Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a framework and model that supports individuals to understand our individuality, intrinsically moving away from individualism into a realm of connection. A realm where we become agentive economic agents with a mindset that enables us to actively pursue individual and collective self-identified and mutually agreed valuable lives in a culture of economic well-being.

Paper long abstract:

Agentive Economic Agents – A Mindset for the Emergence of a Culture of Economic Well-being to Face the Big Crisis of our Era.

Social solidarity, grassroots approaches, and collective action

Keywords: Agency, Mindset, Culture

Abstract

The capabilities approach has been instrumental in the creation of the concept of an economy of well-being, which shifts from narrow economic indicators to expansive considerations of human flourishing, multidimensional indicators, dynamism, pluralism, and participation. At the core of the capabilities approach we find the expansion of the freedom and opportunities of individuals to live valuable lives. The centrality of the individual has often been taken as an individualistic (self-reliance) approach, somehow leaving aside the important role of the individuality (expression of true self with autonomy and interconnectedness to others) of the individual. In developed economies, so heavily influenced by the markets, the media, and the overall interplay of various systems, we live by the narratives created by others for us. Narratives that tell us who we should be and what we should value. Empirical research in the Netherlands demonstrates that who we are, what values we intrinsically hold, and how we construct our thoughts are not top of mind for most individuals. This lack of understanding constitutes a major source of unfreedoms, limiting the individual and collective ability to define what constitutes a life worth living and thus limiting our ability to represent our views in social and political spheres. This can be seen in the decreased levels of overall well-being and life satisfaction in well-established liberal democracies, with an institutional framework that should enable individuals to live fulfilled lives. We have become economic agents with an outsourced agency, living by adaptive preferences in dysfunctional systems that we have passively created with our tacit acceptance.

This paper presents a framework and model to serve as a pathway to becoming agentive economic agents. It is presented as a mandala in an expanding cycle, where the individuality of the individual, and its agency, is at the core of systemic change and values are the leverage points. It firstly focuses on the individual mindset where with the exercise of freedom, responsibility, and agency, we can understand our individuality in terms of our multi-identity and dynamic self, values, mental models, and individual context. Subsequently, it expands to the collective and the creation of a culture of economic well-being weaving individual mindsets together through the understanding of our similarities and the respect of our differences while understanding the specific collective context and its dynamism. Both mindsets and cultures are in a continuous state of evolution and thus continuously influencing individual and collective becoming.

The mandala enables us to understand and embed our individual and collective narratives to construct new realities for the emergence of a culture of economic well-being, where individual’s autonomy, competence, and relatedness provide the intrinsic motivation to act and face the social, environmental, and energy crises of our era. The framework supports individuals to understand our individuality, intrinsically moving away from individualism into a realm of connection with those around us. The better we understand the self, the better we can understand the other. It is from a place of connection with the self, that we can connect with the “other” (people and planet) and with the transitional needs of our contexts in crisis. This is also demonstrated by empirical research conducted in the Netherlands where upon understanding our individuality, narratives change from linear, individual, and passive to connected, collective, and proactive. Shared values naturally emerge in collective contexts. Our modes of intrinsic behavior go beyond self-interest. We can become agentive economic agents.

This paper does not deny the major role that institutions and organizations play in the top-down facilitating, constructing, and sustaining an economy of well-being that can face the crisis of our era. However, this paper seeks to present a grassroots and bottom-up approach for the emergence of a culture of economic well-being. An approach that highlights the important role of and provides an actionable path for the individual in discovering our individuality and becoming agentive economic agents. Agentive economic agents who exercise our freedom and responsibility to identify and actively and resiliently pursue our valuable lives. Our commitment to constructing our well-being, and our solidarity and engagement in pursuing the well-being of others through our collective actions. Actions that can create the resilient institutions and organizations needed for the creation of a culture of economic well-being.