Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relationalizing Normative Economics: Some Insights from Africa

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cooperation in Value-Creating Networks

Part of the book series: Relational Economics and Organization Governance ((REOG))

  • 40 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, I systematically distinguish a variety of ways to relationalize economics and focus on a certain approach to relationalizing normative economics in the light of communal values salient in the African philosophical tradition. I start by distinguishing four major ways to relationalize empirical economics, viz., in terms of its ontologies, methods, explanations, and predictions and also three major ways to relationalize normative economics, with regard to means taken towards ends, decision-procedures used to specify ends, and ends themselves. Then, in the remainder of the chapter, I address what would be involved in relationalizing the ends of economic choices, given ideals of communal relationship characteristically prized by sub-Saharan philosophers, particularly southern African adherents to ubuntu. I advance communal answers to the two large questions of what an economy should distribute and how to engage with stakeholders, and I suggest that the implications will be found plausible by many open-minded enquirers around the world. Although this chapter is a work of ethical philosophy, it is meant to be of broad interest to scholars in economics.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Or so I argue systematically in Metz (2022). For accounts of African ethics that are more traditional for making essential reference to ancestors and other imperceptible agents, see, e.g., Bujo (2005) and Murove (2016).

  2. 2.

    Perhaps since they have a dignity precisely by virtue of their capacity to be party to such relationships as subjects (Metz, 2022).

  3. 3.

    For recent collections on a large variety of ways that African values might plausibly bear on economic matters, see Ogunyemi et al. (2022a, 2022b).

  4. 4.

    One notable exception is the Royal Government of Bhutan, which for about 50 years has instead used Gross National Happiness as its metric (on which see Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH, 2017).

  5. 5.

    The rest of this paragraph borrows from Metz (2022: 222).

  6. 6.

    Perhaps because of their greater capacity to relate communally, as subjects.

References

  • Barker, D., & Kuiper, E. (Eds.). (2003). Toward a feminist philosophy of economics. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2011). The relational economy: Geographies of knowing and learning. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. (1993). Nobel lecture: The economic way of looking at behavior. Journal of Political Economy, 101(3), 385–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biggiero, L., Angelini, P. P., Basevi, M., Carbonara, N., Mastrogiorgio, A., Pessa, E., Sevi, E., & Valente, M. (2016). Relational methodologies and epistemology in economics and management sciences. IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggiero, L., de Jongh, D., Priddat, B., Wieland, J., Zicari, A., & Fischer, D. (Eds.). (2022a). The relational view of economics: A new research agenda for the study of relational transactions. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggiero, L., de Jongh, D., Priddat, B., Wieland, J., & Zicari, A. (2022b). Manifesto for a relational economics. In L. Biggiero, D. de Jongh, B. Priddat, J. Wieland, A. Zicari, & D. Fischer (Eds.), The relational view of economics: A new research agenda for the study of relational transactions (pp. 9–12). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bovenberg, L. (2019). Finance: A relational perspective. In C. van Beuningen & K. Buitendijk (Eds.), Finance and the common good (pp. 79–96). Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujo, B. (2005). Differentiations in African ethics. In W. Schweiker (Ed.), The Blackwell companion to religious ethics (pp. 423–437). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH (Eds.) (2017). Happiness: Transforming the development landscape. Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH, https://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/happiness-transforming-the-development-landscape/.

  • CFI Team (2023). ‘Stakeholder’. Corporate Finance Institute, 13 March, https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/stakeholder/.

  • Cimino, C. (2015). The relational economics of commercial contract. Texas A&M Law Review, 3(1), 91–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, G. A. (2009). Why not socialism? Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, R. (2000). Sovereign virtue: The theory and practice of equality. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fromm, E. (2002). The sane society. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graafland, J. (2019). Is relational thinking wishful thinking? In C. van Beuningen & K. Buitendijk (Eds.), Finance and the common good (pp. 114–121). Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyekye, K. (1992). Traditional political ideas: Their relevance to development in contemporary Africa. In K. Wiredu and K. Gyekye (Eds.), Person and community: Ghanaian philosophical studies, volume I (pp. 243–255). Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1990). Moral consciousness and communicative action. The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harsanyi, J. (1975). Can the maximin principle serve as a basis for morality? American Political Science Review, 69(2), 594–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ip, P. K. (2009). Is Confucianism good for business ethics in China? Journal of Business Ethics, 88(3), 463–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jochimsen, M. (2003). Careful economics: Integrating caring activities and economic science. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.). (1999). Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasenene, P. (1998). Religious ethics in Africa. Fountain Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khoza, R. (1994). Ubuntu, botho, vumunhu, vhuthu, African humanism. Ekhaya Promotions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macchiavello, R. (2022). Relational contracts and development. Annual Review of Economics, 14(1), 337–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx, K. (1844). On James Mill. In D. McLellan (Ed.), Karl Marx selected writings, 2nd edn (pp. 124–133). Oxford University Press, 2000. Composed in 1844, but first published in 1932.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, K. (1857–1858). Grundrisse. In D. McLellan (Ed.), Karl Marx selected writings, 2nd edn (pp. 379–422). Oxford University Press, 2000. Composed in 1857–1858, but first published in 1941.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz, T. (2013). The Western ethic of care or an Afro-communitarian ethic?: Finding the right relational morality. Journal of Global Ethics, 9(1), 77–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metz, T. (2017). Values in China as compared to Africa: Two conceptions of harmony. Philosophy East and West, 67(2), 441–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metz, T. (2020). Relational normative economics. Ethical Perspectives, 27(1), 35–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metz, T. (2022). A relational moral theory. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. W. (2010). Relationships of equality. Journal of Ethics, 14(2), 231–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mnyaka, M., & Motlhabi, M. (2005). The African concept of ubuntu/botho and its socio-moral significance. Black Theology, 3(2), 215–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mofuoa, K. (2014). Applying ubuntu-botho African ethics to stakeholder corporate social responsibility. Management Research, 12(3), 222–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mokgoro, Y. (1998). Ubuntu and the law in South Africa. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 1(1), 15–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murove, M. F. (2016). African moral consciousness. Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkondo, G. M. (2007). Ubuntu as a public policy in South Africa: A conceptual framework. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, 2(1), 88–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nkulu-N’Sengha, M. (2009). Bumuntu. In M. K. Asante & A. Mazama (Eds.), Encyclopedia of African religion (pp. 142–147). Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noddings, N. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education. University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogunyemi, K., Ogunyemi, O., & Anozie, A. (2022a). Responsible management in Africa, volume 1: Traditions of principled entrepreneurship. Emerald Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogunyemi, K., Ogunyemi, O., & Anozie, A. (2022b). Responsible management in Africa, volume 2: Ethical work and sustainability. Emerald Publishing Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2013). ‘Better Life Index 2013: Definitions and metadata’. http://www.oecd.org/statistics/OECD-Better-Life-Index-2013-definitions.pdf.

  • Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice (1st edn). Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rendtorff, J. D. (2021). Relational economics as polycontextual business ethics. In J. B. Montecinos, D. Fischer, & A. Heck (Eds.), Kooperation, Governance, Wertschöpfung: Perspektiven auf eine relationale Ökonomie (pp. 97–110). Metropolis-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schluter, M. (2010). Beyond capitalism: Towards a relational economy. Cambridge Papers: Towards a Biblical Mind, 19(1), 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1987). On ethics and economics. Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (2004). Capabilities, lists, and public reason. Feminist Economics, 10(3), 77–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler, R., & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tutu, D. (1999). No future without forgiveness. Random House.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Vaillant, G. (2012). Triumphs of experience: The men of the Harvard grant study. Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • van Nes, J., Nullens, P., & van den Heuvel, S. (Eds.). (2022). Relational anthropology for contemporary economics. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Osch, T. (2013). Towards a caring economic approach. https://oqconsulting.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/The-Economy-of-Care.pdf.

  • van Staveren, I. (2001). The values of economics: An Aristotelian perspective. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Westall, A. (2011). Relational economics. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, 49(Winter), 94–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M. (2011). Kantian ethics and economics. Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wieland, J. (2014). Governance ethics: Global value creation, economic organization and normativity. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wieland, J. (2020). Relational economics: A political economy. Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wiredu, K. (2000). Democracy and consensus in African traditional politics: A plea for a non-party polity. Polylog, 2, http://them.polylog.org/2/fwk-en.htm.

  • Woermann, M., & Engelbrecht, S. (2019). The ubuntu challenge to business: From stakeholders to relation holders. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(1), 27–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pretoria, South Africa

    Thaddeus Metz

Authors
  1. Thaddeus Metz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thaddeus Metz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. LEIZ, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Josef Wieland

  2. ESSEC Business School, École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques, Cergy-Pontoise, France

    Stefan Linder

  3. Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Jessica Geraldo Schwengber

  4. ESSEC Business School, École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques, Cergy-Pontoise, France

    Adrian Zicari

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Metz, T. (2024). Relationalizing Normative Economics: Some Insights from Africa. In: Wieland, J., Linder, S., Geraldo Schwengber, J., Zicari, A. (eds) Cooperation in Value-Creating Networks. Relational Economics and Organization Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50718-2_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation