ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that “paradigm coexistence” and a degree of pluralism should be a normal state of affairs in economics and other social sciences. The International Society for Ecological Economics was formed 1990 with the journal Ecological Economics. Some business management courses can certainly be criticized in relation to what is needed for sustainable development. When arguing in favor of new thinking, heterodox economists often point to specific events, such as the 2008 financial crisis and the fact that few, if any neoclassical economists were able to predict this crisis. University departments of economics have to become open in relation to other social sciences and to other ideological orientations than those built into neoclassical theory. A different economics is needed, and the proposed definition in terms of multidimensional analysis and democracy is hopefully a way forward. Neoclassical economists may counter that the mentioned assumptions are just that – assumptions – and they have some relevance in the real world.
