Rethinking Economics Starting from the Commons

This book proposes a new approach to economics, starting from the commons and based on the Economy of Francesco (EoF), a worldwide movement of young people who aim to change the current economic models and working towards a fair, sustainable, and inclusive economic system. EoF was convened by Pope Francis and is inspired by the example of St. Francis of Assisi, featuring Franciscan economic roots and institutions, as well as theories of the social sciences. The authors raise and answer several important questions throughout the volume, such as: What if the economic courses taught in the universities across the globe focused their attention on the topics of the commons rather than on private goods? What if social businesses, rather than being considered as a hybrid form of businesses, became the normal approach, and ethical and green finance ruled over the standard financial sector? Is it possible to move away from the primacy of the consumers to the preeminence of ethical consumers who express their preferences for an inclusive, sustainable, and workers-friendly economic system with their daily choices? Using a unique approach, the book includes the contributions of prominent scholars which are integrated and discussed by young international scholars, providing a fresh analysis with a glance of hope for the future. The book is a must-read for students, scholars, and researchers of economics and related disciplines interested in alternatives to the current economic mainstream in general, and the Economy of Francesco in particular.

Auteur

Valentina Rotondi is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Italian Switzerland (SUPSI), Lugano, Switzerland, and an associate researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. She defines herself as a social scientist with training in behavioral and applied economics and a focus on research on gender inequalities, demography, and development. Rotondi has a Ph.D. in economics from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy.

She is a member of the scientific committee of the international movement "The Economy of Francesco".

Paolo Santori holds a Ph.D. in Sciences of Civil Economy from LUMSA University in Rome (supervisor: Luigino Bruni) with a dissertation on the History of Economic Thought, based both on philosophical and theological studies. Currently, he is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences at Tilburg University.

He defines himself as a philosopher at the crossroads between economic thought and theology. His research interests lie in the area of Philosophy of Economics - including topics in History of Economic Thought, Theology & Economics, Business Ethics. Overall, he believes that today Economics is in need of biodiversity, meaning heterogeneous approaches and ideas. His research paths show that the pluralism that economics seeks can be derived from the history of ideas. History is like the roots of a tree; roots reveal not only the tree's past but also its possible future.

He is a member of the scientific committee of the international movement "The Economy of Francesco".