We often do not realize that deep down economics is a battleground of competing anthropologies: implicit or explicit theories of human nature, selfhood and subjectivity, quiet beliefs about how we understand ourselves and our place in the world. In this podcast we bring together researchers from different disciplines that study economic phenomena, systems, agency and behavior, ranging from historians and political philosophers to economic anthropologists and development economists, to scrutinize the protagonist of their discipline: who is the Real Homo Economicus? What kinds of creatures are they? What drives their choices and behavior? Are we still talking about the same creature?
To get the conversation started we use an experimental method: the Mythlab method. We use stories as a probe into economic thinking and quiet beliefs about the underlying anthropologies. In each episode we give our two guests the same story and see how they each respond to it, and explore assumptions and associations in a playful way.
In this second episode we try to finish a story about a mythical king who is rewarded by a god with immortality, provided that he finds someone who is willing to die in his place. When nobody turns out to be willing, his wife steps up: she announces that she is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Will the king accept this greatest gift? We try to predict the outcome of the story with Irene van Staveren and Blaž Remic.
Prof. dr. Irene van Staveren is professor of pluralist development economics at the Institute of Social Studies, of Erasmus University Rotterdam (https://www.eur.nl/people/irene-van-staveren). (Portrait by Eric Brinkhorst)
Dr. Blaž Remic is an economist working at the intersection of economics, philosophy, and cognitive science, with a particular interest in the role of culture. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society and a lecturer in Cultural Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. (https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/medewerkers/blaz-remic#tab-1)
Hosted by Dr. Tazuko van Berkel [https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/tazuko-van-berkel#tab-1]. Edited and mixed by Connor McMullen.
Mythlab team: Dr. Erik Bähre, Dr. Aiste Celkyte, Prof. dr. Lisa Herzog, Connor McMullen, Dr. Sara Polak
The Mythlab-project is funded by the Dutch Young Academy.
The Dutch Young Academy (https://www.dejongeakademie.nl/en/default.aspx) is a platform of fifty inspired academics who conduct research, advise, share knowledge and bring people together, and who do all this while taking a special interest in young scientists and scholars.
References:
The Myth of the Greatest Gift is taken from the plot of Euripides’ tragedy Alcestis (438 BCE) (https://classics.mit.edu/Euripides/alcestis.html)
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SEA’s podcast, Mergers and Acquisitions demonstrates how anthropological and other perspectives can enhance and complicate understandings of economic life and contemporary events. Mergers and Acquisitions hosts interviews with leading economic anthropologists, provides reflection pieces on economic transformations and problems, and serves as a vehicle for new and established scholars to connect with each other. Recognizing that the best ideas and insights are rarely generated alone, Mergers and Acquisitions offers a collective mind-hive for furthering the study of economic life.
