Power of economics without power in economics?

Abstract

Power relations dominate most social and economic processes. Despite its significance, however, the concept of structural power relations is often neglected in standard economics. Standard economics often confines itself to dissecting an idealised, abstract world, wherein power dynamics are abstracted from and seen as somewhat outside the economic realm. But, can economics be powerful in understanding, explaining and, ideally, tackling the multiple crises of our time without embedding the concept of power in its analysis? We suggest that the lack of consideration or insufficient engagement with power-related aspects in mostly standard approaches has far-reaching implications, as policies that neglect underlying power relations are not fit to address the crisis. This collection reopens the discussion of power in economics. Building on the talks and discussions at the 2023 EAEPE Pre-Conference that was held in Leeds, UK, this collection provides scholars an outlet to shed light on power structures within their field of research to highlight the complexity and interrelation of power and economics. We also conduct a literature analysis to identify different forms and categories of power used in the mainstream and heterodox economics literature with a particular focus on the different definitions and interpretations of the concept. We get our sample from the Web of Science (WoS) category ‘Economics’ in the WoS SSCI database, from 2010 to 2024. This approach provides a roadmap to better understand the different interpretations, definitions and conceptualisations of power within current literature.