Table Of ContentIntegral Economics
Transformation and Innovation Series
Series Editors:
Ronnie Lessem, University of Buckingham, UK
Alexander Schieffer, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
This series on business transformation and social innovation comprises a range of books
informing practitioners, consultants, organization developers, and academics how businesses
and other organizations set in the context of whole economies and societies can and will
have to be transformed into viable 21st Century enterprises. A new kind of R&D, involving
social, as well as technological innovation, needs to be supported by integrated, active and
participative research in the social sciences. Focusing on new, emerging kinds of public, social
and sustainable entrepreneurship originating from all corners of the world and from different
cultures, books in this series will help those operating in the area of interface between business
and society to mediate between the two in the way that business schools once did until, as is
now argued, they lost their way and business leaders came, in many cases, to be seen as at best
incompetent and at worst venal and untrustworthy.
Integral Economics
Releasing the Economic Genius of Your Society
Ronnie Lessem and
aLexandeR schieffeR
© Ronnie Lessem and Alexander Schieffer 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Ronnie Lessem and Alexander Schieffer have asserted their moral rights under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work.
Gower Applied Business Research
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practical relevance in key areas of business and management.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lessem, Ronnie.
Integral economics : releasing the economic genius of your
society. -- (Transformation and innovation)
1. Economics. 2. Economics--History.
I. Title II. Series III. Schieffer, Alexander.
330.1-dc22
ISBN: 978-0-566-09247-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-566-09248-0 (ebk)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lessem, Ronnie.
Integral economics : releasing the economic genius of your society / by Ronnie Lessem and
Alexander Schieffer.
p. cm. -- (Transformation and innovation)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-566-09247-3 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-0-566-09248-0
(ebook) 1. Economics. 2. Social policy. 3. Sustainable development--Social aspects. I.
Schieffer, Alexander. II. Title.
HB171.L634 2010
338.9'27--dc22
2010015769
Contents
List of Figures xi
About the Authors xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Prologue xix
PART 1 ORIENTATION
Chapter 1 Re-inventing Economics 3
1.1 Introduction: Is there an Alternative to the Western
Mainstream? 5
1.2 Towards an Integral Economic Perspective 9
1.3 Releasing Economic Gene-ius 13
1.4 Conclusion: Moral Core to Living Economy 16
References 17
Chapter 2 Revisiting Mainstream Economics 19
2.1 Introduction: The Development of Economic Analysis 21
2.2 Economics of Self-Sufficiency: Stone Age Economics to
Aristotle’s Autarky 22
2.3 Developmental Economics: Historicism to Marxism 23
2.4 The Rise and Fall of Social Economics: J.S. Mill,
Institutionalism, Marginalism 27
2.5 Neoliberalism to Living Economics: Smith, Keynes, Daly 36
2.6 Conclusion: Towards Economic Renewal 39
References 41
PART 2 INSPIRATION
Chapter 3 The Moral Economic Core 45
3.1 Introduction: The Protestant Ethic as Western Moral Core 47
3.2 Indigenous Moral Core: First Nation People 50
3.3 Eastern Moral Core: Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian 53
3.4 Northern Moral Core: Catholicism to Distributivism 61
3.5 Enriched Protestant Moral Core: Quaker, New Reformation 64
3.6 A Middle Eastern Moral Core: Islam 67
3.7 Conclusion: Revitalizing the Moral Economic Core 71
References 73
vi Integral Economics
Chapter 4 The Centered Enterprise 75
4.1 Introduction: Sekem – Revitalizing Islamic Economics 77
4.2 Self-Sufficiency: A Sustainable Community in the Desert 79
4.3 Developmental: A Fusion of the Occident and the Orient 81
4.4 Social: The Economics of Love 82
4.5 Living: Ultimately Restoring the Earth 83
4.6 Conclusion: Releasing Sekem’s Gene-ius 85
References 88
PART 3 TRANSFORMATION
Chapter 5 Economic Commons 91
5.1 Introduction: Community and Economics 93
5.2 Revisiting the Co-production of Livelihoods 94
5.3 Social Production: A Critical Review 95
5.4 African Economic Humanism 98
5.5 Conclusion: Economic Humanism and the Economic
Commons 100
References 101
Chapter 6 Grassroots Economics 103
6.1 Introduction: Community, Culture and Economics 105
6.2 Culture and Community: A (Not Only) Mexican Perspective 106
6.3 From Parochial Universe to Global Pluriverse 107
6.4 From Pluriverse to Earth Democracy 111
6.5 Conclusion: Economics from the Grassroots 114
References 116
Chapter 7 Subsistence Economics 117
7.1 Introduction: Beyond Efficiency – Towards Sufficiency 119
7.2 From Sufficiency to Subsistence 121
7.3 Subsistence, Markets and Globalization 122
7.4 Subsistence and the Commons 125
7.5 From Labor to Work and Fulfillment 126
7.6 Conclusion: Sufficiency and Subsistence 129
References 130
Chapter 8 The Social Business 131
8.1 Introduction: Grameen – A Bank for the Poor 133
8.2 Starting the Economic Engine at the Rear 134
8.3 The Global Reach of Grameen’s Micro-Credit Approach 139
8.4 Building a Self-Sufficient Economy: From Grameen Bank
to Grameen Phone 140
8.5 Towards the Social Business 142
8.6 Conclusion: Creating a World without Poverty 144
References 145
Contents vii
Chapter 9 Co-evolutionary Economics 147
9.1 Introduction: Economics and Culture 149
9.2 Development Revisited: The Illusions of Progress 152
9.3 Towards Co-Evolutionary Economics 155
9.4 Conclusion: Re-Culturalization and the Economic Mosaic 156
References 159
Chapter 10 Conscious Economics 161
10.1 Introduction: Economics and Wholeness 163
10.2 Levels of Consciousness 165
10.3 The Economics of Health, Beauty and Permanence 166
10.4 Aiming for Right Livelihood 167
10.5 Education, Organization and Discipline 169
10.6 Conclusion: The Necessary Shift in Economic
Consciousness 170
References 172
Chapter 11 Associative Economics 173
11.1 Introduction: Culture, Politics and Economics 175
11.2 The Nature and Scope of the Threefold Commonwealth 176
11.3 The Liberation of Capital 178
11.4 The Capital Economy 183
11.5 The Metamorphosis of Capitalism 184
11.6 Conclusion: Taking Humanity Beyond the Market 185
References 185
Chapter 12 The Developmental Enterprise 187
12.1 Introduction: Canon – Linking Business and
Consciousness 189
12.2 Spirit, Heart, Mind and Body of Canon 190
12.3 Towards Co-Evolution at Canon 192
12.4 Conclusion: Beyond the Japanese Economic Miracle 194
References 197
Chapter 13 Economics of the Common Good 199
13.1 Introduction: Re-interpreting Adam Smith 201
13.2 Sismondi’s New Principles 204
13.3 John Hobson and the Economics of Social Reform 207
13.4 The Advent of Humanistic Economics 209
13.5 Conclusion: Towards an Economics of the Common Good 210
References 212
Chapter 14 Social Learning and the Network Economy 213
14.1 Introduction: From Limits to Growth to No Limits to
Learning 215
viii Integral Economics
14.2 Network Society and Information Economy 218
14.3 Overcoming Social Under-Development 222
14.4 Conclusion: Multifaceted Journey Towards A Social
Economy 224
References 224
Chapter 15 Open Economics 227
15.1 Introduction: Economics in an Open Society 229
15.2 Society and Economy Open for Improvement: The Case
of India 230
15.3 Economies in an Open Society 232
15.4 Conclusion: The Future is Cooperative 238
References 239
Chapter 16 The Cooperative Enterprise 241
16.1 Introduction: Mondragon – Humanity at Work 243
16.2 Origins and Philosophical Foundation of Mondragon 244
16.3 Building on Basque Culture and Context 248
16.4 The Development of Mondragon 249
16.5 Organizational Culture and Cooperative Knowledge 252
16.6 Conclusion: Cooperative Remaking of Economics 255
References 257
Chapter 17 New Economics 259
17.1 Introduction: Re-Grounding the West, from Within 261
17.2 The Need for a New Economics 262
17.3 New Economic Theory: Putting People First 265
17.4 Revisiting the Nature of Work: Towards ‘Own Work’ 267
17.5 Constructing the Antithesis to the Growth Economy 268
17.6 Conclusion: New Economics to a New Economic Agenda 270
References 271
Chapter 18 Real Economics 273
18.1 Introduction: A New Economic Map, Agenda and Practice 275
18.2 Caring Economics: From Domination to Partnership 276
18.3 Wall Street’s Phantom Wealth versus Main Street’s
Real Wealth 278
18.4 Agenda for a Real Economy 280
18.5 Transforming Money: Towards a New Integral
Money System 282
18.6 Conclusion: From Real Wealth to New Wealth
Measurement 288
References 288
Chapter 19 Well-being Economics 291
19.1 Introduction: Towards Genuine Wealth 293
Contents ix
19.2 What’s Wrong with the Picture of Progress? From
GDP to GPI 295
19.3 The Genuine Wealth Model 296
19.4 The Genuine Wealth of Communities and Nations 302
19.5 Conclusion: Towards Sustainable Development 304
References 305
Chapter 20 The Sustainable Enterprise 307
20.1 Introduction: Interface – Giving Back to the Earth 309
20.2 Ecosense: The Ecology of Commerce 311
20.3 The Transformation of Interface 312
20.4 The Sustainable Enterprise of the Next Industrial
Revolution 314
20.5 Towards the Global Benefit of the Sustainable Enterprise 316
20.6 Conclusion: The Sustainable Enterprise as Part of a
Global Movement for Life 317
References 319
PART 4 INTEGRATION
Chapter 21 The Integral Economy 323
21.1 Introduction: Activating Economic Gene-ius 325
21.2 The Four Economic Paths of the Integral Economy 327
21.3 A New Integral Economic Map 337
21.4 Conclusion: The Fully Integral Economy – Integrating
Four Worlds and Center 339
References 341
Chapter 22 Co-creating the Future 343
22.1 Introduction: Five Core Success Factors for Releasing
Economic Gene-ius 345
22.2 Catalyze Economic Gene-ius via Integral Economy
Laboratories 345
22.3 Commit to a Burning Issue, Relevant Economic Path and
Moral Core 350
22.4 Maintain Interconnected Focus: Middle-Up-Down-Across 351
22.5 Build an Integral Economic Ecosystem 353
22.6 Link Up with a Movement 356
22.7 Conclusion: The Future is Integral – Let’s Make it Happen 356
References 357
Epilogue 359
Index 375
