Rewarding the Care Voice in Economics

Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson won the Nobel prize for Economics. The headlines start with the remarkable fact that since 1969, when the prize was first awarded, a woman has never won. More interesting, it seems, is the nature of the work that Williamson and Ostrom were doing and its contribution to what we believe about the way people behave when it comes to commonly owned or used “stuff” and/or when resources are scarce.
After the economic meltdown, many decried the way that people, particularly men on Wall Street and in financial institutions had used the market and other people’s money for their own gain. The NY Times reported that the committee, was highlighting “the shortcomings of an unregulated marketplace, in which “economic actors,” left to their own devices, act in their own self-interests”…and the theory that “in doing so, (it) will enhance everyone’s well-being.”
What Ostrom and Williamson and people like Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book World Class, point out is that the market can be influenced by relationships and behaviors that develop among companies that are competitors but find ways to resolve together common problems. Ostrom’s work focused on common properties like lakes, pastures, woods and ground water basins. Her observations and research found that resource users can and do create sophisticated rules to address basically, something we learned as children – how to share. Williamson, in his work, focuses on the propensity of firms (organizations) to work together when there are limited resources. (Firms are more likely to cooperate and solve problems together.)
The work of these two individuals and many others like them (for a really great read on how companies and cities have worked together to address common problems, read Kanter’s book) point to the care voice that has always been present in our world, but often gets scant attention. This voice, often socialized into girls and women, is alive and well in our marketplace; it is just that we sometimes don’t call it out as a positive force for good. Often, we trivialize the importance of working together, sharing and addressing scarce resources and believe we have to regulate sharing through interventions by governments or larger corporations. The research of these two economists, points out that sharing is not only possible, it leads to positive outcomes. We need the care voice in our world. Hurray for the Nobel Committee for calling it out!

Girls Soaring

Why does the thrill of soaring have to be preceded by the fear of falling? Good public speakers, athletes, and actors all talk about that initial anxiety that accompanies the speech, the event, the play. I have heard it said that just a little of that anxiety can help you create the edge you need to push yourself to the next level. Once, while taking a class in self defense, we were told to “feel the fear and do it anyway.” That is a good lesson to learn when you are trying to overcome something; in this case, old patterns and scripts of being unable to defend yourself.
As girls are socialized, they come to an edge of knowing and not knowing themselves. Before my eyes I, am watching my 11-year-old try on new “selves.” Last year as a fifth grader, she was somewhat reserved around others and very judgmental of teachers who she did not feel were in integrity. This year, she observes the passion in her English teacher for a book he likes. She tells me, “It would be like me talking about the books I really like, mom. He just goes on and on about this book.” She doesn’t like the book and thinks it is boring. Last year, she would have resisted completely, dug her heals in and chosen not to participate. This year, she is plodding through, reading the book and doing the assignments.
Looking at the canon of works they are reading, I am saddened to see there are no women authors. There are few men of color. I want to push back on this edge, even though she has backed away from it. Her conformity comes with her socialization. As her mom and as a woman in this culture, I know she has to conform. She can’t step out and fly off this ledge. She has to be successful in school and to be successful she has to accept the canon of books as the best of the best, even though she will not see herself reflected in it. She must deny the voice inside herself that wants to demand a book that engages her and connects her.
To soar as women sometimes means to leave the comfort of the group, to challenge the status quo, to speak out when something doesn’t feel right. Sometimes we don’t even recognize any more what we accept as true, even though it may not be true for ourselves. Raising daughters, watching them, I see those edges and have to trust that eventually, my daughters will know when to soar.