Institutionalizing the Paradigm of Development

Gerardo Rivera Ungson and Sixto K. Roxas

Chapter 4 in From Alleviation to Empowerment:Ruminations on Poverty, Capitalism, and Communities, 2026, pp 71-94 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Paradigms develop in stages, specifically, articulation, legitimization, and institutionalization. In the case of economics, the first stage, articulation, depicted economic theories as philosophical principles. Attempts to circumvent weaknesses and inconsistencies in the basic theory led to new formulations about how some consensus was reached. The second stage, legitimization, occurred when economists were able to represent theories as more exacting mathematical formulas and models. Once they were circumscribed into formal models, canonical assumptions became legitimized as unchanging and invariant postulates, like fundamental axioms in mathematics and physics. Even so, a third stage—institutionalization— is needed to legitimize assumptions to be fully accepted as dogma. This stage occurs when economic theories are woven into the inner fabric of societal conventions and embedded in the logic of prevailing political policies…

Keywords: Poverty; Poverty Alleviation; Poverty Eradication; Inter-generational Poverty; Environmental Degradation; Sustainable Development; Community Empowerment; Social Accounting; Human Settlements; Development Economics; Unsustainable Development; Ecological Sustainability; Capitalism; Free Market; Economic Orthodoxy; Classical Economics: Marx; Radical Economics; Bretton Woods; Sectoral Development; Sectoral Specializations; Neo-liberalism; Enterprise Management; Modern Corporation; Modern Enterprises; Microfinance; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprises; Capacity Building; Conditional Cash Transfer; Mainstream Growth Theory; Biogenesis; Mechanistic Worldview; Jurgen Habermas; Spectrum of Consciousness; Communitarian Movement; Moral Capitalism; Humane Economy; Enterprise Logic; Communitarian Logic; Ekistics; Enterprise Accounting; Community-based Accounting System; Social Accounting; Valuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 O15 O18 Q01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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