It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism – Fredric Jameson
Since the current neoliberal economy is so entangled with our daily lives, economic transition by its definition requires breaking the myth of normal and regeneration. On January 29th, we will welcome the first DCFA Fellow in 2024, Shinta Oosterwaal for the new DCFA: RE-generation series ‘Beings of the Economy’. Through the next three months, we will explore the emergence of uneconomy which Shinta sees as the awakening of the social and ecological society that we inherently are. Get on board with us to envision how we embark on a transformative journey to wholeness within the context of the economy.
Our next DCFA Fellow Shinta Oosterwaal is educated as an economist, but also a trained holistic psychotherapist. Bringing these two perspectives, she calls herself an uneconomist and strives to bridge the gap between societal change and our human nature. Together with Kees Klomp, she is the co-author of the book Thrive – fundamentals for a new economy (2021) and has uncovered emerging innovative practices to reclaim the space of the economy that serves the whole system.
Partnering up with Shinta, the new DCFA series “Beings of Economy” aims to step into the transformative process, from analysis of where we are to manifestos for the economy as a sanctuary for all life.
In the first episode “The Metacrisis”, we will revisit the ideas of the economy about meta-crisis. We have been told hundreds of stories about ecological, economic, immigration, geopolitical, and energy crises. Yet, there is also “an invisible crisis unfolding within our minds and cultures that is getting much less attention”. This is the meta-crisis, the underlying crisis driving a multitude of crises in today’s world. In the era of meta-crisis, how do we navigate and make sense of current society? Although we have treated the economy in isolation from all other aspects of life as if it is possible, the meta-crisis seems to suggest this fragmented linear approach can no longer function. How are we in our fragmented world both individually and collectively? What is the economy actually about in the time of meta-crisis? These are the main questions to be addressed in this episode.
One could say the meta crisis is the crisis of perception and understanding that lies within and beyond the range of current crises. Then, the way to heal from it also requires a shift within our perception and understanding. The second episode “The Healing” will look into the roles of arts and our imagination to respond to the current uncertain world and regain the wholeness in it. Despite the trauma we see in meta-crisis, we should not fall into a crisis mindset and stop picturing the new economy as a safe haven. While acknowledging the hidden pattern laced within what’s going on in crises, this episode aims to collectively imagine the pluralistic economic voices.
The last episode “The Sanctuary” will finally boil down the ideas and imagination into pragmatic practices. There is a firm interruption of patterns of traditional economic thinking, born from ideas such as post-growth, commoning, and regeneration. As we reflect on the initiatives for the economy in which the lost ethics and values are revived, we may find the story of uneconomy. What does that system look like? To normalise this transition, what kind of design or thinking is needed? Drawing on emerging examples, we aim to conclude our transformative journey with insights on how we can design an economy for all sanctuary life.
Would you like to join us and think along the economy for all sanctuary life? Then sign up for for free for the first episode “The Metacrisis” on Monday, January 29th here! Hope to see you soon!
