Radical Economics: A Tradition of Theoretical Differences

Abstract

The tradition of radical economics is a long one, rich in insight, passion, and conflict. Motivated by different forms of a common opposition to capitalism and the economic theories which celebrate it, radicals have offered a variety of analyses of economic and more broadly social interactions, problems, and trends. Our task in this paper is to make sense of the varieties of radical theory: we present a taxonomy, a catalog of some of the major contemporary radical positions, locating both the shared principles which unite theorists within the various schools of thought and the issues of struggle and debate defining boundaries between them. Of course, there are probably as many ways to organize and classify radical economic theories as there are theories to classify; any taxonomic scheme is also inherently an evaluation of the theories considered, and our own perspective is obviously at work in shaping the distinctions we draw. Because of this, we will also explicitly locate our own views in relation to other trends in the field, in the process clarifying the reasons for our allegiance to one particular radical approach.