The Global South, Albert Hirschman, and Convention Theory
Résumé
This chapter, given over to the application of economics and sociology of
conventions to countries of the Global South, begins with an outline of thetradition shared by convention theory and heterodox development economics
(Sect. 2). The overview of this shared vision takes as its starting point the work of
Albert Otto Hirschman, one of the most influential economists in the heterodox
strand of development economics. Section 3 illustrates the relevance of applying
convention theory to the countries of the Global South, taking the example of
three sectors that are particularly crucial in the field of development, namely,
healthcare, energy, and food. Finally, in Sect. 4, the argument is widened by
showing what convention theory contributes to development economics and what
the countries of the Global South have contributed to the framework in terms of
conventions. Several areas of progress are highlighted, such as perceptive studies
of the relations between actors with different values, analyses of global power
relations, and the questioning of the dominant paradigms by means of a pragmatic
rather than overarching empirical method