SEJ476 - Artículos
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/14791
2024-03-28T09:04:42ZFrom the mainstream economics research frontier towards critical institutional political economy
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/86354
From the mainstream economics research frontier towards critical institutional political economy
García Quero, Fernando José; López Castellano, Fernando
The attack of the traditions of political economy upon the orthodox economics is directed at the pillars supporting its political philosophy and at the core of its deductive and individualist methodology. This criticism challenges the current mainstream economics research frontier, which includes the notions of ‘new’ institutional economics, among others. Recalling the tradition known as the ‘Other Canon’, this article criticises these theories and reclaims the principal arguments of a real critical institutional political economy agenda, based on the significant role of history in economic and social analysis, the inductive methodology and the emphasis on power relationships and interest conflicts.
Nuevas teorizaciones y nuevas agendas en los estudios del desarrollo
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/86351
Nuevas teorizaciones y nuevas agendas en los estudios del desarrollo
López Castellano, Fernando; García Quero, Fernando José
Tras la "contrarrevolución" en la teoría del desarrollo formalizada en el Consenso de Washington se abandona el proyecto nacional de desarrollo y se pierde la confianza en la capacidad de la industrialización como mecanismo para erradicar la pobreza en el mundo. Años después, el fracaso del Consenso provocó la aparición de voces críticas. Unas apelaban al marco institucional y a las políticas públicas como determinantes del desempeño económico. Otras, cuestionaban la identificación entre crecimiento y desarrollo desde dos planos distintos. El primero, abogaba por el Desarrollo Humano, entendido como un proceso de expansión de las capacidades de las personas; y el segundo por el desarrollo sostenible, a partir de la idea de que la naturaleza no permitía cualquier modalidad de desarrollo. Ya en el siglo XXI, en el seno de las Naciones Unidas se producía un nuevo giro estratégico en los Estudios del Desarrollo y la nueva agenda se centró en el alivio de los síntomas de la pobreza, y no en su erradicación. Desde una perspectiva radicalmente diferente, los análisis postdesarrollistas niegan el propio concepto de desarrollo y proponen visiones alternativas al desarrollo. En este artículo se reflexiona críticamente respecto al futuro de los Estudios del Desarrollo y de la Agenda Oficial al Desarrollo, y se plantean las "alternativas al desarrollo", singularmente, la estrategia del decrecimiento como una propuesta sólida, coherente e integradora. Encontrar alternativas al desarrollo es más urgente si cabe en el momento actual, porque la crisis generada por la pandemia que aqueja al mundo está poniendo en cuestión el paradigma dominante en materia de desarrollo económico y la propia idea de progreso.; Following the 'counter-revolution' in development theory formalised in the Washington Consensus, the national development project was shelved, and confidence waned in the capacity of industrialisation as a mechanism to eradicate poverty in the world. Years later, the failure of the Consensus prompted critical voices. Some appealed to the institutional framework and public policies as determinants of economic performance, while others questioned equating growth with development on two levels. The first advocated human development, understood as a process of expanding people's capabilities. The second supported sustainable development based on the idea that nature cannot withstand all forms of development. In the 21st century, at the heart of the United Nations, there was a strategic shift in development studies, giving rise to a new agenda focused on alleviating the symptoms of poverty rather than eradicating it. From a radically different perspective, post-developmentalist analyses deny the very concept of development and propose alternative visions.This article critically reflects on the future of development studies and the official development agenda and considers 'alternatives to development', particularly the degrowth strategy as a solid, coherent and integrative proposal. Finding alternatives to development is now more urgent than ever because the crisis caused by the pandemic afflicting the world is calling into question the dominant paradigm of economic development and the very idea of progress
Economic poverty and happiness in rural Ecuador: The importance of Buen Vivir (Living Well)
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85659
Economic poverty and happiness in rural Ecuador: The importance of Buen Vivir (Living Well)
García Quero, Fernando José; Guardiola Wanden-Berghe, Jorge
This research paper addresses the endemic dimensions of having or not
having a good life using a concept of poverty based on self-reported subjective well-
being. We build a subjective well-being poverty (SWBP) line and compare it with two
income poverty (IP) lines. The endemic dimension comes from rural Ecuador and the
indigenous happiness idea of Buen Vivir (Living Well), which has been the focus of
growing attention in the scientific and the political arena. Discrepancies between
SWBP and IP are deeply explored building models that explain SWBP with IP, as
well as control variables and Buen Vivir related variables. We show that income poor
households are more likely to be poor in terms of their reported subjective well-being.
However, households that grow their own food and are in an indigenous
community are less likely to report to be subjective well-being poor. The results
suggest that low SWBP values in contrast with high IP may be explained by
idiosyncratic components of the Buen Vivir philosophy. The components of the
Buen Vivir ethos related to SWBP give rise to the idea of building multidi-
mensional concepts of poverty based on what ethnic people consider to be good
or bad for their specific way of life. In a general context, our study raises the
importance of considering poverty and its dimensions taking into account the
endemic factors of specific groups of people and cultures. That is, to take into
account what is important for their lives.
The Euro System as a Laboratory for Neoliberalism: The Case of Spain
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85658
The Euro System as a Laboratory for Neoliberalism: The Case of Spain
López Castellano, Fernando; García Quero, Fernando José
Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has evolved from ideology to political agenda, from political program to public policy, and from public policy to a system that replaces democratic control over economic policy with a system of elite economic management. This process of change has been possible due to the endorsement of a meta-political theory that destroys democracy and legitimizes technocratic despotism, financial deregulation, the debasement of labor into a new proletariat, and the purging of constitutional politics. In this article, we analyze this profound transformation of social and legal relations in the “euro system” and, specifically, in the regressive policies that have emerged from the “crisis” in Spain, a peripheral country of the European Union. The problems in contemporary Europe are a direct consequence of the neoliberal version of European economic unity. Their solution will depend on the capacity of the member states to create a social Europe that strengthens institutional democracy and develops universal systems of social protection. This, in turn, will depend on the ability of citizens to remodel state institutions in accordance with new social goals that place life at the center.
Perspectives on human and social capital theories and the role of education: an approach from Mediterranean thought.
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/85657
Perspectives on human and social capital theories and the role of education: an approach from Mediterranean thought.
López Castellano, Fernando; García Quero, Fernando José; García Carmona, Marina
Current discussions about education suggest that a transformative pedagogy that goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills is needed. However, there is no agreement as to the inputs needed for a correct development of the educational model. In this sense, we can identify the presence of two different approaches to human and social capital which embody distinct educational worldviews. On the one hand, the ‘Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Personal Culture’ approach, and on the other hand, the ‘Non-Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Civic Culture’ approach. The first, which is linked to mainstream economic theory, sees education as any stock of knowledge that contributes to an improvement in the productivity of the worker and individual well-being. The second, which is rooted in the Mediterranean tradition of political thought, highlights the role of civic virtues, reciprocity, and public action within the educational process and its influence on public happiness. In this article, we analyse these connections in order to introduce the eighteenth-century Mediterranean tradition of economic thought into discussions about human and social capital theories and the role of education in them. Focusing on education through these prisms, national and international agendas must be reoriented towards the integral development of people to include broader global debates.