This divergence took the economic field away from the physical reality and prevents us nowadays to put in motion the actions to solve the issues that, we humans, will face in the close future. Raworth makes a harsh observation on the academic field of economics and its recent evolution : it didn’t open up to other fields, remained based on convenient, beautiful but unproved assumptions (such as the infinite growth or decoupling) instead of realistic and reproducible experiments (such as the central role of energy, the finiteness of resources or the capability of humanity to deeply disrupt/devastate its environment). SEVEN WAYS TO THINK LIKE A 21st CENTURY ECONOMIST In this book she gives details and new ways to understand the social and biophysical reality of our modern societies, and proposes ideas to tackle the numerous challenges humanity will have to face in the coming decades : climate change, resources depletion, increasing inequalities, environmental pollution or biodiversity loss.
It will require 3 more years of researches and personal thoughts to build a coherent ensemble and give more depth to her theory, published a book titled : “ Doughnut Economics : Seven ways to think like a 21st century economist”. Simplified version of the doughnut : a safe space within social and environmental limits (figure from “Wiedmann, T., Lenzen, M., Keyßer, L.T. ⦁ an outer ring – the ecological ceiling – that we should not cross in order to preserve our environment from degradation (climate change and biodiversity loss).īetween those two rings is the doughnut itself, the space in which we can meet the needs of all by respecting what the planet can “offer and handle”. ⦁ an inner limit – the social foundation – that represents the basic needs for any human being that must be satisfied (hunger, thirst, illiteracy, etc…). The doughnut shape comes from the integration of two limits : She builds her theory in 2012, drawing two circles forming the shape of a doughnut.
She reads the classics, gather some ideas to bring out a general reflection and starts to draw what should be humanity’s long term goals. After a year of maternity, she felt the need to come back to the very basics of economics, as it shapes our modern world in its whole dimension. It will be in this organization that she will find the means to act against inequalities and world poverty. After four years of witnessing barefaced power games block progress in international negotiations, she finally left to fulfill a longheld ambition and works with Oxfam for over a decade, in the early 2000s. After three years spent trying to improve the life of local inhabitants in Zanzibar, she hopped into the United Nations in the U.S.A., on the team writing the annual flagship Human Development Report.
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