Towards rethinking economics in South Africa: reflections on REFA

Abstract

This article complements Stephanie Craig’s insightful look at the status of economics in South African universities (see pg 22). The writers give us an insider’s view of the Rethinking Economics Festival (REFA) that took place at the University of the Witwatersrand in September. It questions the narrow, technical approach that has been adopted by economics departments in universities and the neoclassical (and, in recent decades, neoliberal) assumptions that are the foundation of this approach. Importantly though, it sketches a new vista that is opening for the teaching of economics, thanks to a vibrant coalition of students, activists, academics and civil society organisations.