Decolonising economics means questioning where its ideas came from—and imagining new ones

Economics profoundly influences our daily lives, from the prices we encounter to government policies. However, many principles taught as universal truths originated from a limited historical perspective and have seldom been scrutinized through a decolonial lens. A recent book, "Decolonizing Economics," argues that the field is long overdue for such a transformation.

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Economics shapes many aspects of our daily lives, from the prices we pay to the policies governments adopt.

The authors contend that modern economics has largely ignored the impact of colonialism and unequal power dynamics on the development of economies and the theories explaining them. Decolonizing economics requires rethinking economic development and inequality, moving beyond explanations focused solely on technology and markets. Instead, it emphasizes how colonization, resource extraction, and exploited labor contributed to the wealth of some nations while hindering development elsewhere.

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Decolonising economics means rethinking how we understand economic development and inequality.

Foundational economic theories were often developed by wealthy European men during periods of colonial expansion. These ideas are frequently presented as universal, overshadowing Indigenous and Global South economic systems. Decolonizing economics challenges core assumptions about choice, rationality, and economic value. For instance, the concept of scarcity, while highlighting limited resources, can obscure how social and economic inequalities restrict genuine choices for individuals, such as bonded laborers facing coercion within a market framework.

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Eurocentric economic thought tends to position European economic development as the norm while presenting Indigenous and Global South economic systems as deviations.

Furthermore, decolonizing economics necessitates a critical examination of theories like free trade, championed by economists such as David Ricardo. Many wealthy nations industrialized using protectionist policies before advocating free trade globally, a strategy described as "kicking away the ladder." This critical approach also involves scrutinizing how economic systems perpetuate inequality, both within wealthy nations and through continued resource extraction and low-wage labor in the Global South, as seen with critiques of the prison industrial complex.

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Rather than explaining prosperity through technology, markets and scientific progress, it examines how colonisation, resource extraction and exploited labour shaped today’s wealthy economies while contributing to underdevelopment elsewhere.