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The Short Rise and Long Fall of heterodox Economics in germany After the 1970s: Explorations in a Scientific Field of Power and Struggle

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  • Heise, Arne
  • Thieme, Sebastian

Abstract

In the context of ongoing criticisms of the lack of pluralism in economics, the present article aims to discuss the development of ‘heterodox’ economics since the 1970s. Following Lakatos’s concept of scientific research programs (srp), and concentrating on the situation in Germany, the article will discuss classifications of economics, and will specify the understanding of diversity in the light of ‘axiomatic variations’ of the economic mainstream. This will form the basis for the subsequent description of the development of heterodoxy in Germany, with special reference to the founding of new universities and the reform movements in the 1970s. It can be shown that the heterodox scene flourished in this period, but that this pluralization remained fragmented and short-lived; by the 1980s at the latest heterodoxy was again on its way to marginalization. The history of heterodoxy in Germany thus presents itself as an unequal ‘battle of the paradigms,’ and can only be told as the story of a failure.

Suggested Citation

  • Heise, Arne & Thieme, Sebastian, 2016. "The Short Rise and Long Fall of heterodox Economics in germany After the 1970s: Explorations in a Scientific Field of Power and Struggle," MPRA Paper 80022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:80022
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    Cited by:

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    2. Theine, Hendrik, 2019. "The media coverage of wealth and inheritance taxation in Germany," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 290, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    3. Stephan Puehringer & Laura Porak & Johanna Rath, 2021. "Talking about competition? Discursive shifts in the economic imaginary of competition in public debates," ICAE Working Papers 123, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    4. Arne HEISE, 2016. "‘Why has economics turned out this way?’ A socio-economic note on the explanation of monism in economics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 81-101, November.
    5. Hendrik Theine, 2019. "The media coverage of wealth and inheritance taxation in Germany," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp290, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    6. Rouven Reinke & Laura Porak, 2023. "The charm of emission trading: Ideas of German public economists on economic policy in times of crises," ICAE Working Papers 145, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    7. Arne Heise & Toralf Pusch, 2020. "Introducing minimum wages in Germany employment effects in a post Keynesian perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(5), pages 1515-1532, November.
    8. Heise, Arne, 2019. "Ideology and pluralism: A German view," ZÖSS-Discussion Papers 75, University of Hamburg, Centre for Economic and Sociological Studies (CESS/ZÖSS).
    9. Pühringer, Stephan & Griesser, Markus, 2017. "From the "planning euphoria" to the "bitter economic truth": The transmission of economic ideas into German labour market policies in the 1960s and 2000s," Working Paper Serie des Instituts für Ökonomie Ök-30, Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung (HfGG), Institut für Ökonomie.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heterodox economics; pluralization; philosophy of science; sociology of science;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • B50 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - General
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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