Can a change in economic policies cope with anger and alienation? | Letters
Pankaj Mishra's exposi(C) of the poverty of economic man (Welcome to the age of anger, 8 December) is powerful but, among the "more complex drives" he lists, he omits "belonging" - key to understanding "identity politics". Facing danger our instinct, like that of animals who herd, is to cling to the familiar and the group. Incomers may or may not be a realistic threat, but they are easily perceived to be in times of disturbing upheaval. This need not be a counsel of despair; it could be a cause for hope. Globalisation and technical change may not be inevitably destructive: whether they do harm or good depends on the values by which we handle them. If we remain dedicated to the competitive pursuit of material gain and are indifferent to the feelings of shame, humiliation, helplessness and anger of those who are left out - or if, worse still, we continue our persecution of the poor - then recent events are just a foretaste of a future that will be bleak indeed.
Michael Briant
Cambridge
" Thank you for Pankaj Mishra's stimulating essay. It's worth highlighting two arguments with implications for public policy. First, I would question his representation of the desire for recognition as vanity. Recognition has been identified as a vital human need, associated with the psychological need for respect of one's dignity as a human being. Arguably the lack of recognition of marginalised groups, including people in poverty, has fuelled the rage of which he writes. Second, in challenging the "prevailing image of Homo economicus", Mishra could draw on feminist theorising around an ethic of care, which has long challenged this attenuated representation of human experience. Research has uncovered "gendered moral rationalities" (Duncan and Edwards) in which economic rationality itself can take second place to different forms of rationality, which prioritise caring over economic success. Social policies that recognised the dignity of people living in poverty and the value of care-giving could represent small steps along the path Mishra starts to sketch.
Ruth Lister
Labour, House of Lords