Conference Agenda

WEIRD is not Enough for Achieving Regenerative Ocean Economies

Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia, Canada

Conventional economics in its mainstream and business-oriented form, has too often been guided by a narrow logic of short-term profit maximization, quarterly returns, and the relentless extraction of value from nature. I argue that this model, which may be described as WEIRD economics, shaped by assumptions rooted in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies, is not enough to achieve regenerative ocean economies. The problem is not economic theory itself, but the form of economics that has become dominant, where success is measured mainly by immediate financial gain, living systems are treated as inputs, or commodities rather than as the ecological foundations of human wellbeing. In the case of the ocean, this logic has contributed to the overexploitation of fish stocks, the degradation of marine habitats, and the normalization of practices that undermine long-term resilience, e.g., bottom trawling. Here, I suggest ways to extend WEIRD economics with Indigenous and Granny wisdom to make it more fit for purpose.