By Mariana Campos Pastrana | As the year starts wrapping up there’s nothing better than getting comfortable with a great book. We asked our working group coordinators what’s been on their nightstand, and have put together a list!
Of course a lot of the books our coordinators recommend address economic thinking directly, like Yanis Varoufakis’ Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, suggested by Salome Topouria (Political Economy of Europe). But others come from philosophy, sociology, medicine, and more. So take your pick! Dive deeper into the economy, or branch out for inspiration.
This past year also taught us the importance of educating ourselves on important issues surrounding race. Angela Davis’ Women, Race, and Class was recommended by Vanessa Da Lima Avanci, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved and The Bluest Eye were also suggested by Rosie Collington and Fernanda Steiner Perin.
If you’re looking for a lighter read, consider a mystery novel! Agatha Christie’s works are one of Gender and Economics Coordinator Shakatakshi Gupta’s favourite ways to relax, The Devotion of Suspect X is on Economic Development Coordinator’s Surbhi Kesar’s nightstand, and Brothers Karamazov is Nathalie Marins’ pick!
No matter what route you go, you’ll undoubtedly get some enjoyment or learn a thing or two. Let us know what you read, or what your recommendation would have been!
Economic Theory
Essay on the Nature of Trade by Richard Cantillon – Santiago Gahn, Economic Development
Africa: Beyond Recovery by Thandika Mkandawire – Geraldine Sibanda, Africa
Ages of Discord by Peter Turchin – Diego Castañeda Garza, Economic History
Sorting Out the Mixed Economy by Amy C. Offer – Diego Castañeda Garza, Economic History
Postcolonialism Meets Economics by S. Charusheela and Eiman Zein-Elabdin – Surbhi Kesar, Economic Development
Talking to My Daughter About the Economy by Yanis Varoufakis – Salome Topuria, Political Economy of Europe
On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein – Felipe Botelho Tavares, Sustainability
Economic & Political History
Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth – Sylvio Kappes, Keynesian Economics
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes by Zachary D. Carter – Aqdas Afzal, South Asia
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney – Nicolás Aguila, States and Markets
Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici – Fernanda Steiner Perin, Economics of Innovation
Six Days in September: Black Wednesday, Brexit and the Making of Europe by William Keegan, David Marsh, and Richard Roberts – Alain Naef, Economic History
The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic by Benjamin Carter Hett – Gabriel Ferraz Aidar, Latin America
The Imaginary Economy by Mario Fabbri – Leigh Caldwell, Behaviour and Society
The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Paul Kennedy – Diego Castañeda Garza, Economic History
Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World by Joshua B. Freeman – Diego Castañeda Garza, Economic History
The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia by James Scott – Terrence Muzorewa, Cooperatives
Philosophy + Social Sciences
You Kant Make it Up: Strange Ideas from History’s Great Philosophers by Gary Hayden – Nurlan Jahangirli, Economic Development
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes – Natassia Nascimento, Inequality
Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of the Empire by Akala – Petronella Munhenzva, Africa
Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein – Magali Brosio, Gender and Economics
Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump by Asad Haider – Leigh Caldwell, Behaviour and Society
The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr – Leigh Caldwell, Behaviour and Society
The Globalists by Quinn Slobodian – Diego Castañeda Garza, Economic History
The Birth of Biopolitics by Michel Foucault – Seung Woo Kim, East Asia
14 Thesis of Ethics by Enrique Dussel – Ariel Ibanez, Sustainability
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg – Luisa Scarcella, Finance, Law and Economics
Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis – Vanessa de Lima Avanci, Complexity Economics
The School of Life: An Emotional Education by Alain de Botton – Shatakshi Gupta, Gender and Economics
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari – Komal Shakeel, Behaviour and Society
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – Kishorekumar Suryaprakash, Urban and Regional Economics
Sciences
Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life by Martin Nowak – Juan Melo, Philosophy of Economics
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall – Rutuja Uttarwar, Complexity Economics
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neill – Magali Brosio, Gender and Economics and Rosie Collington, Economics of Innovation
Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery – Iva Parvanova, Behaviour and Society
Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett – Stefano Merlo, Political Economy of Europe
Novels
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino – Surbhi Kesar, Economic Development
Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe – Christina Refilwhe Mosalagae, Finance, Law and Economics
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga – Rutuja Uttarwar, Complexity Economics
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell – Ádám Kerényi, Financial Stability
Agatha Christie’s novels – Shatakshi Gupta, Gender and Economics
Crossbones by Nuruddin Fara – Esra Urgulu, States and Markets
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison – Fernanda Steiner Perin, Economics of Innovation
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong – Rosie Collington, Economics of Innovation
Beloved by Toni Morrison – Rosie Collington, Economics of Innovation
The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov – Simone Grabner, Urban and Regional Economics
Moby Dick by Herman Melville – Natassia Nascimento, Inequality
Fontamara by Ignazio Silone – Maria Cristina Bariberi Goes, Inequality
The Plague by Albert Camus – Francisco Ardila Suarez, Inequality
The Four-Gated City (Children of Violence) by Doris Lessing – Leigh Caldwell, Behaviour and Society
Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoiévsky – Nathalie Marins, Financial Stability
Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco – Salome Topuria, Political Economy of Europe
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes – Ana Bottega, Keynesian Economics
Poetry
Poesía Completa by Alejandra Pizarnik – Barbara Toftum, Financial Stability
Biographies
The Words by Jean Paul Satre – Santiago Gahn, Economic Development
Becoming by Michelle Obama – Christina Refilwhe Mosalagae, Finance, Law and Economics
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell – Lilian Rolim, Keynesian Economics
