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Irreparable ignorance, protean power, and economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2020

George F. DeMartino Open the ORCID record for George F. DeMartino [Opens in a new window]  and
Ilene Grabel
George F. DeMartino*
Affiliation:
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
Ilene Grabel
Affiliation:
University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: George.Demartino@du.edu
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Abstract

The ongoing crisis in mainstream economics has opened the door to recognition of true uncertainty. Economists are increasingly embracing uncertainty and tracing its implications for responsible economic practice and policy design that foregrounds rather than dismisses the limits to knowledge. Protean Power (PP) promotes a similar shift in international relations. PP advances a key distinction between operational and radical uncertainty. We argue that a complementary and perhaps more productive way to theorize the epistemic insufficiency facing agents as they map and implement strategies is to distinguish between ‘reparable’ and ‘irreparable’ ignorance, which leads to ‘Hirschmanian’ pragmatism.

Keywords

uncertaintyirreparable ignoranceHirschmanian pragmatismmainstream economics
Type
Symposium: Protean Power: Exploring the Uncertain and Unexpected in World Politics: Edited by Jacques E. C. Hymans
Information
International Theory , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , November 2020 , pp. 435 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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