Forming of economies of wellbeing through responsive practice in everyday life
type: CreativeWork
description: In recent years, most Western economies have increasingly focused on the narrow pursuit of economic growth with its unintended and undesirable impacts on the wellbeing of people and planet being well-documented. This has led to the growth in ‘alternative economics’ that addresses these critiques and proposes new economic models. However, alongside these critiques, there is another that questions the modern scientific approach underpinning economics, arguing that it overlooks the importance of lived experience, creating feelings of detachment in the economic practitioner as well as undermining the relevance and effectiveness of economics and policy making. The research develops a more responsive and reflexive approach to economic thinking and practice through tracking significant moments of experience through reflexive narrative. In so doing, it turns away from ‘analysing and measuring’ towards immersing in the experience of practicing as an economist in different situations, observing and attending to the detail, finding ways of showing others what was previously unnoticed, to bring significance to, and thus open the way for other pathways of action. Through this immersive, responsive and reflexive approach to economic practice, the research discovers experientially, key concepts in the theory of ‘Entanglement and Agential Realism’ as developed by Karen Barad. By experiential I am referring to my own experience of working as an economist and then being reflexive by relating these experiences to wider traditions of thought This experiential interpretation of ‘entanglement’ highlights how economic practices shape and ‘perform’ different economies, rather than merely describing or measuring a pre-existing reality. Importantly, this research avoids the ‘false move’ of taking these theoretical concepts from Entanglement and Agential Realism and simply applying them to economics. Rather, the findings highlight the importance of developing new ways of thinking and practici…
abstract: In recent years, most Western economies have increasingly focused on the narrow pursuit of economic growth with its unintended and undesirable impacts on the wellbeing of people and planet being well-documented. This has led to the growth in ‘alternative economics’ that addresses these critiques and proposes new economic models. However, alongside these critiques, there is another that questions the modern scientific approach underpinning economics, arguing that it overlooks the importance of lived experience, creating feelings of detachment in the economic practitioner as well as undermining the relevance and effectiveness of economics and policy making. The research develops a more responsive and reflexive approach to economic thinking and practice through tracking significant moments of experience through reflexive narrative. In so doing, it turns away from ‘analysing and measuring’ towards immersing in the experience of practicing as an economist in different situations, observing and attending to the detail, finding ways of showing others what was previously unnoticed, to bring significance to, and thus open the way for other pathways of action. Through this immersive, responsive and reflexive approach to economic practice, the research discovers experientially, key concepts in the theory of ‘Entanglement and Agential Realism’ as developed by Karen Barad. By experiential I am referring to my own experience of working as an economist and then being reflexive by relating these experiences to wider traditions of thought This experiential interpretation of ‘entanglement’ highlights how economic practices shape and ‘perform’ different economies, rather than merely describing or measuring a pre-existing reality. Importantly, this research avoids the ‘false move’ of taking these theoretical concepts from Entanglement and Agential Realism and simply applying them to economics. Rather, the findings highlight the importance of developing new ways of thinking and practici…
author: Richardson, Julie
language: eng
keywords: economics, entanglement, Wellbeing
date published: 2025-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:49:35Z
provider: University of Plymouth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Plymouth