Alternative Economics—A Missing Component in the African American Studies Curriculum

Abstract

The author expands on questions about the place and role of economics and Black political economy in African American Studies by asking about what economic models are taught and how economic agency is taught. This article reiterates the importance of economic content in Africana Studies and proposes that even when economics is taught the focus is on poverty and theories about scarcity, competition, and discrimination without analyses of group economics, game theory, or alternative economic institutions. African American Studies curricula do not provide students with the methodological tools to theorize and apply Black political economic analysis. The article reviews the paucity of courses on alternative economic development and cooperative economics. The author reviews the history of Black alternative economic strategies and African American cooperative economic thought and practice. The article ends with definitions and concepts that can be included in Africana Studies curricula to teach students how to become economic development and policy analysts and economic change agents.