Project description DEENESFRITPL A new definition for economic relationships The social distancing measures imposed worldwide to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented disruption of commerce in most industry sectors, highlighting the extraordinary relevance of economic exchanges also from a social and existential perspective. This suggests that exchange is more than a matter of self-interest. The EU-funded RETHEX project will explore the notions of self-love and exchange in the debate on human nature originating in Europe in the 17th century. Drawing on this debate, the project will review the origins of the modern concept of exchange. It will provide a new definition of economic relationships, as well as a new hypothesis on economic agency. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The recent lockdown brought the commercial interaction of everyday life to a stop for most people in the world at almost the same time. This resulted in a general isolation that highlighted the extraordinary relevance of economic exchanges, also from a social and existential perspective. This experience showed how unfounded it is to think that exchange is just a matter of self-interest, as is believed both by those who criticize commerce for destroying social bonds and traditional ethical systems, and those who, on the contrary, unconditionally defend the market economy. This reduction of exchange to a matter of self-interest was not present in the formative stage of political economy when, in the late 18th century, the conceptualization of commerce was bound up with discussion on the origin of human society, and a richer connection between exchange, speech and sociability was conceived. It is thus a task of the utmost importance to rethink economic exchange today by reconsidering in their historical and theoretical depth the multidisciplinary debates on human nature, on the origin of sociability and of language. To this end, the project will be organised around three major axes associated with the following controversies: a) self-love and exchange in the debate on human nature; b) sociability, values and exchange in the debate on primitive societies; c) speech and exchange in the debate on the origin of language. The project will explore the connections between these different disputes which originated in Europe in the 17th century in the nascent disciplines of anthropology, linguistics, economic science. An interdisciplinary perspective will be adopted, combining the different kinds of sources ranging over time from the Essays of Montaigne to the works of Adam Smith. Thanks to this enlarged study on the origins of the modern concept of exchange, the project aims to provide a new definition of economic relationships, as well as a new hypothesis on economic agency. Fields of science humanitieslanguages and literaturelinguisticssocial sciencessociologyanthropologycultural anthropologysocial sciencessociologyanthropologysocial anthropologysocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicspolitical economysocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2020 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator UNIVERSITA DEL SALENTO Net EU contribution € 171 473,28 Address Piazza tancredi 7 73100 Lecce Italy See on map Region Sud Puglia Lecce Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
