The State of the Art and Challenges for Heterodox Economics

.In this introduction to The Routledge Handbook of Heterodox Economics, we not only outline the objectives and distinctive features, structure, and topics of the Handbook, but also deal with the general agenda of heterodox economics that is not covered by chapters in the Handbook. From various heterodox economic perspectives, economics is an historical and social analysis of the economy embedded in a particular society, which goes beyond market-fundamentalist narratives and beyond the conventional micro-macro dichotomy in economics. Such a view of the economy and economics is shared by the wide spectrum of traditions within heterodox economics—that is, classical political economy, Marxian-radical political economics, institutional-evolutionary economics, Post Keynesian-Sraffian economics, social economics, feminist economics, Régulation theory, the Social Structure of Accumulation approach, ecological economics, among others. Thus, the introduction discusses the current state of heterodox economics to demonstrate that the traditions within heterodox economics provide realistic, coherent, and comprehensive theoretical frameworks that are alternative to mainstream economics. It is explicitly shown that heterodox economics is not a discipline per se or a ‘developed body of thought’ but a spectrum of traditions, which have both commonalities and differences. This discussion also illuminates the reasoning that underpins the claim of many heterodox economists that economics is a social science. Heterodox economists following the traditions of Marx, Veblen, Keynes, among others, practice economics within a social context. Explanation of the claim that economics is a social science will enhance a better understanding of how to make sense of economics as well as to demonstrate how economics may better serve the public purpose. Finally, the introduction will carefully situate this Handbook within the economics literature generally and, more specifically, the heterodox economics literature.