Panel 66: The Social-Cultural Dimensions of Economic Behaviour in Africa: Post-Chicago Perspectives

The aftermath of the global financial crisis, which saw the collapse of the Chicago consensus in economic thought, has led to a re-appreciation of non-economic forces in the structuration of economic behaviour. Whereas the role of (state) institutions in development had already regained in strength following the widespread failure of economic adjustment policies in Africa, (neo)-institutionalist perspectives have often remained underpinned by the crude notions of economic rationalism and functionalism that formed the basis of the Chicago consensus. Thus, institutionalist perspectives often reinforce a normative perspective on economic behaviour, rather than an empirical one.

This panel centres on the structuration of economic behaviour in Africa. It particularly welcomes contributions that explore the ways in which economic practices are embedded in, and shaped by, wider socio-cultural frames of meaning. Thus, this panel seeks to depart from the abstract universalist, notions of rational economic behaviour, and develop empirically grounded perspectives on specific trades and businesses in Africa and beyond.