Last August the Rethinking Economics International Summer Gathering took place, bringing together 75 students and academics from all over the world at La Bergerie de Villarceaux, in France. Representatives of progressive fundations such as the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation, Partners for a New Economy, or the Edge Funders Alliance also attended the meeting to discuss the role of philanthropy in overcoming the current extractivist economic system. Rethinking Economics is an international network of students, academics and professionals that lobbies to overcome neo-liberal economic thinking in society and in the academic curriculum.
10 years after the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis there seems to be a wide consensus among many different initiatives on the need for the so-called “transformative economies” to converge into a common global agenda. Some of these initiatives that also attended the gathering were the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WeAll), Promoting Economic Pluralism (PEP), Reclaim Our Economy or Finance Watch. Villarceaux was a perfect context to exchange some ideas on how to work togehter effectively and how the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies of Barcelona could be a platform to work on this convergence. The presentation took place on August 16th and many of the students who were present, showed interest in collaborating with the Forum from the different local organisations they represented.
Through the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies, RIPESS, REAS and XES have committed themselves to organising a two year path that will cross through events all around the world that include two meetings in Barcelona, in 2019 and 2020. The official presentation at the Rethinking Economics International Summer Gathering of Villarceaux paves the way of a process that will follow in the next 2 years.
[by Xavi Artigas, XES – Catalan solidarity economy network]
