Robinson Crusoe: The quintessential economic man?

Abstract

The tale of Robinson Crusoe strikes a responsive chord in the imagination of many economists. This paper argues that the story of Robinson Crusoe, and the joy economists take in his example, are indicative of the way the discipline deals with issues of race and gender. Crusoe is used to represent homo economics par excellence, yet his self-sufficiency conceals the labor of others. A close reading of the novel reveals the issues of power, sexuality and race that are hidden underneath the storyline of Crusoe's relationship with Friday. The economists' portrait of equal exchange ignores the elements of domination and exploitation between Crusoe and Friday. The absence of female agency in Defoe's and the economists' story masks a narrative structure that, in fact, relies in fundamental ways on gendered representations. This process of exclusion mirrors the lack of recognition in our culture of the economic contribution of women. If Crusoe is taken to be the quintessential economic man, the economists' story i...