Economics 211 - AntiRacist AntiEconomics

Economics is an ideology whose primary act of meaning-making is its self-presentation as objective social science. Through its graceful yet pernicious definitions of efficiency, value, competition, property, rights, and freedom, economics simultaneously hides and implements its oppressive neoliberal ideology. This class rejects this economics. In its place, guided by anti-racist principles, we work to develop a new economics with new definitions, new methods, and new frameworks. To do this, we must first characterize and understand the fundamental and fundamentally intertwined structural racism, patriarchal oppression, and violent distortion of both mainstream economic practice and American capitalism. We will then endeavor to rebuild, drawing on radical thought within economics (stratification and feminist economics) together with complementary justice-oriented work from related disciplines (sociology, social anthropology, political science, law, and critical race theory). Ultimately, our goal is to work towards an AntiRacist AntiEconomics. This course is numbered 211 to signify that it is a radical reintroduction to economics, a reconstructionist reprise of 111.

Requisite: ECON 111/111E. Limited to 30 students. Fall semester. Professor Reyes. 

How to handle overenrollment: Students may be asked to describe their academic background and interest in the course. The class will be selected to achieve a group with diverse academic backgrounds and interests.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Readings, lectures, problem solving, in-class exams, analytical writing, graphical analysis, quantitative reasoning, group discussion.