The second Rethinking Economics for Africa Festival built on the momentum generated by the inaugural gathering. Approximately 450 participants came together to explore alternatives to the narrowness and inaccessibility of mainstream economics.
The public Festival programme on 6 September was followed by student and academic convenings, strengthening the growing network of REFA chapters at South African universities.
The Festival was organised around five streams:
- decolonising economics;
- environmental economics and the climate crisis;
- economics and human rights;
- heterodoxy, pluralism and economics; and
- class, power and economics.
Sessions asked what it means to decolonise both economics and African economies. Contributors explored the history of economic thought, intersectionality, climate policy, a Green New Deal for Africa, the just transition, household debt, fiscal constraints and gender-responsive budgeting.
Further discussions considered the role of class and power in economic analysis, the relationship between economics and human rights, and the contribution of feminist economics to understanding environmental and social crises. Workshops drew lessons from curriculum-reform movements and examined how economics teaching could accommodate a wider range of theories, methods and experiences.
Film screenings and other cultural activities complemented the academic programme. These included films addressing mining, student struggles, financial crises and the politics of development.
By bringing economists into conversation with activists, artists, students and other disciplines, the Festival sought to make economics more accessible and socially relevant. It also strengthened a movement working to transform economics teaching, policy and practice across Africa.
