as planning, foresight, personality development directly and with other characteristics such as individualism indirectly. An over-emphasis on the past may lead to a vindication or exoneration of the cultural baggage of the past and may impede cultural progress, both material and non-material. Per the Vertical-horizontal model described in this paper, globalization leads to the multiplication of horizontal factors, thereby weakening vertical factors. We must also bear in mind the fact that Western societies have also been typically future-oriented since the age of Enlightenment. Thus, globalization and modernization gradually make more conservative societies future-oriented as well.

Inward-looking cultures versus outward cultures

Some cultures are undoubtedly more outward-looking than others, and many have traditionally or quintessentially been so. This may also be referred to as the internal or external orientation of society. The presence or absence of Cultural Elitism, key political and cultural institutions as well as the level of physical, educational and social infrastructure and the general intellectualism play a role in determining the Internal or external orientation of society. Remediation may be brought about by means of suitable changes in the education system through suitably-designed pedagogical techniques or an improvement in social or physical infrastructure. A change in a society’s orientation will increase its cultural receptivity and bring in attendant benefits.

A Xenophobic culture is one that harbors a deep-rooted suspicion or aversion towards other cultures as well-demonstrated pan-cultural trait. In some situations, Xenophobia may manifest itself in other forms such as condescension or a desire to maintain cultural or racial purity. Xenophobia may arise due to several reasons, one of them being ethnocentrism, though there may be other causes such as autarchy (autarky), cultural isolation or ignorance. This is strongly co-related with inward orientation, and often with past-centrism.  At the other end of the spectrum, xenocentrism may be observed, though this may not necessarily be accompanied with positive consequences, and a culture may swing like a pendulum from one extreme to another.  This may also be triggered by a popular disenfranchisement or disenchantment with a situation generating a yoyo effect as a precursor to normalization or stabilization (Yoyo theory of Socio-cultural change). Examples of Xenophobia have included the Islamophobia of the recent decades and Anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany. Xenophobia has also been attributed to mid-twentieth  century Japanese culture by some analysts and the more recent Hindutva movement of India.

Rigid versus flexible cultures

Cultures may also be classified into rigid and flexible. Flexible cultures are often those will less cultural and intellectual baggage, and are amenable to change. Cultures which are flexible in some respects, may be rigid in some others and it may be necessary to perform an analysis at the level of a cultural elements. An example to illustrate this point may be the Republican Party’s penchant for laissez-faire economics and neo-liberalism and right-of-centre policies in the USA. 

Individualistic versus collective cultures

Some cultures like the USA may be more individualist, while some others like the erstwhile and the now-defunct USSR emphasized collectivism of thought and statism. Most others can be placed in a continuum between these two extremes, and the merits and demerits of both points of view are still debatable.

Material and non-material orientation 

Some cultures like the USA may be more materialistic, while some other developed countries like Japan much less so. Most others can be placed in a continuum between a material orientation and various non-material orientations such as religious or spiritual orientation, and the merits and demerits of different types of orientation are still debatable.

Contentment versus innovation

Some cultures do not wish to effect changes to the status quo, while some others pursue a relentless quest for perfection and changes in the status quo.  This metric would indicate a culture’s appetite for innovation, and would be commensurate with its innovation indices. This metric may, however be affected by a cultures past or future orientation as well, and in some respects, all the six are inter-related.

Rational-orientation versus Non Rational-orientation

In a rational society, less reliance is placed on myths, legends, superstitions etc. It is expected that all non-rational societies will evolve into rational societies in due course, and the Cultural Anthropologist has a core and a crucial role to play here.

The time has come to bring about a change. People from India and other countries must hitch their wagon to a star. Racism and colonialism will increasingly become a thing of the past. They must forget old shibboleths and march confidently towards the future. As Bhimrao Ambedkar once famously said, “Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead.”