International Oikonomia - The productivity of the machine, the sea and the sleeping child

International Oikonomia / Workcamp Camp

Dates
When: 2023-08-05 - 2023-08-11
Arrivals from 17:00 of the 05 August
Ends at 10:00 of the 11 August

Economy is about the exchange of goods. Those goods are outputs that are produced with all kinds of inputs. But something happens on the way between inputs and outputs. What is the difference between a craftsperson who makes a carpet and a factory that produces thousands of them in the same day? Why are some areas developing so rapidly they are in danger of falling apart while others seem frozen in time?

A lot of these things are related to the concept of “productivity”, which has been central to economic theory since the beginning but has taken on a whole new meaning in the age of rapid technological development and societal transformation. Everything seems to be solvable with the slogan “bigger, faster, stronger” these days. But when does ‘more’ really make us happy? When does productivity make us feel better, when doesn’t it? How do we understand the value of unproductivity? Where is the boundary between productive vs. unproductive? And how might we try to balance them?

This year’s camp asks what part productivity plays in your life, and why we all seem to focus on it so much these days. We welcome you to learn about the origins of the concept, how it has changed over the past decades, and to explore what it means today, in general terms and for each of us. We will do so through non-formal education activities, opening up debates and discussions, watching movies and playing games. Participate in a seven-day journey to exchange, discuss, and generate ideas about what productivity means to us, while learning about how Agape deals with the issue and what we can learn from that.