Rethinking Economics: The Global Movement Transforming University Teaching
In the wake of the 2008 global financial crash, a quiet revolution began on university campuses. Students worldwide, disillusioned by traditional economics curricula, started demanding a broader, more relevant education. This discontent coalesced into Rethinking Economics, a student-led organisation that has since challenged and changed how economics is taught globally.
From Student Discontent to Global Movement
The seeds were sown simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic. At Harvard University, students walked out of introductory economics classes, protesting what they called a "specific and limited view" that perpetuated economic inequality. Meanwhile, at Manchester University in the UK, students established a "post-crash economics society," frustrated that their mathematical formulas bore little relation to the economic turmoil unfolding around them.
These isolated protests found resonance across campuses worldwide. Normally reserved economics students began demanding syllabi that more accurately reflected and questioned the real world. By early 2013, these disparate strands united at the London School of Economics with Rethinking Economics' inaugural meeting.
Founding Moments and Early Challenges
"That first meeting was a bit chaotic," recalls Yuan Yang, one of the group's founders who has since become a Labour MP. "It was just after our final exams and everything felt intense. I was genuinely surprised by how many students attended, not just from LSE but from other universities too."
Yang, then studying for a masters in economics, describes the launch as operating on a "bit of shoestring," relying on volunteers, family support, and assistance from leading academics. "My father helped with filming, and we had professors like Ha-Joon Chang arriving early to help make name tags," she remembers.
Challenging Economic Orthodoxy
Ha-Joon Chang, now a prominent economist and author, compares the dominance of neo-classical economics in universities to "Catholic theology in medieval Europe." He states, "By demanding that economics education should be more pluralist, more ethically conscientious, more historically aware, and more oriented towards the real world, Rethinking Economics has exposed the staggering deficiency in how economists are educated."
The movement has grown exponentially since those early days. According to communications lead Sara Mahdi, Rethinking Economics now boasts thousands of members across more than 40 countries, including several eminent economists. Their mission is to make economics education "plural, critical, decolonised and historically grounded" rather than dominated by a single framework presented as neutral or objective.
Tangible Curriculum Reforms
Mahdi reports significant achievements: "Since 2019 alone, the movement has supported and recorded more than 80 campaign wins in universities across 35 countries, including 23 major curriculum reforms impacting tens of thousands of students. These aren't just adding one optional lecture; they reshape what students learn as mainstream economics."
Notable changes include Goldsmiths, University of London launching a politics, philosophy and economics course in 2014, the University of Lille in France introducing an interdisciplinary programme in 2020, and Leiden University in the Netherlands establishing new economics programmes in 2023.
Global Reach and Local Impact
One of the most active groups operates in South Africa, where the campaign emerged from broader student protests about higher education access. Amaarah Garda, junior programme officer for Rethinking Economics in Africa, explains how what began as a fees protest evolved into a critique of the academic system's colonial outlook.
"Initially, universities resisted changing mainstream economics teaching, so we carved out our own progressive courses and events," Garda says. "Now those courses are available, though not all economics students encounter them."
Academic Support and Collaboration
Many academics welcome the space Rethinking Economics has created. Clara Mattei, economics professor at the University of Tulsa and president of the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation, collaborates with the movement to "improve economic education and make it a useful tool for expanding economic agency among the general public."
Mattei argues the current economic system shows "its most violent face with rampant militarism and unprecedented inequality," noting that "four people own more wealth than four billion people." She praises Rethinking Economics students for "pushing toward more courageous frameworks within the economic tradition to prioritise the logic of need over the logic of profit."
Changing Perspectives Within Economics
Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, observes that Rethinking Economics forces established economists to ask fundamental questions they were trained to overlook. "There are still power structures within institutions, thinktanks and journals that want to maintain a narrower view," she acknowledges, "but the campaign is making headway."
Ghosh particularly appreciates the group's thoughtful approach: "They bring together economists, students, activists and others to examine questions from diverse perspectives. I've actually learned from them. They've made me realise economics is too important to be left to economists."
As economic crises multiply from climate change to inequality, Rethinking Economics continues expanding its mission to make economic education more relevant, critical and connected to the real-world challenges students will inherit.
