07.29.2009 , 07.27.2010 iris loterte | thesis related report

CONVENTIONAL ECONOMIC MEASUREMENT

IS NOT A SUFFICIENT SOLUTION TO ENSURE

QUALITY OF LIFE AND ALLEVIATE POVERTY

1) Deficiencies of Economic Indicators, 2) Ambiguity of Sustainable Development

Why “poverty” exists and persists?

1. Review on Sustainable Development 2. Review on Economic Measurement 3. Postulates: Transdisciplinary Economics 4. Postulates: Transdisciplinarity of Sustainable

Development 5. Some issues on Economic Growth and Development 6. Reasons why problem persists (if any!) 7. The Methodology of Transdisciplinarity (on thesis)

Presentation contents:

1992 The Rio Earth Summit… Agenda 21 - Action Plan/ “Blueprint for Sustainable Development” (40 chapters, 300 pages) Chapter 36: Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training

Sustainable Development = Development that meets the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations

to meet their needs.

Background/ History…

1987 The Brundtland Commission…

2000 UN Millenium Summit

Halve Extreme Poverty

Universal Primary Education

Empowerment of Women/ gender equality

Reduce <5 mortality by 2/3

Reduce maternal mortality by 3/4

Reverse spread of diseases, esp. HIV/AIDS, Malaria

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Form a Global Development Partnership

for aid, trade, debt relief

Millenium Development

Goals by 2015

Background/ History cont’d…

2.8 billion living on < $2/day)

Growing gap between rich & poor

6 million children died from hunger In 10 years

1.1 billion lack clean water

27% coral reefs Seriously threatened (up from 10%)

Background/ History cont’d…

10 years after Rio Declining indicators

Greenhouse gas emissions up 9%

Extinctions on the rise

2002 The World Summit on Sustainable Development…

“Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea

that seems abstract -- sustainable development -- and turn it

into a reality for all the world's people.”

Kofi Annan, UNSG, 2001

The Decade of Education

for Sustainable Development

2005-2014

UNESCO: appointed lead UN agency

Approved by UN

Gen. Assy. 2002

Others forming: Portugal, Greece, Sweden, the Philippines, India, etc.

National Initiatives

US Partnership for the DESD

Japan Council on the DESD

German National Committee for the DESD

TRANSDICIPLINARY ECONOMICS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

An Excerpt from Prof. Maxneef Presentation

Postulates for a Transdisciplinary Economics for Sustainability.

1.The economy is to serve the people and not the people to serve the economy.

2.Development is about people and not about objects.

3.Growth is not the same as development and development does not necessarily require growth.

4.No economy is possible in the absence of the ecosystems services.

5.The economy is a subsystem of a larger and finite system, the biosphere, hence permanent growth is impossible.

VALUE PRINCIPLE FOR A

TRANSDISCIPLINARY ECONOMICS

FOR SUSTAINABILITY.

6. Under no circunstances whatsoever can an economic process, or interest, be above the reverence of life.

NEEDS

MATRIX Being

(qualities) Having

(things) Doing

(actions) Interacting (settings)

Subsistence physical,

emotional and mental health

food, shelter, work work, feed, procreate,

clothe, rest/sleep

living environment, social setting

Protection care, adaptability, autonomy

social security, health systems,

rights, family, work

cooperate, plan, prevent, help,

cure, take care of

Living space, social environment,

dwelling

Affection respect, tolerance, sense of humor,

generosity, sensuality

friendships, family, relationships with

nature

share, take care of, make love,

express emotions

privacy, intimate spaces of

togetherness

Understanding critical capacity,

receptivity, curiosity, intuition

literature, teachers, educational and communication

policies

analyse, study, meditate, investigate

schools, families, universities, communities

Participation adaptability, receptivity,

dedication, sense of humor

responsibilities, duties, work,

rights, privileges

cooperate, propose, dissent, express opinions

associations, parties, churches,

neighborhoods

Idleness / Leisure

imagination, curiosity, tranquility,

spontaneity

games, parties, spectacles, clubs,

peace of mind

day-dream, play, remember, relax,

have fun

landscapes, intimate spaces,

places to be alone, free time

Creation

imagination, boldness, curiosity,

inventiveness, autonomy,

determination

skills, work, abilities, method,

techniques

invent, build, design, work,

compose, interpret

spaces for expression, workshops,

audiences, cultural groups

Identity sense of belonging,

self- esteem, consistency

symbols, language, religion, values, work, customs, norms, habits,

historical memory

get to know oneself, grow,

commit oneself, recognize oneself

places one belongs to, everyday

settings, maturation stages

Freedom autonomy, passion, self-esteem, open-

mindedness, tolerance

equal rights

dissent, choose, run risks, develop

awareness, be different from,

disobey

temporal / spatial plasticity

(anywhere)

“ Development as it is usually conceived is based on a particular view of human nature… …This view, which is taken for granted by economic rationalists, assumes that human beings are driven by a limitless craving for material possessions.”

– Manfred Max-neef, 1987.

•Personal consumption

•Income distribution

•Public consumption

expenditure

•Value of household and

community work

•Services of public capital

•Net capital growth

•Net foreign lending

•Costs of unemployment

•Costs of underemployment

•Costs of overwork

•Private defensive expenditure on health and

education

•Value of advertising

•Costs of commuting

•Costs of noise pollution

•Costs of transport accidents

•Costs of industrial accidents

•Costs of irrigation water use

•Costs of urban water pollution

•Costs of air pollution

•Costs of land degradation

•Costs of loss of native forests

•Costs of depletion of non-renewable energy

resources

•Costs of climate change

•Costs of ozone depletion

•Costs of crime

•Costs of problem gambling

+ -

Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)

FIRMS FAMILIES

Goods and services market

Factors and products market

CLASSIC APPROACH TO THE ECONOMIC PROCESS

Circular flow of money in a closed system that does not have relations with the environment and ignores the

physical consequences of economic activity.

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS APPROACH

SOLAR ENERGY

DISPERSED HEAT

USEFUL ENERGY

FIRMS FAMILIES

Goods and services market

Factors and

products market

RAW MATERIALS

MATERIAL WASTE

RESIDUAL ENERGY

RECYCLING

¿How is succes measured in conventional economics?

An economy is considered to be successful when purchasing power and consumption

increase

Classical economic indicator: GDP

It determines:

•Decision making

•Policy making

•Investment plans

Deficiencies of the indicator

It does not include: Depreciation of natural capital The value of not remunerated activities The activities of the INVISIBLE SECTORS Compensatory and defensive expenditures are added not subtracted

GDP = C + Y + Ge + X - I

This hypotesis became robust as a consequence of a number of country studies.

THRESHOLD HYPOTESIS :

“For every society there seems to be a period in which economic growth –conventionally understood and measured- brings about an improvement in the quality of life, but only up to a point- the threshold point- beyond which, if there is more economic growth, quality of life may begin to deteriorate”

GROWTH IS NOT EQUIVALENT TO DEVELOPMENT

“But poverties are not only poverties.

Each poverty, if intense and prolongued, generates pathologies which, on occasions, exceed the individual, and

become collective pathologies.

They are generated by the systematical hindrance of the satisfaction of fundamental human needs

Pathologies are not economic problems, they affect the whole of society.”

THE UNDERSTANDING OF COLLECTIVE PATHOLOGIES REQUIRES TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND

ACTION

On poverty issue:

METHODOLOGY FOR TRANSDISCIPLINARY

STUDY AND APPLICATION

(Knowing the Truth and Reasons)

Intersections of immeasurability and impossibilities

1. People are created as well as the environment. 2. Environment (& natural resources) is to support and sustain

life of the people. 3. Economy is impossible in the absence of the people and its

home environment. 4. Development is about and because of the people and the

environment. 5. Management is created by & for the people themselves

and for the environment. 6. Economy and Environmental management are

developments made by and could only be sustained by the people.

7. People are the center of economy and development, and these are only possible in the presence of the environment.

7 POSTULATES FOR TRANSDISCIPLINARY SD FRAMEWORK

Sustainable Development

Environmental Management

Economics and Growth

Interdependence and Indispensability

People

TRANSDISCIPLINARITY APPROACH

TO UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THE TRUTH

Requisite to Critical Knowledge

Transdiciplinarity: The Theoretical Bases of the Method

The core logic of triads

Understanding the present Reality

Jean Piaget (1896-1980).

Beyond disciplines

between, across and beyond

levels of Reality

Disciplinary + interdisciplinary

Approaches

=

Axiomatic approach

“Hidden thirds”

1st Triad: The 3 concerns of the Transdisciplinary Approach: • Between the disciplines • Across different disciplines • Beyond all disciplines

2nd Triad: The 3 guiding postulates parallel to the axiomatic approach: • There are different levels of Reality and, correspondingly,

different levels of perception; • The passage from one level of Reality to another in insured by the

logic of the included middle; • The structure of the totality of levels of Reality and perception is a

complex structure: every level is what it is because all the levels exist at the same time.

3rd Triad: The 3 physical levels of Reality in the study of natural systems • Macrophysical Level • Microphysical Level • Cyber-Space-Time Level

4th Triad: The 3 Open structure Levels of Reality • Objectivity field, independent to the Knowledge process • Subjectivity field, inseparable to the Knowledge process • “Interactive Field” in connection with knowledge process

5th Triad: The 3 Meanings in parallel to the New Logic and levels of Reality • Horizontal Meaning - this is what most of the academic disciplines

do. • Vertical Meaning - this is what poetry, art or quantum physics do. • Meaning of the Meanings refers to all levels and the hidden third.

6th Triad: The 3 Classical Regions of Reality parallel to the levels of Reality • Classical Physics • Quantum Mechanics • Religious phylosophical and artistic experiences

7th Triad: The 3 axioms of the Methodology parallel to the 3 postulates • The Ontological axiom • The Logical axiom • The Epistemological axiom

8th Triad: The 3 Terms of the New Logic of the Included Middle on Logical Axiom • The axiom of identity: A is A. • The axiom of non-contradiction: A is not non-A. • The axiom of the included middle: There exists the third term T which is at

the same time A and non-A.

9th Triad: The 3 exclusive concentration of Transdisciplinary research method • Science (theoritical, the well-defined methodology) • Technology (phenominal, the models connectiong the theoritical

principles) • Society (experimental, human being as the performers)

Sustainable Economic

Growth

(Un)Sustainable Development

Discontinuity field,

(the Included Middle)

Zone of Non-resistant to perception

For instance,

?

Understanding the People-centeredness of SD:

Axiomatic approach

psychological

sociological

(cognition)

(behavior) “The Region of Incoherence”

- Origins of constraints, loopholes, immeasurability, fragility, deficiencies, etc…

The principle of universal interdependence entails the maximum simplicity that the human mind could

imagine, the simplicity of the interaction of all levels of reality.”

Epistemological study: Human responsibility and accountability,

in all levels of reality

The Method on Field

Ex-situ Transdisciplinary Study (on-Field)

1. transect walk, visit, 2. pre-meetings/conversations

3. field visitation and observation 4. interviews and surveys

5. normal conversations 6. created conversation

a. Heuristic logic (talk: contradiction) b. Lateral thinking (tell: provocation) c. Critical thinking (think: confirmation)

7. Social network data collection

A. Pre-observation

B. Survey Design and implementation

C. Data collection (1 ) Incoherent data

D. Data Collection (2) Coherent data

a. Explicit data collection b. Implicit data collection

Transdisciplinarity Method:

Contradict

talk

tell

think Confirm Provoke

“coherent field”

1) TRUTH SEEKING

2) FACT FINDING

Evident Evaluation

Non-evident Evaluation

“T-Analysis”

The Real Problem

“surface reality” “uncovering reality”

“incoherent field”

review

compare

conclude

(informal & formal evaluation)

+

The Logic of the Included Middle:

manifestations, the intuitions

“Analysis”

Universal Levels:

‘Cognition’

PERSON

FAMILY

SOCIETY

HUMANKIND

Individual

Population

Ecosystems

Biosphere

Per

son

alit

y

Res

ou

rces

Acc

ess

Po

we

r Acc

ess

Str

uct

ura

l Acc

ess

So

cia

l Str

ata

Human Space

Ecology

pe

rson

al

Ho

useh

old

/ co

mm

un

ity

regio

n/state

wo

rld

Jurisd

iction

SD “must-be” Dimensions

1) People (individual/society);

2) Economy (needs/development);

3) Environment (ecosystems/natural resources);

4) Institutions (firms, organizations, doer of developments);

5) Management (Values) (knowledge, attitudes, culture, beliefs, etc.)

people

environment

economy

Institution

Values

(example)

Policy-making Considerations:

Spiritual Principles related to sustainability

Economic Social

Environmental

• Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty

• Work as worship

• Moderation

• Be content w/little

• Voluntary giving

• Profit sharing

• Equality of women and men

• Elimination of all forms of prejudice

• Unity in diversity

• Universal compulsory education

• Trustworthiness

• Interdependence of all life

• Nature a reflection of the Divine

• Humility – Earth source of all our wealth

• Unity in diversity

• Cleanliness

• Kindness to animals

Painful Truth: Solutions to poverty alleviation will never be achieved, it will exist and will persist forever…

>>>>

1) Conventionality of Indicators 2) Vagueness of responsibilities 3) Existence of immeasurable factors 4) Continuity of human satisfaction level

Poverty exists due to….

1) Dominance of objective Economics 2) Locked-in dependence on specificity of Science 3) Irrationality and selfishness are constant

human nature 4) Existence of “Loopholes” on systems

Poverty persists due to…

Gracias