Surbhi Kesar

Think about a course that you are currently most excited about teaching. Why is this an important course? How does it deepen one’s understanding of the world?

I am excited to teach courses on 'Political Economy of Development' and 'Economics of Identity'. These courses embed the understanding of social and political processes, which are often extricated from the dominant economics discourse, within economic thinking. The systematic exclusion of these understandings from economic teaching over the years has played an important role in actively occluding the role of power, dominance, and other political and social processes from economic thinking. Since economic processes are embedded in these social and political processes, an understanding of these non-economic processes and their interaction with economic processes, is central to develop a holistic understanding of our economic realities.

What are the five most salient materials from your course, and why is each important?

While it's hard to pick salient materials that capture the essence of the course, following are a few readings I would most certainly recommend:

Political Economy

• Wolff, Richard and Stephen Resnick. 2012. “Three different theories, in Contending Economic Theories: Neoclassical, Keynesian, and Marxian.” London and Cambridge: MIT press.   

• Sackrey, Charles, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler. 2005. “Introduction to Political Economy,” 4th edition, (pp. 1-24). Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau 

• Marglin, Stephen A., 1974. “What do bosses do? The origins and functions of hierarchy in capitalist production. “ Review of Radical Political Economics, 6(2): 60-112 

• Polanyi, Karl. 1957. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press.

• Moore, Jason. 2015. Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and Accumulation of Capital. London and New York: Verso Books.

Economics of Identity

• Albelda, Randy and Robert Drago. 2013. Unlevel Playing Fields, 4th edition. Boston: Dollars & Sense  

• Nelson, Julie. A., 1995. Feminism and economics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(2):131-148.

• Rodney, Walter. 1982. Colonialism as a system for underdeveloping Africa, in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington DC: Howard University Press.

• Bhattacharya. Tithi (ed.). 2017. Social Reproduction Theory. London: Pluto Press      

• Matthaei, Julie. 1996. “Why Marxist, feminist, and anti-racist economists should be Marxist-feminist-anti-racist economists.” Feminist Economics 2(1): 22-42 

What is a dream course that you’d be interested in teaching in the future?

These two courses are definitely part of my ‘dream course’ set. Apart from this, the set also includes “Decolonial perspectives on Economics.”

What is a book that changed your life as a high schooler?

What is History? by E.H. Carr.

What is one piece of advice that you would give to new teachers?

Every question posited in the class is a serious intellectual inquiry. Classroom teaching provides a space to challenge the world, and it is, therefore, the responsibility of every teacher to create an environment for nurturing critical thinking.